Dr. NG Nga Shan Eva 吳雅珊博士

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  • Assistant Professor
  • BA (HK); MA (Birmingham); PhD (Aston)
  • 852-39172745
  • 852-28581334
  • Rm 817, Run Run Shaw Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU
  • nsng@hku.hk
  • http://www.interpreting.hku.hk

Dr Eva Ng graduated from The University of Hong Kong with a BA in Translation, and holds an MA in Translation and Linguistics from the University of Birmingham and a PhD in Forensic Linguistics from Aston University, both in the United Kingdom. She was a staff court interpreter in the Judiciary of the Hong Kong Government before she joined the Translation Programme of the School of Chinese. Her research interests include legal translation and interpreting, bilingual courtroom discourse analysis, language and law, language and power in courtroom discourse. Her research uniquely integrates her substantial professional experience as a court interpreter and her academic training in forensic linguistics. Her studies in courtroom interpreting demonstrate how linguistic inequalities in the judicial process may impact on the delivery of justice, and explore to what extent these inequalities can be mitigated by the mediation of the court interpreter. Her works have appeared in leading international journals including International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law, International Journal for the Semiotics of Law, Language and Law, and International Journal of Interpreter Education. She has published a monograph, a co-authored book, and an edited volume with John Benjamins Publishing Company, a leading academic publisher specialised in the field of Translation Studies and Linguistics.

Eva is the recipient of the Arts Faculty Teaching Excellence Award (2014), Arts Faculty Knowledge Exchange Award (2016), University Teaching Innovation Award (2017), Arts Faculty Research Award (2019), and Doris Zimmern HKU-Cambridge Hughes Hall Fellowships 2019–20. The Newssary mobile app she developed received theTop-10 Healthy Mobile Phone / Tablet App Award in 2018 from the Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration of the HKSAR and a top 4-star rating as an impact case study for the 2020 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE).

吳雅珊博士畢業於香港大學，主修翻譯，並獲英國伯明翰大學翻譯語言學碩士及阿斯頓大學司法語言學博士。她曾任香港司法機構法庭傳譯主任，現為中文學院翻譯課程助理教授，主要教授口譯。研究範圍包括法律翻譯、法庭傳譯、雙語法庭話語分析、語言與法律、法庭話語中語言與權力的關係等。吳博士的研究結合她豐富的法庭傳譯經驗和司法語言學訓練，探討司法程序中不平等語言如何影響司法公正，以至法庭傳譯如何緩解相關問題。她曾在多份國際頂級期刊發表論文，並由翻譯及語言學界首屈一指的學術出版社John Benjamins Publishing Company為她出版專著、合著及編著。

吳博士曾獲頒2014年度文學院教學卓越獎、2016年度文學院知識交流獎、2017年度大學教學創新獎、2019年度文學院研究獎，及2019–20年度劍橋大學休斯學院院士。她研發的《時彙》流動應用程式獲香港特區政府電影、報刊及物品管理辦事處評選為2018年度十大健康手機／平板電腦應用程式，並獲2020年研究評審工作最高的4星研究影響評級。

GRANTS & AWARDS

External Grants

  • Contract Research Project, Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), A Study on a Potential Model for Accreditation & Regulation of Interpreters and Translators in Ethnic Minority Languages in Hong Kong, 2018/19. Amount of award: HK$399,826 (18 months).
  • Research Grant Council (RGC) Early Career Scheme (ECS) 2016/17. Project title: Jury comprehension: English Trials heard by Chinese Jurors. Amount of award: HK$377,056 (36 months).

Internal Grants

Knowledge Exchange (KE) Grants

  • Knowledge Exchange (KE) Impact Project Grant 2018/19. Project title: Bilingual Learning for All – Upgrading Newssary and Resources for Interpreting. 普及雙語學習——提升《時彙》程式及《傳譯資源網》Amount of Award: HK$85,000 (12 months)
  • Knowledge Exchange (KE) Impact Project Grant 2016/17. Project title: Resources for Interpreting Developing a Mobile App Version. 開發手機應用程式 Amount of Award: HK$98,609 (12 months)
  • Knowledge Exchange (KE) Impact Project Grant 2015/16. Project title: Resources for Interpreting – Enhancing the Impacts傳譯資源網——加強版. Amount of award: HK$83,000 (12 months)
  • Knowledge Exchange (KE) Impact Project Grant 2014/15. Project title: Resources for Interpreting傳譯資源網. Amount of award: HK$84,980 (12 months). Website: www.interpreting.hku.hk

