Forensic Linguistics
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- Created by: MollyNobbs
- Created on: 09-01-18 13:09
Introduction
- Terminology
- Translating: written text to written text
- Interpreting: spoken text to spoken text
- Legal Translators
- Challenges
- Names based on the system
- Name in source language that may not exist in target language
- Everyday words
- Used with specialist meanings
- Language differences
- Lack of equivalence
- Names based on the system
- Challenges
- Interpreting in Legal Settings
- Consecutive Interpreting: happens one after another, hear turn A and interpet it and so on
- Simultaneous Interpeting: hears turn and then speak in different language at same time
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Interpreter
- Why get an interpreter?
- In the police station:
- Difficulty understanding
- Mutual comprehensibility
- Wants an interpreter
- In court:
- 'Cannot understand or speak'
- Need language of court in order to communicate
- In the police station:
- Who can act as an intepreter?
- MOJ Framework Agreement
- National Register of Public Service Interpreters
- National Register of Communication Professionals Working with Deaf and Deafblind people
- Some languages are under represented
- Legal Interpreters need:
- Proficiency, common knowledge, professional codes, understand legal processes; language and discourse conventions of courts and police
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Pressures on the Interpreter
- Location
- Conditions: practical
- Might not get breaks, hear well, be able to have a drink
- Conditions: task related
- Might not be allowed to take notes, ask for clarification
- Real Time Pressures
- Takes twice as long as monolingual case
- Demands and Expectations
- From court, want certain situations
- The interpreter as conduit
- Seen as piece of equipment
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Do interpreters act on information?
- Filter communication
- Secondary context vs primary context
- Propositional content
- Question form
- DIscourse markers
- Deaf participants in the courtroom
- The bilingual, bimodal courtroom
- Bimodality
- Visual encoding
- Working across two modalities
- The bilingual, bimodal courtroom
- Question form
- Low to high degree of control
- Wh- question: what happened then? which way did it point?
- Either-or questions: do you mean this side or the far side?
- Yes-no questions: did you agree to buy it?
- Declarative questions: you went there with the defendant in order to have sexual intercourse
- Tag questions: you used her belt to strangle her did you not?
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Australian Legal System
- Aboriginal people in the criminal justice system
- Over representation: disproportionate number of people in prison vs in general population
- Racism
- Injustice caused by linguistic and discoural features of the law - different language
- Successful adversarial system
- Courtroom culture
- Court personnel: knowledge individuals need in order to function
- Language training
- Class
- Predominant sex, ethnicity, religous orientations
- Typical age
- Different discourse styles
- Turn taking
- Non-sequential topics
- Odd grammatical constructions
- Odd vocabulary and expressions
- Court personnel: knowledge individuals need in order to function
- Courtroom culture
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Aboriginal English Continuum
- Lighter (acrolectal) varieties
- No traditional language
- Not geographically remote
- Not exposed to strong cultural variety of aboriginal
- Heavier (basilectal) varieties
- Traditional language
- Geographically remote
- Inflected by original language
- Aboriginal English
- Varieties can seem the same but arent
- Aprroximate sounds which seem similar
- Struggle to pronounce certain sounds
- Inflections missing
- Systematic differences between Aboriginal English and Standard Australian English
- Phonology (sounds and accent)
- Morpho-syntax (grammar)
- Lexicon (vocabulary)
- Discourse structures (connections between utterances/sentences)
- Pragmatics (language used in context)
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Knowledge Economy
- DIfferent to materialism of westernised world
- Have secret knowledge
- Ceremonial initiation to gain language
- Gender
- Mens knowledge and womens knowledge
- Directness <-> Indirectness
- Directness is seen to be rude and inconsiderate
- Answering questions
- Wont answer at times if secret knowledge
- 'I dont know' or 'I cant remember'
- Measurement Expressions
- Time: based on physical, climate, social and geographical change
- Distance: direction to environment
- Numbers: 2 or 3 names for numerals, hesitant use of numerals
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Speech Styles
- Open broadcast style (speaking out in social setting)
- Simultaneous speech
- Silence
- Ignoring others
- Eye contact
- No talk in twos
- Talk in twos
- Dyadic talk
- Talk is directed to a particular individual
- People should face eachother
- Eye contact is important
- Control by the speaker
- Non Dyadic talk
- Talk is broadcast
- People need not face eachother
- Eye contact is not important
- Control by the hearer
- Dyadic talk
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Hearing Loss
- Main cause: otitis media (middle ear infection)
- Northern territory roughly 1/2 of all Aboriginal children and 1/4 of adults
- Reasons for otitis media being more present in indigenous children:
- Reduced access to healthcase
- Poor immune response to introduced infections
- Poor nutrition
- Overcrowded accomodation
- Inadequate domestic waste and sewage arrangements
- Lack of good quality water
- Polluted swimming holes
- Low health expectations
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Further Features
- Narrative Structure
- Christie and Harris 1985
- Different genetic structure
- Different narrative elements and structure
- Christie and Harris 1985
- Questioning
- Not the norm for aboriginals
- Less experience
- Less competence if any
- Learnt only in school
- Not personally relevant
- Either-or questions
- Not used in aboriginal discourse, usually respond to last item or repeat last item
- Gratuitous Concurrence
- Most common aboriginal tendency to agree in response to a question asked by a white person, especially one in power, regardless of whether there is understanding of or agreement with the proposition
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Use of Interpreters
- Circumstances for use of interpreters
- Following a request for counsel
- On the advice of coroners assistant
- If the interpreters presence is unchallenged
- At the witness' request
- Alternatives to disadvantage
- Education, Liaison, Change
- The Anunga Rules - The Queen vs Anunga 1976
- Basic rights
- Interpreter - complete mutual understanding
- Improper methods
- Electronic recording
- Publicly funded interpreter service
- Role of the forensic linguist
- Prepare the public (especially minority groups) for courtroom language games
- Push for legal reform in communicative areas (police stations and courtrooms)
- Act as an expert witness in interpreting meaning of disputed words and discourse interactions
- Act as an interpreter (with necessary expertise)
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