Professionalization of Court Interpreting Over Power-Related Obstacles

Hints for Japan from Boston Court Interpreters

Abstract

Based on interpreter-mediated court session observations and interviews with Boston court interpreters which took place in March 2024, this paper examines the factors that enabled the establishment of court interpreter certification systems in the U.S., and conversely explores hints which may explain why a similar system has not yet been realized in Japan. Using as frameworks Mason’s (2015) “three types of power relations” in interpreter-mediated discourse: power relations between languages, interpreter’s power advantage, and institutional power disparity, as well as sociological theories on professionalization employed in interpreting studies (Grbič, 2015), this paper explores how power-related obstacles were overcome in the U.S. context, which led to the emergence of the four key factors of professionalization, i.e., legal protection, a professional association, a code of ethics, and professional skill training, while the same has not yet been realized in Japan.