Obstacles to accurate and fluent legal interpretation and feasible solutions to the problems

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF LAW GRADUATION THESIS B.A DEGREE IN ENGLISH Major: Legal English OBSTACLES TO ACCURATE AND FLUENT LEGAL INTERPRETATION AND FEASIBLE SOLUTIONS TO THESE PROBLEMS Supervisor: LL.M., M.A Pham Thi Phuong Anh Student: Nguyen Duong Quynh Chi Student ID: 1652202010014 Class: LE41 Ho Chi Minh City, 2020 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Foremost, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my supervisor, Ms Pham Thi Phuong Anh who was continuously supporting me in every problem occurred during of this thesis Without her guidance, assistance and dedicated involvement in every step throughout the process, this work would have never been accomplished Besides, she also impressed and taught me to form a professional working style In addition to my instructor, my sincere thanks also go to all my teachers in the Legal Linguistics Department who gave me the opportunity to broaden my horizon as well as had contributed invaluable knowledge and memorable experience throughout my four years of study Over these past four years, I have taken part of other activities, with countless people teaching and helping me in every step Thank you to everyone from LE41, especially my beloved friends having supported and provided me with strength, encouragement as well as valuable friendship Moreover, very special gratitude goes out to Ms Pham Vo Thao Lien and Mr Le Thanh Tung standing out as an amazing source of positive energy and encouragement for me Most importantly, I would like to dedicate this work to my beloved parents for their unconditional support all these years They have cherished with me every moment no matter it was a great or awful one Figures Index Figure 1: Suggested abbreviation making methods 28 Figure 2: Suggested symbols for speeding up note-taking 29 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 The Urgency of the Thesis Research Objectives Research Subject Scope of Research Research Methodologies Research Structure CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF INTERPRETATION Types of interpretation 1.1 Consecutive interpretation 1.2 Simultaneous interpretation Rules of interpretation Characteristics of legal interpretation 3.1 Characteristics of lexicon 3.2 Characteristics of syntax 3.3 Frequent contexts CONCLUSION OF CHAPTER 10 CHAPTER 2: OBSTACLES TO ACCURATE AND FLUENT LEGAL INTERPRETATION 11 Obstacles to accurate legal interpretation 11 1.1 Different legal systems and laws 11 1.2 Cultural awareness 12 Obstacles to fluent legal interpretation 14 2.1 Note-taking 14 2.2 Memory problems 15 2.3 Listening comprehension 16 2.4 Speaking skill 17 CONCLUSION OF CHAPTER 18 CHAPTER 3: FEASIBLE SOLUTIONS TO THESE PROBLEMS 19 Solutions to accurate legal interpretation 19 1.1 Cognitive effort to study the legal systems of both source language and target language 19 1.2 Studying specific feutures of legal languages 20 Solutions to fluent legal interpretation 20 2.1 Improve listening skill 20 2.2 Note-taking 23 2.3 Presentation 30 Interpretation techniques 32 3.1 Preparation 32 3.2 Memory training 33 3.3 Practicing for listening and reproduction at the same time 35 3.4 Interpretation practice principles 36 CONCLUSION OF CHAPTER 36 CONCLUSION 38 INTRODUCTION The Urgency of the Thesis As globalization is evolving dramatically, Vietnam, as a result, has entered this integration process intensively and its demands of international relations have gained further popularity However, the differences in legal systems are likely to cause plenty of barriers in exchanges, which can affect the attractiveness of a nation’s either market or investment Hence, the demands for bilingual and multilingual legal comprehension are radically compulsory Besides the translation which offers people the opportunity to understand great deals of legal aspects, legal interpretation plays an integral role in business exchanges particularly in the form of speaking Legal interpretation does not only translate the speech into another language but also brings the familiar terms which are used in the listeners’ legal frame Thus, listeners can easily get the point as well as comprehend all obstacles Moreover, there are many legal conferences and seminars are taken place due to the fact that each nation has its own legal systems has raised a source of learning needs in order to develop and perfect itself Also, international disputes are a reason why these events are important These elements bring a great opportunity for interpreters who are not only good at English but also possess legal knowledge In addition, there are no courses or schools of legal interpretation in Vietnam in spite of institutions of interpretation are increasing steadily This seems to bring beginners many obstacles when they take up becoming interpreters as the lack of guidance and orientation as well For the reasons above, the topic “Obstacles to accurate and fluent legal interpretation and feasible solutions to these problems” is chosen as the title of this thesis Research Objectives The aims of this work are: (i) to clarify the feature of legal English in interpretation; (ii) to determine essential obstacles in legal interpretation; and (iii) to introduce feasible solutions to deal with these legal interpretation problems The tasks mentioned will hopefully facilitate interpreters in Vietnam when interpreting in legal events Research Subject Research subjects in this thesis are divided into two (02) main groups of knowledge and skills The