Teaching Development Grants (TDG)

  • Teaching Development Grants (TDG) 2016. Project title: Training Legal Interpreters and Law Students with Authentic Courtroom Data. Amount of award: HK$126,609 (18 months).
  • Teaching Development Grants (TDG) 2014. Project title: Legal Interpreting – from Courtroom to Classroom. Amount of award: HK$226,440 (12 months).

Others

  • Faculty Strategic Research Theme: China-West Studies for the First International Conference on Legal and Healthcare Interpreting (24 to 25 February 2017) (HK$82,700).
  • Leung Kau Kui Research and Teaching Endowment Fund – Teaching Grants 2009. Project title: Teaching Legal Interpretation with Authentic Court Data. Amount of award: HK$40,000 (12 months).

Awards

  • Faculty (of Arts) Research Award for Junior Tenure-track Professorial Staff 2019
  • Doris Zimmern HKU-Cambridge Hughes Hall Fellowships 2019-20
  • Top-10 Healthy Mobile Phone / Tablet App Award 2018 (organised by Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration, HKSAR)
  • University Teaching Innovation Award 2017
  • Faculty (of Arts) Knowledge Exchange Award 2016
  • Faculty (of Arts) Teaching Excellence Awards (FTEA) 2014

PUBLICATIONS

Monograph

Co-authored book

  • 2016. Introduction to healthcare for Chinese-speaking interpreters and translators. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/z.202 (440 pp) (co-authored with Ineke H. M. Crezee)

Edited book

  • 2020. Interpreting in legal and healthcare settings: Perspectives on research and training. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.151 (351 pp) (co-edited with Ineke H.M.Crezee)

Book Chapters

  • 2020. Linguistic disadvantage before the law: When non-native English-speaking witnesses waive their right to an interpreter. In E. N. S. Ng & I. H. M. Crezee (Eds.), Interpreting in legal and healthcare settings: Perspectives on research and training (pp.21–44). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.151.01ng
  • 2019。 <香港法庭傳譯之回顧與前瞻>，載湛樹基，李劍雄：《香港雙語法制：語言與翻譯 》。香港：香港大學出版社。
  • 2013. Who is speaking? – Interpreting the voice of the speaker in court”. In C. Schäffner, K. Kredens & Y. Fowler (Eds.), The critical link 6: Interpreting in a changing landscape (pp. 249–266). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
  • 2012. Legal interpreting. In C. Milan-Varela & F. Bartrina (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of translation studies (pp. 417–430). London: Routledge. (co-authored with Y. Fowler & M. Coulthard)
  • 2009. The tension between adequacy and acceptability in legal interpreting and translation”. In S. Hale, U. Ozolins & L. Stern (Eds.), The critical link 5: quality interpreting – A shared responsibility (pp. 37–54). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Journal Articles

  • 2017. A Legal Anomaly. The Linguist, 56(4), 20–21.
  • 2016. Do they understand? English trials heard by Chinese jurors in the Hong Kong Courtroom” Language and Law/Linguagem e Direito, 3(2), 172–191.
  • 2016. Interpreter intervention and participant roles in witness examination. International Journal of Interpreter Education, 8(1), 23–39.
  • 2015. Judges’ intervention in witness examination as a cause of omissions in interpretation in the Hong Kong courtroom. International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law, 22(2), 203–227. doi: 10.1558/ijsll.v22i2.17782
  • 2015. Teaching and research on legal interpreting: A Hong Kong perspective”. Monographs in Translation and Interpreting (MonTI) 7 – Legal Interpreting at a Turning Point, 243–270.
  • 2013. Garment, or upper-garment? A matter of interpretation? International Journal for the Semiotics of Law – Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique, 26(3), 597–613. doi: 10.1007/s11196-012-9290-9
  • 2011. A survey of court interpreters’use of direct versus reported speech in the Hong Kong courts. International Journal of Law, Language & Discourse, 1(3), 27–57.

