Researchers awarded funding for legal interpreting workshops

Posted on Thursday 30 October 2025

Four members of the Department of Language and Linguistic Science have been awarded additional funding to host further knowledge exchange workshops in 2026. Eloísa Monteoliva-García, Lauren Harrington, James Tompkinson and Jessica Wormald received the University of York Place and Community Knowledge Exchange Fund award to continue their work on "Applying linguistic research to transcription and interpreting in investigative interviewing".

The new workshops will build on the success of two previous events in 2025. The first was held at the University of York in June, also funded by the Place and Community Fund, and the second took place at the Home Office's Accelerated Capability Environment in London in September, funded by the University's Forensic Speech Services centre.

Both previous workshops brought together representatives from UK police forces and government laboratories. Discussions focused on the transcription of police interviews, which serve as evidence in the criminal justice system, and the use of interpreters during investigative interviewing.

Participants provided valuable insight into current policing practices and priorities, particularly regarding the rapid development of AI for language-related tasks. The department's researchers noted that discussions highlighted a pressing need for further engagement at both force and policy levels to address these issues.