necessity of getting legal knowledge comes from comparing the differences between general English and legal English and the requirements to use the legal terms accurately Besides, language skills such as listening, speaking, note-taking or memorizing are considered as tools to help interpreters accomplish their work Therefore, enhancing language skills in legal interpreters is required Scope of Research Due to the limitation of accessible materials and the time frame fixed for this research, I will narrow the thesis as follows: Firstly, this thesis analyzes the transliterating process of spoken form, not explaining law or legal norm wihch is another meaning of the phrase “legal interpretation” Secondly, the interpretation process mentioned in this thesis is from English to Vietnamese and vice versa Thirdly, although there are many types of interpretation, this thesis forcus mainly on the form of consecutive interpretation and simultaneous interpretation Research Methodologies The main methods applied in this thesis are synthesis analysis and contextual analysis methods Synthesis analysis brings a view of general knowledge by combining and comparing plenty of domestic and foreign authors’ works, references as well as practical experience Meanwhile, contextual analysis helps to choose not only the accurate meaning for terms or phrases used as example but also avoid ambiguity or misunderstanding of meanings Research Structure This thesis is divided into three (03) chapters Chapter 1: Overview of interpretation Chapter 2: Obstacles to accurate and fluent legal interpretation Chapter 3: Feasible solutions to these problems CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF INTERPRETATION The word interpretation has a wide range of meanings based on different situations According to the scope of this thesis, interpretation refers to a transliterating process occurring “during cross-cultural communication when two parties not share the same language” (James 2005, p.13) Interpreters who perform this process will listen to a spoken message and render it from a source language to a target one Besides, the aim of this process is to bridge not only the language differences but also the cultural barriers in intercultural communication While translators depend on thorough research with fundamental materials and dictionaries to produce the most accurate and readable written translation, the interpreters rely mainly on the ability to get the gist of the messages across to the target audience on the spot Types of interpretation Although interpretation is classifiable into various categories, it is divided into two general categories of consecutive interpretation and simultaneous interpretation 1.1 Consecutive interpretation In this form of transliteration, consecutive interpreters listen to the speakers, take notes, and then reproduce the speech in the target language, which can be done after a short speech This type of interpretation offers the interpreters a range of time to organize ideas, perfect structures, and elect accurate vocabularies Consecutive interpretation often takes place in international conferences as well as in some circumstances such as talks between Heads of State, legal practitioners, doctors and patients, tour guides and tourists, etc IIAs their desires protect & promote by public health human life Furthermore, as there are plenty of ideas in a speech, interpreters is encouraged to draw a line between each of them as well as a line across the entire width of the page for the different parts or paragraphs Having missed something in the notes is like to happen to all interpreters some time as they fail to hear something, or fail to register some words immediately In those circumstances, interpreters should note clearly that something is missing and raise a question related to this point afterward Interpreters should put a very large cross in the right-hand margin of the notes at the same level as the missing item would have been (Roderick 2014, p.49) Also, interpreters have to find the relevant page as quickly as possible in order not to keep delegates waiting while they look for the question Thus, it is better to slip a pen in between the page of your notepad at the relevant page 2.3.3 Speeding up note-taking There are some tips for interpreters to save time in taking notes and enhance productivity Abbreviations and acronyms are considered as the key factor to speed up the note-taking process However, in order for interpreters to understand immediately when reading back notes, they must be unambiguous and consistent as under time pressure interpreters have no chance to reconsider the meaning of these notes (Nhat 2016, p.47) Here are some suggestions about abbreviations and 27 acronyms which must be an interpreter’s own and based on interpreters’ style of handwriting Suggested methods Drop media vowels Example Legal  lgl; human  hmn; law  law; relevant  rlavant; commit  cmt Adopt abbreviations and acronyms for an often-used phrase as soon as possible  asap; in order to  i.o.t; if and what  i.a.w Write initial and final vowels with  w/; without  w/o; approximately  app Figure 1: Suggested abbreviation making methods Another method to speed up the note-taking progress, interpreters should use a symbol system for their own A symbol may be an object, a picture, or a particular mark representing something else by association or resemblance and they also need to be instantly associated and retrieved by interpreters (Nhat 2016, p.48) Words Suggested symbols 28 For To Positive, good for (+) Question ? At @ Up, increase  Down, decrease  The same, equal = Figure 2: Suggested symbols for speeding up note-taking Once interpreters have adopted a system and assigned it a specific meaning, they can build other symbols for it (James 2005, p.297) For example, if the symbol “x” is used to mean “time”, interpreters would use it to write “much time” as “xx”, “from time to time” as “f x – x”, “twice” as “xx”, “now” as “x”, etc Besides, interpreters may invent symbols for common prefixes and suffixes such as “pre-”, “anti-” or “-ion” (Roderick 2014, p.57) 2.3.4 The languages in which to note Interpreters should not pay a lot of attention to the question of which language would be better due to several reasons First, a large item of notes will be in a symbolic or abbreviated form Second, a language is comprised of not only vocabulary but also grammar and syntax It may well be that some words are noted in a way that is recognizably part of either the source language or the target 29 language (Roderick 2014, p.60) In conclusion, as notes are merely the supporting method and cannot include all information, the productivity is based on the capacity to utilize to interpret the speech (Hung 2016, p.108) Therefore, interpreters must determine which language will be the most appropriate one for them, source language or target language, or even both 2.3 Presentation 2.3.1 Re-expression skill Among plenty of re-expression skills, paraphrase and reformulation are the two (02) most applied techniques Paraphrase is the procedure whereby interpreters would turn words in the source language into a group of words or expression in the target language, restating important information and ideas of speakers, taking into consideration both connotation and denotation meaning of lexical units, and including all of the minor details into the target language as well (Nhat 2016, p.85) Thus, this technique combines the virtues of fidelity to the original language and the target language fluency and is called sense-to-sense interpreting (Hung 2006, p.132) Meanwhile, reformulation is a technique whereby interpreters adjust a term or a structure of the source language with another corresponding one according to the convention of the target language (Nhat 2016, p.88) There are some types of reformulation techniques helping interpreters avoid complex structures causing misunderstanding and confusion to listeners even the context is interpreted accurately (Hung 2006, p.135) The first one is a double negative, which is a usage of two negatives in one sentence in order to express a positive meaning This type of sentence can be confusing when translated directly into Vietnamese Thus, an affirmative form is preferable in the output product The second type is the passive voice, which is usually found in academic English works whereas Vietnamese prefer active form (Hung 2006, p.136) In some cases, fidelity to the original structure may 30 yield an unnatural Vietnamese version (Nhat 2016, p.88) Hence, based on the speaker’s intention, interpreters can change the English sentences into active voice or vice versa The next type is the usage of the relative clause This one considers a linguistic feature of English but it is not popular in Vietnamese Therefore, the relative clause can be translated into two (02) separate clauses or a reduced adjective clause or adjective phrase Furthermore, noun phrases gain an increasingly popular in an academic like legal field It may be due to the differences in hierarchical relationships, word orders as well as the dissimilarity in thinking and speaking habits (Nhat 2016, p.89) Like the relative clause, interpreters may render from an English noun phrase into a separate Vietnamese clause 2.3.2 Speaking skill Speaking skill is an integral element in the interpretation process as it is used in the last phrase and determined whether this process is successful or not Therefore, there are some suggestions in order to help interpreters improve this skill and gain the best productivity In order to overcome all obstacles relating to speaking skills, interpreters need to have voice training Recording is considered as the most effective method As listening actively and objectively to the recording help interpreters to answer a series of questions as follow (Nhat 2016, p.66): - Accurate and clarity: Is pronunciation accurate and comprehension? - Articulation: Do you slur your words or mumble? - Pitches and intonation: Do you speak monotonously or melodiously? Does your voice go up and down at the right times or inappropriate times? - Accents: Does your accent make it difficult for people to understand or vote for you? 31 - Breathing and swallowing: Is your voice nasally, breathy, or raspy? Is your breathing deep enough? Do you seem nervous based on your breathing and saliva? Memory training - Impression: What image can the voice arouse? (confidence, shyness, determination, etc.) Interpretation techniques 3.1 Preparation In order to have a good performance, interpreters are encouraged to not only have sustained mental alertness but also to get information about some fundamental subjects (Nhat 2016, p.21) More than 20 years of experience working as interpreters, Le Huy Khoa (2019, p.50) believes that preparation is the key element deciding the success of interpretation or not Hence, interpreters are encouraged to have a good preparation prior to an interpretation It is obvious that interpreters have to pay high attention and concentration in events that may last many hours Thus, they have to get enough sleep as well as follow good habits of nutrition and daily exercises (Nhat 2016, p.21) Besides, in a legal event such as