Miscues and error recognition in interpreting
Readings/Discussions
Patrie, Consecutive Interpreting from English
Unit 2 (pp. 43–69) Required
Interpreters, Conversational Style, and Gender at Work (Morgan) Required
(pp. 68 – 69, 71.) This is chapter 5 in Hauser (2008) Deaf Professionals and Designated Interpreters by Elizabeth Morgan. This reading addresses the concept of power language and the role of gender in creating power/less language.
Effects of lag time on interpreter errors. Required
(pp. 43, 45, 47, 49, 50; other pages recommended) This 1986 paper outlines Cokely’s now widely-used taxonomy of interpreter miscues; much more detail can be found in his dissertation, Cokely, D. (1992) Interpreting: A sociolinguistic model. Silver Springs, MD: Linkstok Press. This work focuses on miscue types in a given interpretation, how miscues create gaps in L1 > L2 message production, and is the basis for an entire diagnostic method model.
Cokely, D. (1986). Effects of lag time on interpreter errors. Sign Language Studies 53.
Anosognosia or The Dunning & Kruger Effect
Ever wonder why some people don’t see or think that they make errors? It’s because we don’t know what we don’t know. Here’s the paper/research. Beware the juice. PDF/printable version here.
Bonus points: Learning to understand the concept of solipsism, or the philosophical viewpoint that only my viewpoint exists in the world and that any knowledge (ability?) outside of one’s own mind is dubious. (How many times have you heard, “oh, that’s not the way you should sign that...”)
Interpretation Skills: American Sign Language to English
This worksheet outlines Dr. Taylor’s spoken interpretation error taxonomy — ASL lexicon and discourse comprehension, English lexicon and discourse comprehension, delivery, and composure and appearance. (This book is actually one of a set of two which focuses on English and American Sign Language skill building.)
Taylor, M. (2002). Interpretation Skills: American Sign Language to English. Edmonton: Interpreting Consolidated.
A study of errors in consecutive interpretation.
This article presents a Korean-English and spoken language perspective to miscues (“errors”) in Korean > English interpretations. There is a great deal of emphasis on mechanics, pronunciation, grammatical differences. Fascinating read. (My apologies to the misspelling or statement of the author’s name; the reference and credit information is only in Korean.)
Im Hyan, Gok [임향옥] (1996). A study of errors in consecutive interpretation. In Language and Linguistics (Haksulji). Seoul: Hankuk University.
The gap between guidelines, practice, and knowledge in interpreting services for deaf students Recommended
This article speaks less about miscue theory and more about the practical ramifications of message miscues in educational interpreting settings. From the abstract, “...three major areas of concern: the production of the message by the interpreter, the reception of the message by the student, and additional responsibilities required of interpreters working in school programs.”