Page 249 - Handbooks of Applied Linguistics Communication Competence Language and Communication Problems Practical Solutions

The impact of culture on interpreter behaviour 227

control of adult children and older adults in control of their younger adult siblings.
Traditionally in Latino culture, the head of the family is expected to make the deci-
sions regarding any family member. The whole family looks to this person for sup-
port and advice. By using a young family member as an interpreter, the physician
puts the child in control, with a much higher status than the child would otherwise
have. This disrupts the family’s social order.
Haffner (1992)

3.2. ‘At hand’ interpreters
In many situations, untrained interpreters are used because they are ‘at hand’
when an interpreter is needed. Knapp-Potthoff and Knapp (1987a, 1987b), in
their research into ‘non-professional’ interpreting, found that the interpreters in
their studies frequently functioned as independent individuals participating ac-
tively in the interactions. This quite often resulted in two problems: failure to in-
terpret parts of what the primary interlocutors said, and the insertion of addi-
tional elements. In Knapp-Potthofff and Knapp’s studies, some of this seemed to
be due to personal concerns about face.
In our study of Chinese–British business meetings (Spencer-Oatey and Xing
2000, 2003, 2004, 2005) we found a similar situation during one (but not all) of
the delegation visits. In this section we present some of the critical interactions
that took place during this one particular trip. They illustrate the impact that in-
tercultural factors can have on an (untrained) interpreter’s performance and the
problems that this can lead to.
In the trip concerned, six Chinese businessmen visited the headquarters of a
British engineering company. They had already signed a contract with the Brit-
ish company in China to buy some engineering equipment, and the official pur-
pose of the visit was to inspect the goods prior to shipping and to receive some
end-user training. The British company concerned had previously hosted many
Chinese delegations before, and on these previous occasions had nearly always
used a PhD student (a native Chinese speaker) from a local university. This stu-
dent was familiar with the technological aspects of the company’s products, and
the British company was very happy with his performance as an interpreter.
However, at the time of this visit, this student was busy preparing for his PhD
viva, and he recommended another Chinese PhD student from the same depart-
ment to take his place. However, a number of problems arose as a result of his
interpreting.

3.2.1. A problematic intervention
The first meeting between the British staff and the Chinese visitors was an in-
troductory welcome meeting. The British chairman welcomed the visitors and
shortly afterwards he asked the British staff to introduce themselves. When they