an international conference or seminar, there are many sources of essential and fundamental information that interpreters are required to arrange The first one is the agenda offering interpreters the specific themes of the event, which help interpreters acknowledge how the event is organized (Nhat 2016, p.21) What is more, interpreters have a chance to learn more about the topic of events such as terminology or related laws and codes If there are some difficult concepts, interpreters need to look up documents in both source language and target language to understand the content in advance Another thing interpreters may prepare prior to an event is the list of speakers Having this one, 32 interpreters can avoid being confused if there are unfamiliar names such as the name in Japanese, Korean, or Chinese Furthermore, in the field of law, interpreters are encouraged to research about the previous speeches, articles, or science works of speakers to gain their insight as well as their point of view regarding topic event Collecting documents is also a good habit of professional interpreters, especially materials relating to the subjects of the events This work provides interpreters a chance to prepare the technical term in both Vietnamese and English (Khoa 2019, p.52) In addition, interpreters should take advantage to have a conversation with speakers of the event in order to determine their speaking style, whether they use local language or even get agreement on the signals if interpreters not get the point in speakers’ speech Lastly, to have a successful interpretation, people should arrange some necessities such as printing and sequencing document in order of speaking If interpreters have visual problems, glasses are a must-have in order to ensure they can see the screen which is used to present content in the event Besides, interpreters should have a notebook and pen or pencil to take notes easily (Khoa 2019, p.53-54) 3.2 Memory training Memory functions differently in consecutive and simultaneous interpreting because the duration of memory is longer in consecutive interpretation than in simultaneous interpretation.8 While the long-term memory is contributed through an interpreter’s life via many ways like learning, researching, or learning by heart, interpreters need to have some methods to enhance their short-term memory which generates plenty of influences on the quality of interpretation directly https://translationjournal.net/journal/25interpret.htm 33 According to Duong (2006, p.38), interpreters may use some methods called retelling in the source language, shadowing exercise, and mnemonic in practicing Retelling in the source language method requires interpreters to make a reformation of the speech in the same language without taking any notes Also, they are encouraged to repeat the text in the same words as the original as much as possible In order to support this method, Duong (2006, p.39) recommends that interpreters should categorize and generalize the information when taking up this method Categorization means they need to group the items of the same proprieties to find the link or relation or the logical sequence between them while generalization is to draw a general conclusion from particular examples or messages but still convey the full meaning in case speakers have a long or specific speech Lonergan (1999) considers shadowing as recommended for training of simultaneous interpretation In order to practice this method, learners are required to listen to the material and, at the same time, repeat every word the announcer said Trainees start repeating when speakers have uttered a half-sentence or a sentence In this case, trainees are likely to keep following closely the speakers, lagging form five (05) to ten (10) seconds (Duong 2006, p.39) The suggested materials are taps or videotapes having different pronunciation and strange accents Besides, interpreters may use a long speech which may be up to five (05) minutes in practicing At the first stage, interpreters have summary the main idea of this speech and then answer questions in order to explore all supporting ideas This technique is to help trainees in both types of interpretation generate memory capacity There are also some tips interpreters may use to enhance their memory capacity Firstly, according to Nguyen Quang Nhat (2016, p.52), concentration is the key element for interpreters to have a good short-term memory Hence, he cites that 34 frozen-eyes that keep interpreters’ eyes at one thing when speakers are talking, and volume-down technique which is used to keep the volume down as much as possible when listening would have a great influence on enhancing memory ability In addition, grouping information is also a good technique for memory training 3.3 Practicing for listening and reproduction at the same time According to Magdalena Bartlomiejczyk (2006), in order to divide the attention between listening and production, beginners should be confronted with an appropriate source language text which does not require much effort in terms of understanding and analysis Seleskovitch and Lederer (1989) suggest that beginners may use popular stories such as Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White and Seven Dwarfs or The Friendly Frog to practice They are supposed to listen to the story in English and retell it in the mother tongue at the same time and vice versa Afterward, the difficulty level is raised a bit higher by using postcard or video from some international websites such as CNN, BBC News Moreover, learners may use the video relating to politic or law in order