Impact of code switching on the quality of interpreting : the case of Rwanda parliament.

Abstract

ix ABSTRACT This study is about code switching use in Kinyarwanda, the phenomenon which is referred to as the alternate use of two or more languages, language varieties or styles within one segment of sentence or conversation. Even if code switching seems to be a normal way of efficiently expressing ideas among bilingual persons, the big challenge may arise when the message involving code switching has to be relayed to another audience through interpreting, especially when code switching users are not continuously bearing in mind that it can adversely impact what interpreters render. The study targeted Members of the Rwandan Parliament (MPs), specifically in the Chamber of Deputies. It was realized that by using code switching, MPs’ major objective is to express their ideas or respond to other needs with language resources available to them and they know that interpreters, as language engineers, will always find a way to relay the communication-which is not the case all the time. In this study, it was hypothesized that the more the source text producer uses code switching items, the more difficulty the interpreting task becomes and the more quality of the output diminishes. The quest for solving this situation increases levels of quality offered by interpreters at the Parliament and provides interpreters with a better working environment. The study sought to answer the following questions: What kind of code switches are used by Parliamentarians speaking Kinyarwanda? To what extent does code switching affect the interpreting quality from Kinyarwanda into either English or French? and which strategies can be used to handle code switching while interpreting from Kinyarwanda into either English or French? To respond to these questions the study used a sample population including MPs and interpreters. The latter were selected from those working at Parliament permanently and those who interpret for the institution on a part time basis. Different data collection methods were applied: questionnaire, interview, skimming through MPs’ contributions containing code switching items and recordings of interpreters’ outputs. The researcher’s participation through observation and provision of clarification where necessary also contributed a lot. MPs understudy proved to use code switching items from both English and French, where out of 826 code switching items analyzed, 74% were from English and 26% from French. No single x MP proved to stick to using code switching items from only one language. Three code switching types were employed disproportionately: intra-sentential code switching was predominantly used, 57.4% compared to inter-sentential code switching, 39.3% and tag switching, 3.3%. Such code switching items were made with various linguistic items including nouns, verbs, adjectives, abbreviations and interjections and so on. Impact of code switching on the interpreting quality appeared not negligible as code switching items in STs lessened the interpreting quality by between 10 % and 26%. This impact was weighed intertextually, intra-textually and instrumentally, as worked out by Shlesinger (1997: 128). Quality factors looked at were equivalence (1), accuracy and appropriateness (2), and comprehensibility (3). Errors made by interpreters involved in the study showed the impact of code switching items in the SL and they manifested themselves through omissions and distortions for the 1st quality factor, via hesitations, pause-fillers, bad use of grammar, lack of coherence and wrong choice of words for the 2nd quality factor as well as through lack of explicitness and completeness for the 3rd quality factor. Findings of the study showed that code switching in Kinyarwanda STs constitute jeopardy to the quality of interpreting. Some alternatives to deal with this situation were proposed, and these require efforts from both interpreters and interpreter-mediated events’ organizers or clients.