Transcript The Office of Court Interpreter Services

Lawyering Across Languages
Volunteer
Lawyers Project
May 14, 2013
Presenter:
LEONOR FIGUEROA-FEHER, PH.D.
Program Manager for Training, Office of Court
Interpreter Services
•State/Federally-Certified Spanish Interpreter
•Interpreter Trainer/Presenter
•
Points to consider:
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Interpreters and Meaningful Language Access
Working with professionally-trained interpreters
Working with volunteer (ad-hoc) interpreters:
Troubleshooting
Phone Interpreting: Troubleshooting
Court Interpreters: Qualifications/ Skills
Code of Professional Conduct: Scenarios
Office of Court Interpreter Services
USING UNTRAINED INTERPRETERS OR
BILINGUAL STAFF
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How can attorneys monitor proficiency,
impartiality and confidentiality?
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Signs that should tell you: “Don’t use this
person!”
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Who should never be used as interpreter?
Mandates:
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Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter
221C
Working With
Court Interpreters
Levels of Advocacy
Advocate
Culture Broker
Clarifier
CONDUIT
Quick Guide for Working With
Interpreters
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Speak directly to the
LEP person. Don’t say
“Tell him that…”.
Avoid acronyms,
technical language,
jokes or idioms.
Be patient.
Clarify any term the
interpreter or the LEP
party doesn’t
understand.
Understand that court
interpreters are not
advocates, attorneys,
law clerks,
administrative staff,
cultural consultants or
friends of the LEP
parties.
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Let’s discuss!
Examples:
Incorrect
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Mme. Interpreter, please
tell Mr. Chang that he
needs to be here next
Friday.
Mr. Interpreter, can you
call Ms. Lam and explain
to her what will happen
at the summary process
hearing on Tuesday?
Correct
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Mr. Chang, you need to be
here next Friday.
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Mr. Interpreter, I need
your help to call Ms. Lam
to explain to her what will
happen at the summary
process hearing on
Tuesday. Are you familiar
with the term “summary
process?”
Example:
You are meeting with your
LEP client in your office.
The lady seems unwilling to
address a financial issue
with her husband. The
interpreter is from her
country and you wonder
whether she would advise
you as to the wife’s
reluctance.
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Should you ask
the interpreter
to advise you?
Why or why not?
Would it depend
on the situation?
In what other
way can you find
out?
Code of Professional Conduct
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Accuracy
Impartiality
Confidentiality
Avoidance of
Conflict of Interest
Proficiency
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Duty to inform the
court of difficulty to
perform their duties.
Duty to correct errors
in their interpretation.
Can only act as
language bridge.
Accuracy
Capture meaning, register (level for formality),
form, intent and tone of the message. Cannot
clean-up, simplify, improve, embellish or
choose to omit content.
Register/Completeness
“If I were to ask you
who was your
treating physician in
the intervening
period prior to your
second accident,
what would your
response be?”
A non-accurate
interpretation:
“Who was your
doctor before
your second
accident?”
Challenges in achieving accuracy:
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idioms
jokes
slang
culturally-specific
expressions or concepts
false cognates
ambiguous language
legalese
acronyms
no direct equivalent
concept
Challenges in Achieving Accuracy:
No direct legal equivalent
English>Hmong
Arraignment
Thawj zaug tsev hais
plaub teem caij rau tus
neeg txhaum plaub mus
ntsib xam uas nus yuav
txais daim ntawv foob,
lwm yam lus, thiab xam
yuav qhia nus txoj cai
rau nus
Challenges in Achieving Accuracy:
Legalese
“Your Honor, Ms. Chan was violated on
March 23d. After a hearing, the conditions
of her probation were reassessed.”
Easy to translate?
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Did you stop cold turkey?
Was is the street behind the Green
Monster?
Did the police find the gun in the lazy
Susan?
Now, now, is Miguelito the one wagging
the dog here, Ms. Reyes?
How upset did that make you feel?
Challenges in Achieving Accuracy:
False Cognates
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Ese día mi hermano nos había estado
molestando toda la mañana.
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A pesar de su disgusto, Elena fue
simpática con sus suegros durante la
cena.
False Cognates
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Ese día mi hermano
nos había estado
molestando toda la
mañana.
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That day my brother
had been pestering/
bothering/teasing us
all morning.
False Cognates
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A pesar de su
disgusto, Elena fue
simpática con sus
suegros durante la
cena.
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Despite her anger,
Elena was friendly
towards her in-laws
during dinner.
Appropriate Interventions from Court Interpreters
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To clarify meaning or to “open a window” that may
prompt others to solve communication breakdowns.
To correct interpretation errors.
To instruct others of impediments to their
performance.
To request assistance from the Court in ethicallychallenging scenarios.