Knowledge Exchange (KE) outputs

Mobile App: Newssary 時彙, launched in 2017, free download at:
App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/hk/app/newssary/id1238609778?l=en&mt=8

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=interpreting.hku.newssary&hl=zh_HK

Website: Resources for Interpreting 傳譯資源網 (http://www.interpreting.hku.hk/), launched in 2015

KEYNOTE/PLENARY/OTHER INVITED LECTURES

Keynote

  • “The Common Law in an Uncommon Courtroom: English Trials Heard by Chinese Jurors.” Invited keynote speech presented at the 3rd International Seminar on Trans-Disciplinary Linguistics (ISTL 2016), Universitas Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia, 21 November 2016.

Plenary

  • “Do They Understand? English Trials heard by Chinese Jurors in the Hong Kong Courtroom.” Invited plenary speech presented at the 2nd Asian Regional Conference of the International Association of Forensic Linguists, University of Santo Tomas, Manila, the Philippines, 7–9 July 2016.

Other Invited Talks/Lectures

  • “The Problems of Courtroom Interpretation.” Invited talk at Fundamental Aspects of International Dispute Resolution – Dealing with Multilingualism in ADR and Litigation: Proposals for a Protocol for Multilingual International Mediation, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan, 11–12 November 2019.
  • “Common Law in an Uncommon Courtroom: Judicial Interpreting in Hong Kong.” Centre for Translation, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, 17 October 2019.
  • “The Practice of Court Interpreting in Hong Kong.” Invited lecture to MA in Translation Class at Rikkyo University, Tokyo, Japan, 18 June 2019.
  • Jury Comprehension: English Trials Heard by Chinese Jurors.” Invited talk by the Japanese Association of Interpreting and Translation Studies (JAITS), Rikkyo University, Tokyo, Japan, 14 June 2019.
  • “Innovation, Interdisciplinarity and Impact: Creating E-learning Resources and Experiential Learning Experiences.” Invited thematic speech at the Showcasing Excellence in Teaching and Learning Symposium, Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL), University of Hong Kong, 14 December 2018.
  • “Legal Interpreting.” Invited panel speech presented at the Communicative-intensive Course Symposium, Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL), University of Hong Kong, 28–29 June 2018.
  • “The Creation of a Website and a Glossary App for Online Learning.” Invited speech presented at the Quality Enhancement Support Scheme (QESS) Conference: – Integrating Multimedia into the Higher Education Classroom: Engaging Students in Interactive Learning, Chu Hai College of Higher Education, Hong Kong, 3 June 2017.
  • “Translation and Writing Style – a Case of Bilingual Weather Forecast.” Invited public lecture presented at the Hong Kong Observatory, Hong Kong, 8, January 2016.
  • “Juror Comprehension in English-medium Trials in the Hong Kong Courtroom.” Invited panel speech presented at the Asian Perspectives on Forensic Linguistics Colloquium of 12th Biennial Conference on Forensic Linguistics/Language and Law (IAFL12), Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS), Guangzhou, China, 6–9 July 2015.
  • “Court Interpreting in Hong Kong: A Historical Review and the Way Forward.” Invited public lecture jointly hosted by the Hong Kong Public Libraries of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Hong Kong Translation Society, Hong Kong, 15 June 2013.

