Code-switching and Coordination in Interpreter-mediated Interaction

Abstract

This chapter describes and compares code-switching (CS) by lay participants and institutional representatives in data involving English-speaking migrants from West Africa (Nigeria, Ghana) collected in legal and healthcare settings in Northern Italy. In both settings CS by foreign end-users is found to be relatively common in sequentially ‘reactive’ positions; with the exception of nonce borrowings, lay participants take the initiative in CS more rarely, mainly when pressing personal concerns are at issue. CS by institutional representatives shows a functional sensitivity both to broad institutional aims and to the specific sub-aims of the various phases of the encounter; its greater prevalence in the healthcare setting can, it is argued, be traced to the need to create a collaborative relationship in order to successfully diagnose and treat the patient. Implications of the results for theories of mediated interaction and for the training of community interpreters and court interpreters dealing with migrant populations are discussed.