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- Volume 21, Issue 2, 2019
Interpreting - Volume 21, Issue 2, 2019
Volume 21, Issue 2, 2019
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Meta-analyses of simultaneous interpreting and working memory
Author(s): Christopher D. Mellinger and Thomas A. Hansonpp.: 165–195 (31)More LessAbstractThis article adopts a meta-analytic research framework to examine the strength of the relationship between working memory and simultaneous interpreting. This quantitative analysis utilizes a random effects model to combine multiple studies in an examination of differences between professional interpreters and various comparison groups as well as the relationship between working memory capacity and interpreter performance. Moderating and control variables are discussed, and a classification scheme for work on these topics is proposed. Two moderating variables are examined by testing the difference between working memory tests relying on auditory and visual stimuli as well as storage tasks (short-term memory) and processing tasks (working memory). Published studies were collected from several field-specific databases by querying working memory and simultaneous interpreting as key terms, and then supplemented by reviewing references, searching Google Scholar, and reviewing the work of scholars known to work in the area. Results are indicative of differences between professional and comparison groups, with professional interpreters exhibiting greater working memory capacity. Additionally, an overall positive correlation was observed between working memory capacity and measures of the quality of simultaneous interpreting.
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Text characteristics, perceived difficulty and task performance in sight translation
Author(s): Zhiwei Wupp.: 196–219 (24)More LessAbstractThis paper reports on an exploratory study examining the relationship between text characteristics, perceived difficulty and task performance in sight translation (ST). Twenty-nine undergraduate interpreters were asked to sight-translate six texts with different properties. Correlation analysis shows that Sophisticated Word Type and Mean Length of a T-unit are, respectively, the lexical and the syntactic variables having the highest correlations with all the three dependent variables (i.e. perceived difficulty, accuracy and fluency in ST performance). Surprisingly, the discoursal variables are weakly or modestly correlated with the dependent variables. Thematic analysis of the students’ reflective essays points to two hypothesized causal links among the three Ps in ST: task properties may cause decoding difficulties and cognitive overload in the cognitive process, which in turn lead to inaccuracy and dysfluency in ST performance. The research findings lend empirical support to the “shallow-scan hypothesis” in previous research. Finally, this study proposes a three-tier conceptual framework to inform and guide future research to operationalize variables in ST empirical studies. The pedagogical implications of ST are also discussed.
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Affiliation in interpreter-mediated therapeutic talk
Author(s): Jelena Vranjes, Hanneke Bot, Kurt Feyaerts and Geert Brônepp.: 220–244 (25)More LessAbstractThe aim of this article is to explore how affiliation (Stivers 2008) with the patient is displayed and interactionally achieved in the context of an interpreter-mediated therapeutic dialogue. More specifically, we focus on the interplay between affiliative listener responses – especially head nods – and gaze in this setting. Interpreter-mediated therapeutic talk is not only a setting that has received very little systematic scrutiny in the literature, but it is also particularly interesting for the study of listener responses. Drawing on the insights from Conversation Analysis, a naturally occurring interpreter-mediated therapeutic session was analysed that had been recorded using mobile eye-tracking technology. This approach allowed for a detailed analysis of the interlocutors’ synchronous gaze behaviour in relation to speech and head nods during the interaction. The results revealed differences in the interpreter’s and the therapist’s affiliative listener responses that were linked to the interactional goals of the encounter and to their social roles. Moreover, we found a strong relationship between mutual gaze and head nods as tokens of affiliation. Thus, these findings provide support for the inclusion of gaze in studies of interpreter-mediated dialogue and, more broadly, in the study of affiliation in social interaction.
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Holistic assessment of consecutive interpretation
Author(s): Sang-Bin Leepp.: 245–269 (25)More LessAbstractThe article aims to show how interpreter trainers holistically grade student performances. For this purpose, experimental rating sessions were held for four undergraduate interpreter trainers. The raters were asked to think aloud their quality judgments while holistically assessing six recordings of consecutive interpretation. Their concurrent verbal reports, along with reflective reports, interview transcripts, and video recordings of computer screen activity, were collected and analysed in detail. Findings revealed various facets of interpreting performance assessment, including what procedures the raters followed, what aspects of the performance they focused on, what criteria they depended on for their judgment decisions, and why two ratings of the same performance were divergent. This article also presents a tentative model for holistic rating of consecutive interpretation.
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Expectations vs. experience
Author(s): Kilian G. Seeber, Laura Keller, Rhona Amos and Sophie Henglpp.: 270–304 (35)More LessAbstractThe attitudes of interpreters providing video remote conference interpreting during the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ was analyzed using a mixed-methods approach. Quantitative and qualitative data pertaining to six deductive categories (general and specific attitudes towards remote interpreting, attitudes towards the work environment and the workspace, psychological and physiological wellbeing) were collected. Online questionnaires were completed both before and after the event and structured interviews were conducted on site during the event. Triangulation of results corroborates the technical feasibility of video remote interpreting, whilst highlighting aspects with a high potential to shape interpreters’ attitudes towards it. The quality of the technical team on site along with the availability of visual input in the entire conference room (including all speakers taking the floor) is key to offsetting the feeling of alienation or lack of immersion experienced by interpreters working with this technical setup. Suggestions for the improvement of key parameters are provided.
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Jemina Napier, Robert Skinner and Sabine Braun (Eds.). Here or there: Research on interpreting via video link
Author(s): Cecilia Wadensjöpp.: 305–309 (5)More LessThis article reviews Here or there: Research on interpreting via video link
Volumes & issues
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Volume 26 (2024)
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Volume 25 (2023)
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Volume 24 (2022)
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Volume 23 (2021)
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Volume 22 (2020)
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Volume 21 (2019)
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Volume 20 (2018)
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Volume 19 (2017)
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Volume 18 (2016)
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Volume 17 (2015)
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Volume 16 (2014)
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Volume 15 (2013)
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Volume 14 (2012)
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Volume 13 (2011)
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Volume 12 (2010)
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Volume 11 (2009)
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Volume 10 (2008)
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Volume 9 (2007)
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Volume 8 (2006)
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Volume 7 (2005)
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Volume 6 (2004)
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Volume 5 (2000)
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Volume 4 (1999)
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Volume 3 (1998)
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Volume 2 (1997)
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Volume 1 (1996)
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The bilingual individual
Author(s): Francois Grosjean
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