The role of the interpreter in constructing asylum seeker’s credibility: A hearing at the Spanish Asylum and Refugee Office
Issue: Vol 4 No. 2 (2010) Service provision in a globalised world
Journal: Sociolinguistic Studies
Subject Areas: Gender Studies Linguistics
Abstract:
The paper’s objective is to establish the interpreter’s role in the construction of the asylum seeker’s credibility during the interaction at asylum hearings. To illustrate this, I perform a discourse analysis of the interaction at an asylum hearing with a Nigerian applicant and an English-Spanish interpreter, taking place at the Oficina de asilo y refugio in Madrid (Spain) in 2005. Firstly, I identify the functions adopted by the interpreter in the hearing, the interactional sequence generated by his working method and its impact on his translation activity. Secondly, I focus on the alterations in the interpreter’s rendition which may have an impact on the applicant’s credibility and I set out to elucidate the factors explaining these alterations.
Author: Isabel Gómez Díez
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