INTERPRETING INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION: A CASE STUDY OF WAILARI COLLEGE, KANO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Interpreting is a communicative event which occurs during cross-cultural communication when two interlocutors do not share a language. In the process of rapid information exchange from various languages and cultures, competent interpreters are mandatory. The major goal of interpreting is that a message makes the same impact on the target audience as was intended by the speaker in the source language (Angelelli, 2000). In their professional activities, interpreters encounter a wide variety of problems. Given that interpreting is a major communication skill, this research aims at investigating the challenges faced by interpreters using descriptive method. The study collected its data by recording two student participants who interpreted all deliberations in the course of the Parents-Teachers Association meeting of Wailari College, Kano from English to Hausa, as most parents present at the meeting did not understand English language considered to be the official language in Nigeria. The research revealed that the difficulties faced by interpreters when interpreting included cultural background, time constraint, interlocutors speaking speed and word memorisation among others. Furthermore, it had found some strategies to solve the difficulties in interpreting activities such as working as a team, preparation, using Dictionary and communication strategies.