To inform LEP and English-speaking parties of
their standards of practice.
Scenarios
Have you ever encountered issues with
interpreters you would like to discuss?
Ethical Challenges for Court
Interpreters
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Confidentiality
Impartiality
Ethical Challenges for Court
Interpreters
Impartiality
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSzZpGcKLGI
Scenarios: CONFIDENTIALITY
After assisting you and
your LEP client, the
interpreter is approached
by a relative of the client
outside of the court. The
relative wants to know
what was discussed
inside, because she can
help him.
Q:
Should the
interpreter tell
her?
Challenges With Languages of
Lesser-Diffusion
Recent “new” languages in MA:
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Constant new
immigration/refugee
patterns
Finding qualified
applicants
Limited training
resources
Hmong (China, Laos, etc.)
Dinka (Sudan)
Burmese (Myanmar-formerly Burma)
Karen (Myanmar)
Mizo Chin (Myanmar, India)
Kpelle (Liberia)
Ibo (Nigeria)
Fuzhou (China)
Krahn (Nigeria, Congo)
Malay (Malaysia)
Tamil (Malaysia, Shri Lanka, etc.)
Challenges With Interpreters
from Communities of Languages
of Lesser-Diffusion
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Small, tight-knit
communities=>
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Confidentiality
Issues
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Fewer matters mean
limited earnings.
Interpreters don't stay
long.
Fewer matters mean
fewer opportunities to
develop their skills.
Remember!
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Interpreters should never be asked to express
personal comments on an LEP party's
truthfulness or honesty.
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If an interpreter cannot understand the LEP
party’s speech or a term or expression, s/he
should ask for clarification, letting the attorney or
other party know what s/he is asking.
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Is it the court interpreter's role to
make sure that LEP parties
understand their court or legal
process?
A.
The Court Interpreter's role is to ensure equal
linguistic access for LEP parties in court to
make them linguistically present throughout their
legal process. However, it is not their role to
ensure LEP parties' understanding of the
process. Their role is to enable LEP parties:
• to hear everything said regarding their legal
process;
• to communicate with English-speaking parties
effectively and transparently.
Food for Thought…
Dangers in using a family member or
another non professional as an
interpreter
Be mindful about the following:
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Avoid using children.
Never use members of your client’s family who may
have vested interests in the outcome of the case, or
members of the other side.
Watch out for “rogue interpreters” who charge LEP
parties directly.
Do not ask interpreters to help LEP parties fill out forms.
They can only orally translate their contents.
Any other issues?
Troubleshooting:
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How to make the best of the situation
when you are working with an untrained or ad hoc interpreter.
Effective Use of an Interpreter
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Check for familiarity with concepts involved.
(share forms, reports, etc.)
Monitor ethical standards: accuracy,
impartiality, completeness and confidentiality.
Encourage interpreter to ask you for
clarification of any terms you use.
Make sure the interpreter is interpreting!
Monitor the interpreter's
performance
The interpreter
doesn’t seem to be
interpreting
everything the LEP
party says.
Should you do
something?
Monitoring the interpreter's
performance
You notice the
interpreter
chatting with the
LEP party in their
own language too
much.
Would it be
appropriate for you
to intervene?
Part 2 video program (Clarity Interpreter) correcting
common interpreting mistakes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e_nIDJV-Lk
Seating arrangement:
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Who needs the
interpreter?
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Maintain direct
communication with
your LEP client.
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Discourage private
communications
between interpreters
and LEP parties.
Phone Interpretation:
Common
problems
during 3-way
phone
meetings or
conversations:
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Technical difficulties
The interpreter takes over.
The interpreter and/or the
LEP party are intimidated by
the call.
The interpreter doesn’t have
enough context or
information about the matter
at hand.
The interpreter from
Language Line is not local.
Other?
Troubleshooting:
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Technical difficulties
Confusion as to who’s who.
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The interpreter takes over.
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The interpreter and/or the
LEP party are intimidated by
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the call.
The interpreter doesn’t have
enough context or information
about the matter at hand.
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The interpreter from
Language Line is not local
Whenever possible, use
landlines.
Take time at the beginning of
the call to introduce all parties
and to clarify the role of the
interpreter.
Control the flow of the
conversation.
Give the interpreter a summary
of the issues to be addressed.
Speak clearly, using direct
language and short sentences.
Make sure to explain or
describe references to local
sites, events, etc. (“MassAve,”
“209A”)
Thank You!
The Office of Court Interpreter
Services
Office of Court Management
2 Center Plaza
Boston, MA 02108
617’878’0269
Services provided by OCIS
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Court Interpreters assigned
throughout the entire
Massachusetts court system.
Criminal and civil matters
covered.
Phone Interpretation
Services
On-line list of OCIS
interpreters