Browsing by Person "Mapson, Rachel"

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As clear as mud?
(Association of Sign Language Interpreters, 2010) Mapson, Rachel
Duty of care or duty to care? What determines our responsibilities at work?
(Association of Sign Language Interpreters, 2018) Mapson, Rachel; Schofield, Mark; Wolfenden, David
Dynamics in interpreted interactions: An insight into the perceptions of healthcare professionals
(Digital Commons, 2014) Schofield, Mark; Mapson, Rachel
Wadensj (1993) indicates that a crucial element of interpreters' work is to maintain relationships and interactional dynamics. The present study explores how these dynamics are developed and maintained in clinical settings as perceived by healthcare professionals. Discussion of interpreter involvement in this process is framed by theoretical models on social networks (Watts, 2003) and rapport-management (Spencer-Oatey, 2008). Quantitative and qualitative data were generated through questionnaire responses and semi-structured interviews with a range of healthcare providers in both primary care and specialist hospital settings. These data indicate that both continuity of interpreter provision and collaborative working are highly valued by clinicians. Healthcare professionals expressed how the development of interpreter/provider trust (Hsieh et al. 2010) afforded by continuity of interpreter provision may lead to improved interactional dynamics, thereby reducing interpreter intrusiveness and enhancing the quality of healthcare provision.
Im/politeness and interpreting
(Routledge, 2019-05-22) Mapson, Rachel; Tipton, Rebecca; Desilla, Louisa
In this chapter on the interpretation of politeness and impoliteness (im/politeness), im/politeness is considered as a discursive concept that exists in the way language is perceived and evaluated. This facet of pragmatics is therefore integral to the building and maintenance of interpersonal relationships but can present a significant challenge for interpreters because evaluations of im/politeness vary between different languages and cultures. Key perspectives and common themes within translation and interpreting studies literature are explored, including the affordance of familiarity with clients and context on the way im/politeness is interpreted. One theme relates to the degree of directness or indirectness involved, which may result in interpreters employing a variety of strategies, including hedges, prosody, toning down face threatening acts (FTAs) and use of third person. The influence of interpreters’ personal identity is another theme, which in some situations may manifest through use of particular terms of address. The chapter highlights the need for a greater focus on im/politeness and rapport management within interpreter training and continuous professional development (CPD), and the value of more explicit connections between translation and interpreting studies and the theoretical foundations within cross-cultural and intercultural im/politeness research.
Intercultural (Im)politeness: Influences on the way professional British Sign Language/English interpreters mediate im/polite language
(John Benjamins, 2020-08-15) Mapson, Rachel; Archer, Dawn; Grainger, Karen; Jagodziński, Piotr
Interpreters, rapport, and the role of familiarity
(Elsevier, 2021-02-18) Mapson, Rachel; Major, George
This paper explores one of the conditions that can foster interpreters’ ability to process meaning: their familiarity with the primary participants. Discussion focuses on how latent networks (Watts, 2003) inform the interpretation of relational work (Locher and Watts, 2005) and rapport management (Spencer-Oatey, 2000/2008). The relationship between familiarity and interpretation of relational activity is illustrated through the juxtaposition of two independent studies. Data in the first study were generated through semi-structured group discussions involving eight experienced British Sign Language/English interpreters to identify contextual influences on their choice of interpreting strategies around im/politeness. The findings from the first study are complemented by an interactional sociolinguistic analysis of relational practice within healthcare. In this second study, observational recordings of two naturally occurring general practice consultations, interpreted between Australian Sign Language and English, were supplemented with reflective interviews with the participants. Familiarity emerged as a strong theme across both studies. Familiarity provides the background knowledge enabling interpreters to better understand both the content and the intent of participants’ language. The knowledge afforded by familiarity reduces interpreters’ cognitive load and may therefore facilitate their greater focus on the relational aspects of the interaction.
