[lg policy] Fwd: [penguists] Guidelines for Communicating Rights to non-Native English Speakers

[Harold Schiffman]

\ Forwarded From: margaret van naerssen <margaret.vannaerssen at gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Jan 20, 2016 at 12:37 PM

Guidelines for Communicating Rights to non-Native English Speakers




The *Guidelines for communicating rights to non-native **speakers of
English in *
*Australia,** England and Wales, and the USA,* was released in November
2015
by the international Communication of Rights Group (CoRG). The group,
co-convened
by Diana Eades and Aneta Pavlenko, includes 21 linguists, psychologists,
lawyers and interpreters.  Please note the names of the signatories.

A copy of the document can be found at  aaal.org/?page=CommunicationRights

Even native speakers of English do not always understand their Miranda
rights (police
cautions). The problems are much greater for non-native speakers of English
who may have
limited English proficiency and cannot comprehend English spoken at fast
conversational
rates, let alone legal terms, such as waiver, or complex sentences, such as
*If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you before any
questioning if you wish. *

When asked if they understand their rights, Such speakers may say ‘yes’ and
agree to sign
the Miranda form out of fear or deference to authority. Their comprehension
difficulties may
not be obvious to police investigators who are not trained in assessing
language
proficiency.

The Guidelines consist of a preamble, recommendations related to the
language of the
police cautions and on how the rights should be delivered, a list of the
signatories, and
an extensive bibliography.

Since their release in November 2015, the Guidelines have been* endorsed
by **Executive*
*Boards of two leading professional associations in linguistics, *

   - *the American Association **for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), *
   - *the Linguistic Society of America (LSA) *

*They've also been endorsed by the Executive Board of The **International
Research Foundation for*
*English Language Education (TIRF). *
The Guidelines have also been posted on the website of NAJIT ( the National
Association of Judicial
 Interpreters and Translators). The Guidelines are also being disseminated
to other professional
organizations for formal consideration. Presentations are also being made
at various conferences.

If you have any suggestions for where they might be sent for consideration,
please contact
one of the co-conveners:  Aneta Pavlenko (Temple University)
*apavlenk at temple.edu
<http://temple.edu> *
or Diana Eades ( University of New England)* deades2 at une.edu.au
<http://une.edu.au>*

Feel free to also share the Guidelines with others, tho' certainly we'd
like to know if you hear that they've
been formally picked up by a particular organization.

It is hoped that these Guidelines, grounded in scholarly research and
practical
experience, will result in moves to better protect the rights of non-native
speakers of
English and afford them equal treatment in the law.



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