Addressing Methodological Challenges in Interpreting Studies Research

Using interaction as a fundamental springboard, Addressing Methodological Challenges in Interpreting Studies Research showcases the major breakthrough in interpreting studies made by investigating community interpreting and the inherent high degree of participant interaction. The book adds a ‘reflexive’ twist, and espouses the notion of the analyst as not separate from the context under study. After looking at dialogue interpreters, cast away from the carpeted walls of sound-proof booths and deprived of the spotlighted lectern-podium position at high level fora, it has become clear that the interpreter’s invisibility, not to mention their neutrality, is uppermost in the minds of both users and providers in terms of expectations. Among all the participants in any ‘mediated’ communicative situation, it is the interpreter who is exceedingly visible and potentially most influential in shaping and coordinating the ongoing exchanges. The book proposes that a similar view be applied to researchers engaged in interpreting research, especially in empirical investigations. Different forms of ‘interaction’ between researchers and the data in their studies are inevitable. This applies to every stage of their work, ranging from all the pre-analysis activities to the analysis itself, and the post-analysis stage, in which results are disseminated in the research community and, possibly, the target population. This volume will stand to benefit all those who work with researching language issues, not only because of the various approaches covered in the volume, but also because of the ways in which they are reframed as a result of shifting contextual constraints.

About the Author :
Claudio Bendazzoli is Assistant Professor of English Language and Translation at the Department of Economic and Social Studies of the University of Turin, Italy. His main research interests are corpus-based interpreting studies, theatre and interpreter training, ethnography of speaking, English as a Lingua Franca, and English medium instruction.Claudia Monacelli is Associate Professor at Università degli studi Internazionali di Roma, Italy, and coordinates the LARIM research group. Her research concerns applied linguistics, interpreting studies, sociolinguistics and pragmatics.

Review :
'[T]he book ... offers important insights, especially for readers interested in ethnography as a method. The chapters offer methodological guidance and feature the interdisciplinary nature that the study of translation and interpreting demands. This book will make an important addition to a student or researcher's bookshelf.... It is exciting to see the interpreting research methodology bookshelf getting quite full.'Brenda NicodemusGallaudet UniversityInterpreting, 19:2 (2017)'The collection ... offers interesting texts to read, and indeed, some insight into practical methodological challenges that investigators dealing with interpreting often face. This reviewer's hope is that the editors will have an opportunity in the near future to encourage further exploration of the interaction between interpreting researchers and the object of their research.'Daniel GileThe Interpreters' Newsletter, n. 21 (2016)