Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Ankara Science University 2nd Ankara Humanities and Social Sciences Congress, Ankara, Türkiye, 11 Mart 2023, ss.34-35
In today’s world, human kind has faced a few facts forcing him to migrate such as wars, pandemics, climate change, economic crisis and scarcity. Within migrant groups, it is not always easily possible to receive a professional interpretation service; thus, they have to rely on an informal network created by children who often play a significant role to translate for their families as they are acknowledged to have greater language ability in the host culture and language than their families. In this study, a qualitative content analysis of news and articles in both national and international media was conducted in order to reveal the image of child translators drawn by the media. In the first place, news archives on online magazines and newspapers were scanned by searching for the words “child interpreters”, which yielded a total of 614 pieces of media content. As a result of the purposive sampling method, articles from national, international, daily, weekly and Sunday magazines and newspapers addressing child interpreters were retrieved. As a result of the content analysis, meaning units which refer to words and expressions reflecting on child interpreters were identified. These units were coded and grouped into certain categories. The data were then analysed through manual content analysis by coding and labelling common themes. Under the first theme which is “celebrating and welcoming child interpreters”, it was observed that the news content celebrating and welcoming child interpreters included positive experiences of children. They generally included an interview with the child himself/herself and/or the parents. They indicate how the child does a good job and helps his/her family out of a problematic situation. Under the second theme which is “violating children’s rights”, mostly academics raise their voices in respect of children. They indicate that children are put under tremendous burden, forced to grow earlier and exposed to inappropriate material for their age. The third and last theme which is “not being sure to have accurate information from children as informal interpreters” illustrates how inappropriate it is to rely on children to communicate as they are not prepared enough either cognitively or emotionally due to their young age. As a result of the research, it was seen that some reporters define child interpreters as heroes thanks to the important role they assume as cultural translators, while others find it inappropriate to celebrate this role due to ethical issues. Many academics, though, are ideologically opposed to the idea, arguing that giving a child such a large amount of responsibility might violate their rights. Furthermore, children may not be able to function as a linguistic and cultural mediator since they may not be fully fluent in both languages and lack the emotional maturity to do so. As well as laying the groundwork for future studies of child interpreters in linguistics, ethics, psychology, sociology, and other fields, this research hopes to create an awareness of the image of child interpreters created in the media.
Keywords: Child Interpreters, Interpretation, Interpreters, Child Interpreters in Media