A glimpse into the socialization of bilingual youngsters as interpreters: the case of Latino bilinguals brokering communication for their families and immediate communities

Article Sidebar

PDF
DOI: https://doi.org/10.6035/MonTI.2010.2.4
Keywords:
Circumstantial bilingualism, Elective bilingualism, Societal language, Language broker, Linguistic minorities

Main Article Content

Claudia V. Angelelli

Abstract

Work on bilinguals who act as family interpreters, while not focused particularly on the development of translation and interpreting abilities, contributes to our understanding of life experiences of the individuals who begin to interpret early in their lives (Valdés and Angelelli 2003). With some exceptions (Harris 1977, 1978, 1980, 1992; Toury 1984, 1995) very little has been written about the lived experiences of young interpreters and/or about their socialization as family interpreters. Since most of the community interpreters of today were interpreters in their late childhood and adolescence, getting a glimpse into their lives and experiences may help researchers (and teachers of interpreting) understand the habitus and ideology of these individuals who later may populate interpreting classrooms and workplaces. This paper explores some of their experiences and perceptions as well as the controversies surrounding their role. The paper ends with some suggestions for incorporating coursework on translation and interpreting at high school levels. 

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Article Details

How to Cite
Angelelli, C. V. (2014). A glimpse into the socialization of bilingual youngsters as interpreters: the case of Latino bilinguals brokering communication for their families and immediate communities. MonTI. Monographs in Translation and Interpreting, (2), 81–96. https://doi.org/10.6035/MonTI.2010.2.4
Issue
No. 2 (2010): Applied Sociology in Translation Studies/Sociologia Aplicada a la Traducció
Section
Articles

The documents contained in these directories are included by the contributing authors as a means to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work on a non-commercial basis. It is understood that all persons copying this information will adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. These works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.

References

AIIC. (2005) Advise to students wishing to become conference interpreters. AIIC website www.aiic.net (Retrieved September 2009)

Allen, Jennifer. (2000) “Words and words apart”. LA Times, November 6, 2000. Full-text version at: http: //www.latimes.com/print/health/ 20001106/t000106263.html. (Last access: November 6, 2000).

Angelelli, Claudia V. (2000) “Interpreting as a Communicative Event: A Look through Hymes’ Lenses”. Meta. Journal des Traducteurs 45: 4. pp. 580-592.

Angelelli, Claudia V. (2001) Deconstructing the Invisible Interpreter: A Critical Study of the Interpersonal Role of the Interpreter in a Cross-cultural/linguistic Communicative Event. Ph.D. diss., Stanford University: Stanford.

Angelelli, Claudia V. (2004a) Medical Interpreting and Cross-cultural Communication. London: Cambridge University Press.

Angelelli, Claudia V. (2004b) Re-visiting the Interpreter’s Role. John Benjamins: Amsterdam.

Angelelli, Claudia V. (2005) “Healthcare Interpreting Education: Are We Putting the Cart before the Horse?” The ATA Chronicle 34: 11, pp. 33-38 &55.

Angelelli, Claudia V.; Kerry Enright & Guadalupe Valdés. (2002) Developing the Talents and Abilities of Linguistically Gifted Bilingual Students: Guidelines for Developing Curriculum at the High School Level. The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented. RM02156. University of Connecticut, University of Virginia, Yale University. Storrs, CT: University of Connecticut.

Baker, David; Richard Hayes & Julia P. Fortier. (1998) “Interpreter Use and Satisfaction with Interpersonal Aspects of Care for Spanish-Speaking Patients”. Medical Care 36: 10. pp. 1461-1470.

Cambridge, Jan. (1999) “Information Loss in Bilingual Medical Interviews through an Untrained Interpreter”. The Translator 5: 2. pp. 201-219.

De Ment, Terri; Raymond Buriel & Christina M.Villanueva. (2005) “Children as Language Brokers. A narrative of recollections of college students”. Language and Multiculutral Education. pp. 255-272.

