The Role and Professional Identity of the Courtroom Interpreter in the Legal System of England and Wales: A Social Constructionist Perspective

Abstract

[Thesis in three volumes] The demographic landscape in Britain has changed significantly over the last decades and Britain is now characterised by what Vertovec (2005) has called “superdiversity”. This notion encompasses the complexity and dynamics of different variables that come into play and shape the new socio-demographic reality. It is in this context that the need for public service interpreters in the UK is now greater than ever, particularly for court interpreters as there has been an increase in court cases involving multiple languages. This study explores the professional identity of the courtroom interpreter in the legal system of England and Wales from a social constructionist perspective. It looks at various aspects of the courtroom interpreter’s professional identity in order to understand how it is constructed socially and discursively by the courtroom actors. In so doing, it is meant to define the professional identity of the courtroom interpreter in a changing social and linguistic landscape including changes in the provision of interpreters in the public sector of England and Wales. Previous extensive research has revealed a persisting controversy over the role of the courtroom interpreter, lack of professional recognition and an overall negative attitude by the legal profession along with other challenges and dilemmas interpreters face in the courtroom (Morris,1995, 1999; Berk-Seligson 1988,1990; Hale, 2004, 2008; Lee, 2009b). In the current study I use data from interpreter-mediated hearings held at civil and county courts, an Immigration Tribunal, and Crown and Magistrates’ courts in England and Wales. The study presents findings based on ethnographic, followed up by interviews with all the participants of the courtroom interaction.