台灣職業與半職業籃球聯盟口譯員角色之研究

Abstract

台灣的籃球聯盟從2006年開始引進外籍球員，聘請外籍教練也經常是聯盟與球隊期望能提高競爭強度的方式。外籍教練與球員來台後面臨的文化衝擊與語言隔閡，促使各球隊聘請專職球隊內口譯員，以協助隊上本土與外籍教練、球員間的溝通與協調。本研究透過田野調查與半結構式訪談，實地觀察職業（P.LEAGUE+）與半職業（超級籃球聯賽）聯盟的球隊比賽與練習，以及訪談本土/外籍教練、本土/外籍球員與口譯員共17名，以了解台灣職業與半職業球隊的教練、球員與口譯員自身是如何看待口譯員的角色與身分。研究結果顯示籃球口譯員在口譯現場的站位與他們所選擇的口譯模式會影響到口譯員當下的能見度。另外，籃球口譯員依據不同的情境會扮演四種角色，包括傳遞資訊的管道、助理教練、總教練的左右手與衝突調停者。職業與半職業聯盟的球隊口譯員之工作責任大致相同，但由於兩個聯盟間不同的工作模式與生態，職業聯盟的球隊口譯較不需要擔任私人助理的角色。然而，為了更進一步提升球隊口譯的整體工作品質與環境，研究者建議未來的球隊口譯員皆須接受專業籃球口譯的訓練，而聯盟內若能標準化口譯員在球隊內的職稱，口譯員的能見度也能藉此提高。

Basketball leagues in Taiwan have been recruiting foreign coaches as elite international talents, and foreign players have come to Taiwan to play since 2006. The cultural differences and language barriers these coaches and players face have facilitated basketball teams to hire interpreters to assist their foreign staff. The present study aims to explore the roles of team interpreters in professional (P.LEAGUE+) and semi-professional (Super Basketball League) basketball leagues in Taiwan by field observation during actual games and practices and by interviewing foreign/local coaches, foreign/local players and interpreters (17 participants in total) to understand how interpreters are perceived and how interpreters perceive themselves. Results show that different physical positions and different modes of interpretation that team interpreters adopted during actual games and practices affect their visibility. Also, team interpreters play the roles of conduits, assistant coaches, coach’s right-hand men and conflict mediators/emotion filters. Generally speaking, team interpreters at professional and semi-professional leagues share similar job responsibilities, but because ecosystems and working modes are different between professional and semi-professional leagues, team interpreters at professional leagues serve less as personal assistants than those at semi-professional leagues. Suggestions about improving team interpreters’ interpreting quality and working environment are discussed at the end of the study, including providing basketball interpreting training and standardizing interpreters’ job title and description to give them full recognition of their work at professional basketball leagues.