A Discourse-Oriented Approach to Interpreter’s Non-Rendition Behaviour: A Case Study of An Interpreted Parent-Teacher Talk

Abstract

This article explores the types and functions of dialogue interpreter’s non-rendition behaviour in a corpus of transcriptions of a recorded parent-teacher meeting. Following Vargas-Urpi’s (2019) distinction between justified and unjustified renditions, it seeks to contribute to the discussion of the interpreter’s use of non-renditions in a relatively under-searched mediated communicative environment. Non-renditions, interpreter-generated original utterances that do not have corresponding counterparts in the preceding source utterance, are considered a part of “talk as activity”. Thus, as a theoretical framework, the study adopts a dialogic view to discuss interactional non-renditions as a discourse practice. The analysis of extracts drawn from a naturally occurring parent-teacher encounter revealed that the interpreter’s non-renditions are substantially self-prompted when they ask for clarification or confirmation. There are instances of talk that lead to the exclusion of the interpreter from the ongoing dialogue in monolingual sequences. The study also provides significant data on the use of reactive tokens as a listener’s response.