to familiar with not only legal terms but also legal content Kurz (1992) also suggests a technique helping interpreters enhance their job is to answer a series of questions with no pauses between them First, there is a series of yes/no questions which have to be answered with a full sentence For instance, “Are there six (06) primary sentences against criminals?” – “No, there are seven (07) primary sentences” Moreover, while answering one question, trainees have to be already listening to the new one The difficulty of questions also increases gradually for a series of questions like how, what, when, where, and why 35 3.4 Interpretation practice principles Besides preparing for knowledge and language skills, interpreters must pay attention to the interpretation training to gain the best productivity There are some suggestions interpreters should consider before practicing Firstly, it is optimal for the newcomers to take up translation in written form fluently before interpreting in the form of spoken language as well as beginning from simple to complex in order to avoid getting depressed (Khoa 2019, p.40) Translating is the preparation for interpretation, which offers trainee time to elaborate and elect words accurately Secondly, interpreters should interpret from Vietnamese to English and vice versa at the same time to make a comparison in the difference between two (02) transliterations (Khoa 2019, p.40) Moreover, newcomers also need to focus on an interpretation style instead of multiple ones in order to gain confidence and accuracy The suggested solutions to overcome the obstacles relating to memory capacity, reflex capacity, or speaking skill are considered as methods of practicing The first method is to take a glance at document and then to interpret to the target language Interpreters are encouraged to maintain the interpretation speed as normal speaking with the gradually increasing difficulty Besides, interpreters may practice their transliterating capacity via using video or clips as mentioned above Taking advantage of using film having subtitle is the most optimal option in this case as film brings a source of energy and interest for people to keep it up Moreover, while applying this method, interpreters may record and then re-listen to discover their own mistakes in order to improve the quality in the next time (Khoa 2019, p.38) CONCLUSION OF CHAPTER Overall, in order to overcome all interpreting obstacles, interpreters need to improve their language skills relating to listening, speaking, and memory As there 36 are some different features between consecutive and simultaneous interpretation, interpreters need to have particular methods to overcome specific difficulties of each type Besides, they are also required to spend time acknowledging the law branch they are interested in both source language and target language due to the difference in the legal systems as mentioned in the previous chapter 37 CONCLUSION As the combination of modern and ancient language and general and specific linguistic features, legal language is complicated and technical Therefore, it is challenging for interpreters to comprehend and translate it from one language to another, especially under the pressure of timing at an interpretation Apart from proficient language skills and rich knowledge of the legal field mentioned above, interpretation also requires people to generate, and improve plenty of soft skills such as fast response speed, high-concentration capacity and interaction in wide space Hence, my attitude for forwards studying legal English as well as enhance interpreting capacity has always been “learn to improve” and “practice make perfect” I have accomplished this thesis with all of my passion, efforts, and enthusiasm However, due to the time limitation, I cannot totally analyze all issues regarding legal interpretation in order to suggest optimal solving-solutions My thesis mainly focuses on the basic obstacles arising throughout the interpretation process and thus, suggests some solutions to help interpreters have a view as a whole about interpretation work Even though this is not the only science research about interpretation in Vietnam, this thesis is the first work on the legal field with the comparison of the difference between not only legal systems but also the feature of linguistic Therefore, it is expected to assist interpreters overcome difficulties arising in their works and provide a practice process to newcomers as well 38 REFERENCES I BOOKS AND JOURNAL 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Weihe Zhong (2003, July) Memory training in interpreting Retrieved from: https://translationjournal.net/journal/25interpret.htm Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia Fruit of the poisonous tree Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruit_of_the_poisonous_tree Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia Miranda warning Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miranda_warning ... guidance and orientation as well For the reasons above, the topic ? ?Obstacles to accurate and fluent legal interpretation and feasible solutions to these problems? ?? is chosen as the title of this thesis... groups of obstacles to accurate and obstacles to fluent legal interpretation Obstacles to accurate legal interpretation 1.1 Different legal systems and laws It is undeniable that different legal. .. out the solutions which are useful and feasible to their problems Besides, this thesis provides some tips for people to speed up their interpretation speech as well Solutions to accurate legal interpretation