Interpreting - Volume 23, Issue 2, 2021

Following up on our more comprehensive message on the occasion of this journal’s 25th anniversary, this short editorial was prompted by some responses to what we had written in our “quarter-century update” (Pöchhacker & Liu 2021). Here we briefly summarize these and offer clarification where needed, and then take this opportunity to comment on some current developments.

Abstract

Simultaneous interpreting requires interpreters to listen to a source text while producing the target text in a second language. In addition, the interpreter needs to process various types of visual input, which may further increase the already high cognitive load. A study with 14 students of interpreting was conducted to investigate the impact of a speaker’s visible lip movements on cognitive load in simultaneous interpreting by analysing the duration of silent pauses in the target texts. Background noise masking the source speech was introduced as a control condition for cognitive load. Silent pause durations were shorter when interpreters saw the speaker’s lip movements, which indicates that interpreters benefitted from visual input. Furthermore, silent pause durations were longer with noise, which suggests that comparative silent pause durations can indicate changes in cognitive load.

Abstract

Word-order asymmetry between source language and target language has been recognized as a major obstacle in interpreting. Regarding whether the original word order is changed in target production, two strategies for asymmetrical structures are identified: chunking and reordering. This study primarily examined the cognitive mechanism involved in applying these two strategies during English to Chinese sight translation. The cognitive load associated with chunking and reordering was measured by eye movement and the resulting data were analysed. A group of interpreting trainees sight-translated asymmetrical sentences in two contexts: sentence and text. Their eye-movement measures, including total dwell time, fixation count and rereading rate, were recorded. The results demonstrate that chunking was the primary strategy used to render word-order asymmetry in both task conditions. A greater cognitive load was found in the reordered sentences. More contextual information did not contribute to an execution of the strategies that required less effort. This research is one of the first attempts to explore the cognitive process associated with interpreting strategies for word-order asymmetry. It provides a new perspective with which to deepen our understanding of the cognitive mechanism underlying the use of a strategy.

Abstract

A replication of previous research, this study sets out to re-examine language choice in note-taking for consecutive conference interpreting – a topic that is widely believed to be subject to conflicting evidence. Extending the existing database considerably, the study draws on data from seven different consecutive interpreting tasks involving five different languages and both interpreting directions (B into A and A into B) performed by ten participants with seven different language combinations. Interpreters’ notes from these performances served as the main data of the study, which was complemented by questionnaire data to form a mixed-methods design. Analyses of the interpreters’ notes identified the A language as by far the strongest determinant of language choice, above and beyond other language categories; this confirmed the results of the replicated research. The questionnaire data, however, did not mirror the patterns found in the interpreting data consistently, suggesting a complex interplay of behavior and norms. The article concludes with a discussion of these and previous findings, arguing for the topic of language choice in note-taking to be reframed as one of complexity rather than contradiction.

Abstract

The study reported on in this article pertains to rater-mediated assessment of English-to-Chinese consecutive interpreting, particularly informational correspondence between an originally intended message and an actually rendered message, also known as “fidelity” in Interpreting Studies. Previous literature has documented two main methods to assess fidelity: comparing actual renditions with the source text or with an exemplar rendition carefully prepared by experts (i.e., an ideal target text). However, little is known about the potential effects of these methods on fidelity assessment. We therefore conducted the study to explore the way in which these methods would affect rater reliability, fidelity ratings and rater perception. Our analysis of quantitative data shows that the raters tended to be less reliable, less self-consistent, less lenient and less comfortable when using the source English text (i.e., Condition A) than when using the target Chinese text (i.e., Condition B: the exemplar rendition). These findings were backed up and explained by emerging themes derived from the qualitative questionnaire data. The fidelity estimates in the two conditions were also found to be strongly correlated. We discuss these findings and entertain the possibility of recruiting untrained monolinguals or bilinguals to assess fidelity of interpreting.

Abstract

The objective of this article is to explore issues of ideology in situations of interpreting in conflict zones. Research into interpreting in conflict zones is quite recent and has shed light on interesting aspects. Ideology is clearly present in war situations and may condition the interpreter’s role. This article seeks to identify examples of power relations and ideology by drawing on the narratives of five local interpreters who worked with Spanish troops stationed in Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force between 2003 and 2015. The narratives were collected using a semi-structured interview technique. The findings indicate that ideology is reflected in the interpreters’ perception of their own role as agents working for the good of their country against a common enemy, even though they were potentially perceived by both sides in the conflict as possible traitors. The traditional narrative of the interpreter as an invisible and impartial facilitator of communication would not appear to be applicable in this context.

Abstract

In video relay service (VRS), the interpreter is the only person who is directly linked to both users of the service, seeing the signing user of a videophone and hearing the speaking user of a telephone. The interaction is especially challenging at the beginning of the call. In this study, 25 authentic recorded calls from the Swedish VRS were analysed using conversation analysis. The aim of the study was to explore and describe in detail how the interpreters facilitate and strive for progression at the beginning of a VRS call. The study findings show how the interpreters provide information to the signing callers about their progress prior to the call being accepted, how the interpreters manage the spoken interaction with the called party on the telephone and how the interpreters connect the parties to each other. It is also shown how the interpreters work to make the deaf callers master a call. The results of the study enrich our current understanding of calls made via VRS.

This article reviews Dolmetscherinnen und Dolmetscher im Netz der Macht: Autobiographisch konstruierte Lebenswege in autoritären Regimen978-3-7329-0336-8978-3-7329-9698-8

This article reviews Lenguas entre dos fuegos: Intérpretes en la Guerra Civil Española (1936–1939)978-84-9045-840-2