Sociolinguistic influences on the quality of interpreting for foreign African immigrants in South African courtrooms

Usadolo, Sam Erevbenagie2020-08-112020-08-112016-01-31Usadolo, S. E. 2016. Sociolinguistic influences on the quality of interpreting for foreign African immigrants in South African courtrooms. International Journal of English Linguistics. 6(1): 13-23. Available: doi:10.5539/ijel.v6n1p131923-869X1923-8703 (Online)isidoc: DI5RBhttp://hdl.handle.net/10321/3440The study presents some sociolinguistic influences on the quality of interpreting for foreign African immigrants in South African courtrooms. Data was collected using observation of courtroom proceedings and unstructured interviews. The sociolinguistic influences identified can be linked to factors such as the notion of equivalence, misunderstandings about the role of the interpreter by principal actors, code-switching, and interpreting in the first person and third person by interpreters. These factors are discussed in terms of their negative influences on the quality of interpreting and how they can be mitigated. Finally, based on the identified limitation of the study, suggestions for further study are given.</p>11 p.enCode-switchingInterpretingLinguistic rightsNotion of equivalenceTerminologySociolinguistic influences on the quality of interpreting for foreign African immigrants in South African courtroomsArticle2020-08-1010.5539/ijel.v6n1p13