PRESENTATIONS AT CONFERENCES

  • “English Trials Heard by Chinese Jurors: An Experimental Study on Jury Comprehension in Hong Kong.” Paper presented at the 14th Biennial Conference of the International Association of Forensic Linguists (IAFL14), University of RMIT, Melbourne, Australia, 1–5 July 2019.
  • “Common Law in an Uncommon Courtroom: Judicial Interpreting in Hong Kong”, the 9th International Critical Link Conference: Interpreting in the Age of AI, International University of Health and Welfare, Tokyo, Japan, 14 –16 June 2019.
  • “Linguistic Disadvantage: Chinese Witnesses Testifying in English.” Paper presented at the 13th Biennial Conference of the International Association of Forensic Linguists, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal, 10–14 July 2017.
  • “A Historical Review of Court Interpreting in Hong Kong.” Paper presented at the Annual Conference of New Zealand Society of Translators and Interpreters: Spreading the Word – Transcending Boundaries and Enriching Lives, Auckland, New Zealand, 10–11 June 2017.
  • “A Historical Review of Court Interpreting in Hong Kong.” Paper presented at the 1st Hong Kong Baptist University International Conference on Interpreting, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, 9–10 March, 2017.
  • “Language and Disadvantage before the Law–When Medical Doctors Waive Their Right to an Interpreter.” Paper presented at the First International Conference on Legal and Healthcare Interpreting, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 24–25 February 2017.
  • “Language and Disadvantage before the Law: Expert Witnesses as Second Language Speakers in the Hong Kong Courtroom.” Paper presented at the Law, Literature and the Humanities Association of Australasia Conference – Spectacular Law, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 8–10 December 2016.
  • “Language and Disadvantage Before the Law: Expert Witnesses as Second Language Speakers in the Hong Kong Courtroom.” Paper presented at the 8th International Critical Link Conference: Critical LinkS – a new generation Future-proofing interpreting and translating, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, 29 June–1 July 2016.
  • “Testifying in English: Expert Witnesses in the Hong Kong Courtroom.” Paper presented at the 12th Biennial Conference on Forensic Linguistics/Language and Law (IAFL12), Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS), Guangzhou, China, 6–9 July 2015.
  • “Legal Interpreting: from Courtroom to Classroom.” Paper presented at the International Conference on Translation and Interpreting Studies: Pathways to Innovative Training and Pedagogy, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea, 17–18 October 2014.
  • “The Atypical Bilingual Courtroom: An Exploratory Study of the Interactional Dynamics in Interpreter-Mediated Trials in Hong Kong.” Paper presented at the International Conference on Language and the Law, Interaction in Legal Settings and Language as Evidence: Language and the Law – Bridging the Gaps, Federal University of Santa Catarina (Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina), Brazil, 11–13 December 2013.
  • “Judges’ Intervention in Witness Examination in an Interpreter-mediated Trial.” Paper presented at the 7th International Critical Link Conference – Global Awakening: Leading Practices in Interpreting, York University, Toronto, Canada, 17–21 June 2013.
  • “Power and Control in Interpreter-mediated Trials.” Paper presented at the 11th Biennial Conference on Forensic Linguistics/Language and Law (IAFL11), National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico, 24–27 June 2013.
  • “Judicial Intervention in Witness Examination and Its Implications for the Administration of Justice in an Interpreter-mediated Trial.” Paper presented at the Regional Conference of the International Association of Forensic Linguists (IAFL 2012), University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 5–7 July 2012.
  • “Power and Participant Roles in the Bilingual Hong Kong Courtroom.” Paper presented at the Second International Conference on Law, Translation and Culture, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, 31 May–2 June 2012.
  • “A Survey on Court Interpreters’ Use of Direct and Reported Speech in Court Interpreting.” Paper presented at the First International Conference on Law, Language and Discourse, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 20–21 August, 2011.
  • “Garment or Upper Garment? A Matter of Interpretation?” Paper presented at the International Association of Forensic Linguists Tenth Biennial Conference (IAFL10), Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 11–14 July 2011.
  • “Garment or Upper Garment? A Matter of Interpretation?” Paper presented at the First Interdisciplinary Conference on Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice (ALAPP), Cardiff University, United Kingdom, 23–24 June 2011.
  • “Who is Speaking? – The use of Reported Speech in Court Interpreting.” Paper presented at the Critical Link 6th International Conference: Interpreting in a Changing Landscape, Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 26–30 July, 2010.
  • “Court Interpreting in Hong Kong: A Sunset Industry?” Poster presentation at the International Association of Forensic Linguists 9th Biennial Conference on Forensic Linguistics/Language and Law (IAFL9), VU University, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 6–9 July 2009.
  • “The Tension Between Adequacy and Acceptability in Legal Translation.” Paper presented at the Critical Link 5th International Conference – Quality in Interpreting: A Shared Responsibility, University of Western Sydney, Parramatta, Sydney, Australia, 11–15 April 2007.

Selected Media Interviews