Sustaining embodied participation frameworks with gaze and head gesture in signed-to-spoken interpreting
Vibeke Bø
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Title
Sustaining embodied participation frameworks with gaze and head gesture in signed-to-spoken interpreting
Abstract
This study investigates embodied participation frameworks in a signed-to-spoken interpreted encounter. Using a multimodal conversation analytical lens, the analysis demonstrate how interpreters exploit available semiotic resources to sustain participation frameworks. While participation frameworks are constantly negotiated in both same-language and interpreted interactions, this study puts forward unique challenges that arise in signed-to-spoken interpreted encounters: Although gaze is an important interactional resource, the nature of signed-to-spoken interpreting sometimes requires an alternative strategy because the gaze is occupied with perceiving the signed discourse. Head gestures have been found to serve as this alternative strategy. The notion of the coupled turn in interpreted encounters is supported, as it helps unravel these patterns that are unique to interpreted interaction. The naturalistic data in this study provide examples of how navigating two communicative needs simultaneously leads to several simultaneous processes of embodied conduct: The interpreter visually perceives and renders an utterance, while also interactionally indicating the addressee with a head gesture. Findings from this study highlight the need for further exploration of how interpreters navigate competing communicative demands. Moreover, signed-to-spoken interpreting exemplifies the diversity of language practices, pointing to the need for an inclusive approach to language practices.
Keywords
Simultaneous interpreting, head gesture, coupled turn, embodied participation framework, conversation analysis