- Definition of Sight Interpreting
National Council on Interpreting in Health Care (2009) stated that sight translation is the oral rendition of text written in one language into another language and is usually done in the moment.
Sight interpretation is interpretation of a written text received by the translator, usually without any time for preparation. It involves reading a text silently in the source language, and then speaking it in the target language.
When an interpreter is asked to sight translate in court, it will likely involve a witness statement or other document written in a language not spoken in court proceedings. The court interpreter is asked to read it in English "for the record," and the translation will be recorded.
When the document is an English document, it is usually a court document to be read to the accused. It could be a sentencing order, bail conditions, conditions of probation, etc. It is vital that the court interpreter provide a complete and accurate sight translation of the document so the accused can understand the conditions imposed by the judge.
Such interpreting services are usually delivered by a certified translator at a notary's office or in a courtroom, when an interested party must be made familiar with the contents of a document presented in a foreign language.
Sight interpreting requires excellent language skills, a good memory, quick thinking, resistance to stress, and good powers of attention and concentration on the part of the interpreter. The greatest challenge for the interpreter is the lack of familiarity with the contents and the context of the entire document while being expected to read and translate the required fragments. To make the translation correct, coherent and fluent, the translator must take in as much of the text as possible and be able to translate it into the target language immediately.
- Discussion of Sight Interpreting
A real example of sight translation or sight interpreting can be seen in the implementation of translation in court settings. For example, an Expert Witness shows an official document as part of his expertise. An interpreter must be able to translate the document into the target language properly orally. The implementation is usually: 1) an interpreter is given time to understand the text first then does a sight translation, or 2) an interpreter immediately does a night translation without any time delay to understand the text. The second option is in line with the ideas expressed by Pöchhacker (2016) as follows:
"In sight translation, the interpreter's target-text production is simultaneous not with the delivery of the source text but with the interpreter's real-time (visual) reception of the written source text."
Often this sight translation is carried out simultaneously with the implementation of simultaneous interpreting but does not rule out the possibility of doing it during consecutive interpreting. Documents that need to be done during sight translation can be paper documents printed out or handwritten, or electronic documents presented through a projector. This electronic document was once used in one of Jessica Kumolo Wongso's trials when she presented an expert witness from Australia who presented her analytical evidence through a projector. However, in general documents that need to be translated right are printed out documents. That is as expressed by Stansfield (2008: 3) "That is, right translation involves rendering printed English test materials orally in the learner's native language."
Interpreters in a formal legal setting are not only required to be able to use consecutive and simultaneous modes, but also to do sight translation. The two modes mentioned earlier are often carried out in court interpreting as expressed by Edwards in Kelly (2005), "Two modes of interpreting are used in court by qualified interpreters-simultaneous and consecutive." Meanwhile, sight translation is often done when participants in court ask the interpreter to translate orally official documents or written evidence displayed through a projector. In this case, Phelan (2001) states, "An interpreter in a court setting could be asked to translate a legal document."
- Strategies of Sight Interpreting