Gilbert, M.J. (2005) “The Case Against Using Family, Friends, and Minors as Interpreters in Health and Mental Health Care Settings”. In: Process of Inquiry— Communicating in a Multicultural Environment. From the Curricula Enhancement Module Series. Washington, DC: National Center for Cultural Competence, Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development.

Grosjean, Francois. (1982) Life with two languages. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Hakuta, Kenji. (1986) Mirror of Language: the debate on bilingualism. New York: Basic Books.,

Harris, Brian. (1977) “The importance of natural translation”. Working papers on bilingualism. Toronto, Canada: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. pp. 96-116.

Harris, Brian. (1978) “The Difference Between Natural and Professional Translation”. Canadian Modern Language Review, 34: 3. pp. 417-427.

Harris, Brian. (1980) “How a three-year-old translates”. In: Afrendas, E. A. (ed.) Patterns of bilingualism. Singapore: RELC. pp. 370-393.

Harris, Brian. (1992) “Natural translation: A reply to Hans P. Krings”. Target, 4: 1. pp. 97-103.

Harris, Brian & Bianca Sherwood. (1978) “Translating as an innate skill”. In: Gerver, David & H. Wallace Sinaiko (eds.) Language Interpretation and Communication. New York: Plenim Press. pp. 155-170.

Karttunen, Frances E. (1994) Between Worlds: Interpreters, guides and survivors. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Malakoff, Marguerita & Kenji Hakuta. (1991) “Translation skill and metalinguistic awareness in bilinguals”. In: Bialystock, Ellen (ed.). Language processing in bilingual children. London: Cambridge. pp. 141-166.

Marcus, Erin. (2003) “When a Patient Is Lost in the Translation”. New York Times. New York: F7.

Modern Language Association 2005. [Graph illustration the MLA Language Map Data Center from the 2000 Census]. Most spoken languages in California in 2005. Retrieved from http://www.mla.org/map_data

Toury, Gideon. (1984) “The notion of ‘native translator’ and translation teaching”. In: Wilss, W. & G. Thome (eds.) Die Theorie des Ubersetzens und ihr Aufschusswert fur die Ubersetzungs und Dolmetschdidaktik. Tubingen: Narr. pp. 186-195.

Toury, Gideon. (1995) “Excursus C: A bilingual speaker becomes a translator: a tentative developmental model”. In: Toury, G. (ed.) Descriptive translation studies and beyond. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. pp. 241-258.

Valdés, Guadalupe. (2003) Expanding Definitions of Giftedness. The case of Young interpreters from immigrant communities. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Valdés, Guadalupe & Richard Figueroa. (1994) Bilingualism and Testing: A Special Case Bias. New Jersey: Ablex Publishing Corporation.

Valdés, Guadalupe; Cristina Chavez; Claudia V. Angelelli; Kerry Enright; Marisela González; Dania Garcia & Leisy Wyman. (2000) “Bilingualism from Another Perspective: The Case of Young Interpreters from Immigrant Communities”. In: Roca, Ana (ed.) Research on Spanish in the United States. Linguistic Issues and Challenges (Chapter 2). Somerville MA: Cascadilla Press. pp 42-81.

Valdés, Guadalupe & Claudia V. Angelelli. (2003) “Interpreters, Interpreting and the Study of Bilingualism”. In: Mc Groarty, M. (ed.) The Annual Review of Applied Linguistics. Volume 23. pp 58-78.

Valdés, Guadalupe; Cristina Chavez & Claudia V. Angelelli. (2003) “A Performance Team: Young Interpreters and Their Parents”. In: Valdés, Guadalupe. (2003). pp.63-98.

Yee, Lee; M. Diaz & Todd Spitzer. (2003) California Assembly Bill 292. Fulltext version at: Info.sen.ca.gov/pub/bill/ASM/ab_0251_0300/ab_292_bill_20030206_introduced.html

Zentella, Ana Celia. (1997) Growing Up Bilingual Puerto Rican Children in New York. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers Inc.