Teaching Development Grants
    Completed TDG Projects

    Experiential Learning

    Legal Interpreting – from Courtroom to Classroom

    Abstract

    This project sets out to transform courtroom data into classroom teaching material and empirical research data by transcribing audio recordings of nine authentic criminal trials conducted at the three levels of courts in Hong Kong. Access to the audio data has been granted by the High Court of the Hong Kong Judiciary for academic purposes. With the use of authentic interpreter-mediated court proceedings as the training material, this project aims to enhance the learning experience of students of Legal Interpreting of the Translation Programme in the School of Chinese. It promotes interdisciplinary collaboration and diverse learning experiences through the conduct of mock trials with the Faculty of Law by using the resulting transcripts from this project. The analysis of the transcripts also contributes to the scholarship of teaching and learning in legal interpreting. The resulting transcripts and the lists of bilingual legal terminology will remain an invaluable resource of data, useful for both teaching and research purposes, for many years to come.

    Principal Investigator

    Dr. E.N.S. Ng, School of Chinese, Faculty of Arts Contact

    Project level

    Programme-level project

    Project Completion

    August 2015

    Deliverables

    1. Transcription of a total of 59.5 hours of audio recordings
    2. The use of the audio recordings of the court proceedings and the resulting transcripts from this project for conducting Legal Interpreting workshops
    3. A mock trial conducted in collaboration with colleagues from the Faculty of Law by using the transcripts of a High Court murder case. Download
    4. Compilation of seven lists of bilingual legal terms related to the six Ordinances under which the defendants of the nine criminal cases were charged – uploaded onto my newly created KE website – Resources for Interpreting – for public access (http://www.interpreting.hku.hk/glossary/):
      1. Glossary of terms related to Immigration Ordinance, Cap 115, Laws of Hong Kong 香港法例第115章《入境條例》相關詞彙
        http://www.interpreting.hku.hk/glossary/?tag=cap-115-immigration-ordinance-香港法例第115章入境條例 Download
      2. Glossary of terms related to Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, Cap 134, Laws of Hong Kong. 香港法例第134章《危險藥物條例》
        http://www.interpreting.hku.hk/glossary/?tag=cap-134-dangerous-drugs-ordinance-香港法例第134章危險藥物條例 Download
      3. Glossary of terms related to Crimes Ordinance, Cap 200, Laws of Hong Kong. 香港法例第200章《刑事罪行條例》
        http://www.interpreting.hku.hk/glossary/?tag=cap-200-crimes-ordinance-香港法例第200章刑事罪行條例 Download
      4. Glossary of terms related to sexual offences: Crimes Ordinance, Cap 200, Laws of Hong Kong. 香港法例第200章《刑事罪行條例》：性罪行相關詞彙
        http://www.interpreting.hku.hk/glossary/?tag=sexual-offences-性罪行 Download
      5. Glossary of terms related to Theft Ordinance, Cap 210, Laws of Hong Kong. 香港法例第210
        http://www.interpreting.hku.hk/glossary/?tag=cap-210-theft-ordinance-第210章盜竊罪條例 Download
      6. Glossary of terms related to Offences Against the Person Ordinance, Cap 212, Laws of Hong Kong. 香港法例第212章侵害人身罪條例相關詞彙
        http://www.interpreting.hku.hk/glossary/?tag=cap-212-ordinance-香港法例第212章侵害人身罪條例 Download
      7. Glossary of terms related to Copyright Ordinance, Cap 528, Laws of Hong Kong. 香港法例第528章《版權條例》
        http://www.interpreting.hku.hk/glossary/?tag=cap-528-copyright-ordinance-香港法例第528章版權條例 Download
    5. Publications in teaching and learning in legal interpreting:
      1. Ng E. (2015). Teaching and research on legal interpreting: A Hong Kong perspective. Monographs in Translation and Interpreting (MonTI) 7 – Legal Interpreting at a Turning Point, 243–270.
      2. Ng E. (forthcoming). Interpreter intervention and participant roles in witness examination. International Journal of Interpreter Education.
      3. Ng E. (forthcoming). Judges’ intervention in witness examination as a cause of omissions in interpretation in the Hong Kong courtroom. International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law.
    6. Presentations at conferences:
      1. Juror comprehension in English-medium trials in the Hong Kong courtroom. Paper presented as an invited speaker at the colloquium –Asian Perspectives on Forensic Linguistics, the 12th Biennial Conference on Forensic Linguistics/Language and Law (IAFL12), Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS), Guangzhou, China, 6–9 July 2015.
      2. Testifying in English: Expert witnesses in the Hong Kong courtroom. Paper presented at the 12th Biennial Conference on Forensic Linguistics/Language and Law (IAFL12), Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS), Guangzhou, China, 6–9 July 2015.
      3. Legal interpreting: from courtroom to classroom. Paper presented at the International Conference on Translation and Interpreting Studies: Pathways to Innovative Training and Pedagogy, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea, 17–18 October 2014.Download