Interpreting for deaf children in healthcare settings: An exploration of challenges and strategies
(SAGE Publications, 2025-10-02) Cherubin, Naomi; Mapson, Rachel
Good health literacy enables individuals to look after their health and well-being. However, deaf adults are seven times more likely to experience poor health literacy then their hearing counterparts, leading to poorer health outcomes. To improve health literacy levels in the deaf community, researchers emphasise the need for deaf children to access health-related information. When a child attends healthcare appointments, a qualified sign language interpreter is therefore essential. However, interpreting in this environment is a complex phenomenon. This qualitative study adopts an emic perspective to explore the challenges encountered by interpreters and some of the strategies adopted. Ten registered sign language interpreters with experience of working with deaf children in healthcare settings were selected to be involved in the research. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with each participant and reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify themes in the data. This study illustrates that, in addition to linguistic skills, an interpreter needs to possess interpersonal skills to conduct themselves in a professional manner and work in collaboration with the healthcare practitioner, child and parents. Additionally, the research shows that in this environment, interpreters may experience intrapersonal demands, highlighting the need for them to manage their emotions and look after their own well-being.
More harm than good?
(Association of Sign Language Interpreters, 2010) Mapson, Rachel; Schofield, Mark
Paths to politeness: Exploring how professional interpreters develop an understanding of politeness norms in British Sign Language and English
(De Gruyter Mouton, 2015-10-29) Mapson, Rachel; Locher, Miriam A.; Pizziconi, Barbara
This chapter explores how bimodal bilinguals acquire and develop their awareness of politeness in British Sign Language (BSL). Drawing on data collected through semi-structured group discussions involving eight highly experienced BSL/English interpreters the chapter focuses on how the participants learned about linguistic politeness in BSL and how this contrasts with their acquisition of English politeness norms. The data indicate how different paths to the acquisition of linguistic politeness might affect understanding of it. The experience of interpreters from Deaf family backgrounds, who acquired BSL as their first language, contrasts with those who learned BSL formally, as an additional language, as adults. Although both groups of participants acquired knowledge of politeness in similar arenas, the languages they were exposed to in these environments differed and intra-group experiences were heterogeneous. The data highlight the difficulty of learning politeness norms in an L2, with participants reporting a lack of explicit focus on politeness in BSL classes and interpreter training programmes. This may reflect the lack of literature on politeness in signed language, and on BSL in particular. Both groups of interpreters reported experiences involving the negative transfer of L1 politeness norms. Data indicate that the different modalities of BSL and English may facilitate transferability rather than restrict it, with one affordance being the ‘blended transfer’ of non-manual politeness features associated with BSL which may be performed simultaneously with spoken English.
Polite appearances: How non-manual features convey politeness in British Sign Language
(De Gruyter Mouton, 2014-07) Mapson, Rachel
This paper explores how non-manual features are key to conveying linguistic politeness in British Sign Language (BSL). Data were collected through five semi-structured interviews incorporating the elicitation of two speech acts commonly associated with research on linguistic politeness: requests and apologies. The data from this exploratory study suggest that nonmanual features (including specific mouth gestures and movements of the head and upper body) are more crucial for linguistic politeness than manual signs. The data indicate a degree of commonality between the features used for politeness in BSL and those previously identified in American Sign Language (Roush 1999; Hoza 2001, 2007). While non-manual features convey both linguistic and paralinguistic meaning in signed language (Sandler and Lillo-Martin 2006), their use in politeness highlights the complexity of the interaction between these two functions and illuminates an aspect of politeness frequently overlooked in much research: the use of intonation. Analysis of the use of nonmanual features for politeness also problematizes the categorization of politeness strategies using existing frameworks developed on spoken languages, such as the internal modifications outlined by Blum-Kulka et al. (1989).
Politeness in British Sign Language: the effects of language contact
(Scitsiugnil Press, 2013) Mapson, Rachel; Archibald, Alasdair N.
In the UK, language contact issues are reflected in the use of British Sign Language (BSL) in a society dominated by the use of English. The effects of language contact on BSL are a legacy of linguistic suppression and have sometimes been described in terms of a continuum, representing the differing degrees of linguistic influence from English (Lawson, 1981). This influence may result in syntactic and lexical alterations in the way BSL is performed, with English borrowings occurring either through the use of fingerspelled words or the adoption of English mouthings to accompany manual signs (Sutton-Spence, 1999). This paper discusses some of these effects as they pertain to linguistic politeness in BSL. The research forms part of a study designed to address the deficit in research into politeness in BSL by exploring what politeness looks like in BSL and the influences on the way in which it is performed.
Who are we?
(Association of Sign Language Interpreters, 2014) Mapson, Rachel