Assignments for lesson "Bias in the Interpreted Event"

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Spot the Bias: Scenario Analysis Activity 2: Spot the Bias — Scenario Analysis Type: Case Study Analysis · Estimated time: 20 minutes · Submission: Text field or uploaded document (Download the Word Template: Assignment2_Spot_the_Bias) Read each scenario carefully. For each one, answer the two questions that follow. Your responses should be specific and analytical — reference the concepts from the lesson where relevant. Scenario A A Spanish-speaking defendant speaks quickly and uses frequent filler words (“este,” “o sea,” “pues”). The interpreter slows down the delivery and omits the fillers, reasoning that they don’t add meaning. Defense counsel later notes in a motion that the defendant appeared “more polished” in the interpreted record than he did in person, raising questions about whether the jury received an accurate impression. Question A1: What specific form(s) of bias may have operated in this scenario? Name them using the terminology from the lesson. Question A2: What should the interpreter have done differently? Be specific about pacing, fillers, and delivery. Scenario B An interpreter grew up in the same region of Mexico as the defendant and unconsciously uses the informal register of their shared home dialect because “that’s how we talk back home.” The defendant’s speech in the source language is relatively neutral. During cross-examination, the prosecutor comments that the defendant “doesn’t sound credible” — an impression that may have been shaped by the interpreter’s informal register choices. Question B1: Is cultural familiarity a form of implicit bias? Explain your reasoning, referencing the in-group/out-group dynamic from Module 1. Question B2: How does register choice implicate fairness in legal interpretation? What is the interpreter’s obligation when their personal register differs from the speaker’s actual register? Scenario C A victim describes her assault using an explicit Spanish term for a body part. The interpreter hesitates and renders the statement using a clinical euphemism — a choice she makes in the moment because she is uncomfortable with the explicit language and does not want to say it aloud in court. The victim’s counsel later argues that the softened rendering undercut the severity of the victim’s testimony. Question C1: How does personal discomfort function as a form of implicit bias? What category of bias error (omission, paralinguistic filtering, lexical choice) does this scenario represent? Question C2: What is the interpreter’s professional obligation in this moment? If the exact term is genuinely difficult to render, what options are available within the interpreter role?	None yet. Submit solution	None yet.

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Spot the Bias: Scenario Analysis

Activity 2: Spot the Bias — Scenario Analysis

Type: Case Study Analysis · Estimated time: 20 minutes · Submission: Text field or uploaded document (Download the Word Template: Assignment2_Spot_the_Bias)

Read each scenario carefully. For each one, answer the two questions that follow. Your responses should be specific and analytical — reference the concepts from the lesson where relevant.

Scenario A A Spanish-speaking defendant speaks quickly and uses frequent filler words (“este,” “o sea,” “pues”). The interpreter slows down the delivery and omits the fillers, reasoning that they don’t add meaning. Defense counsel later notes in a motion that the defendant appeared “more polished” in the interpreted record than he did in person, raising questions about whether the jury received an accurate impression.

Question A1: What specific form(s) of bias may have operated in this scenario? Name them using the terminology from the lesson. Question A2: What should the interpreter have done differently? Be specific about pacing, fillers, and delivery.

Scenario B An interpreter grew up in the same region of Mexico as the defendant and unconsciously uses the informal register of their shared home dialect because “that’s how we talk back home.” The defendant’s speech in the source language is relatively neutral. During cross-examination, the prosecutor comments that the defendant “doesn’t sound credible” — an impression that may have been shaped by the interpreter’s informal register choices.

Question B1: Is cultural familiarity a form of implicit bias? Explain your reasoning, referencing the in-group/out-group dynamic from Module 1. Question B2: How does register choice implicate fairness in legal interpretation? What is the interpreter’s obligation when their personal register differs from the speaker’s actual register?

Scenario C A victim describes her assault using an explicit Spanish term for a body part. The interpreter hesitates and renders the statement using a clinical euphemism — a choice she makes in the moment because she is uncomfortable with the explicit language and does not want to say it aloud in court. The victim’s counsel later argues that the softened rendering undercut the severity of the victim’s testimony.

Question C1: How does personal discomfort function as a form of implicit bias? What category of bias error (omission, paralinguistic filtering, lexical choice) does this scenario represent? Question C2: What is the interpreter’s professional obligation in this moment? If the exact term is genuinely difficult to render, what options are available within the interpreter role?

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