Conversation analysis

Since the late 1990s, translation and interpreting studies has looked at CA with increasing interest, especially in the area of dialogue interpreting (DI). DI is a form of interaction where speakers with little or no knowledge of each other’s language interact with the help of a bilingual interlocutor who translates for them. It may involve different types of bilingual experts, ranging from qualifi ed personnel to friends or relatives, and a variety of types of conversation: court proceedings, police interviews, asylum seeking sessions, healthcare interactions in different contexts, parent- teacher interactions at school, and in the media, like talk shows or interviews, and others (Mason 1999). CA focuses on the accomplishment of communicative practices as they emerge in the circumstances in which utterances are produced. It looks at how participants make their understanding of what is going on clear while responding to previously produced utterances, and examines the construction of sense- making in the interaction. As such, CA has provided a powerful instrument with to highlight the characteristics of interaction in DI. These chapters deals with the method of CA and its applications to DI.