Characterizing natural interpreters’ attitudes towards interpreting: The effect of experimental contexts

Abstract

Bilingual children can perform natural interpreting in two different spontaneous settings, i.e., at home when acquiring their two languages and when practicing language brokering. In both cases, as natural interpreters and as child brokers, bilingual children can act as interpreters between two monolingual adults, although the scenario in which they interpret (domestic versus non-domestic settings, respectively) and the goal (raising children bilingually versus mediating for their family, respectively) may differ. Recently, some scholars have revealed how negatively or positively child brokers may see their role as family-society mediators. Likewise, natural interpreters may show positive or negative attitudes towards interpreting, and these may vary as they grow up as bilinguals. In order to observe how bilingual children respond to interpreting as they develop linguistically, experimental data from CHILDES involving a pair or twins across three elicited interpreting sessions were used (i.e., ages 4;6, 5;05, 6;03). The results show that both children translate efficiently and mainly when required to do so, providing predominantly simplified translations in their first experience and later an equal proportion of simplified and literal translations. To interpret these results, some external variables associated with experimental conditions (e.g., the aim behind interpreting; the interlocutors’ needs and roles; the duration of the sessions) are also taken into consideration which help characterize how natural interpreters face natural interpreting.