Distributing responsibilities in the interpreted workplace : an exploration into professional discourse, tool-talk and team-talk

Abstract

This study explores the perceptions of deaf professionals, hearing professionals and interpreters regarding the use of professional discourse, which revealed participants’ understanding of distributions of responsibilities, through five focus group discussions. It became evident that professional discourses (in English and BSL) are deemed crucial for deaf professionals, but that they are difficult to access for deaf professionals and interpreters. All participants focussed on the exclusive relationship between deaf professionals and interpreters, diminishing responsibilities and strategies of hearing professionals. However, instances in which everyone contributed to the interpreted event and took responsibility were deemed most effective. Discourses that display this principle are labelled ‘team-talk’, while the opposite, ‘tool-talk’, reflects perceptions of the interpreted event as being mechanical and the interpreter as non-participant of the interpreted event. By applying the taxonomy of responsibilities as proposed by Vincent (2011) as an analysis tool, the understanding of interpreted events can become more nuanced and holistic, as this study showed that everyone involved in interpreted events take part in the distribution of responsibilities. If all participants in interpreted events acknowledge their own and each other’s actions, efforts and strategies, a more equal situation develops, in which team-talk is the prevailing discourse and in which responsibilities are shared.