What is it about?
This article investigates selected aspects of turn-taking and clarification sequences during interpreter-mediated counselling sessions for refugees conducted via the telephone (Arabic–German). A quantitative analysis reveals that limited audibility makes it more difficult for interpreters to claim their turn successfully; in most cases, however, turn-taking occurs smoothly. The trouble sources that trigger queries are mainly content-related and interpreters vary greatly in the ways they deal with such difficulties. Contrary to what one might expect, the study shows that coordination fails only rarely during telephone-based remote interpreting.
Why is it important?
Telephone-based remote interpreting (TI) has come into widespread use in multilingual encounters, all the more so in times of refugee crises and the large influx of asylum-seekers into Europe. Nevertheless, the linguistic practices in this mode of communication have not yet been examined comprehensively. Research on TI often focuses on communicative problems that occur due to the lack of visual cues and the absence of a shared physical space. Our study, however, suggests that such problems are not as frequent as one might expect.