Interpreting - Volume 5, Issue 2, 2000

Over the past five years our research has focused on cognitive issues in simultaneous interpreting: the role of working memory, robustness of cognitive processes, simultaneity of language processes, and the emerging role of long-term working memory (LT-WM) in the development of expertise in interpreting. With new technologies playing an increasingly important role in the interpreter’s work environment and with speaking speeds far exceeding the recommended 120 words per minute we need to ask ourselves just how adaptable an interpreter’s cognitive functions are to what is widely perceived as “cognitive overload”.This contribution will discuss several studies on various aspects of cognitive functioning in simultaneous interpreters and try to shed some light on the “plasticity” of the interpreter’s “brain” and on how a professional interpreter who has achieved a high level of expertise can actually circumvent a number of common cognitive constraints. This contribution argues, however, that even at the highest level of skill constraints do operate and interfere with high-quality performance.

Language processing is influenced by multiple sources of information. We examined whether the performance in simultaneous interpreting would be improved when providing two sources of information, the auditory speech as well as corresponding lip-movements, in comparison to presenting the auditory speech alone. Although there was an improvement in sentence recognition when presented with visible speech, there was no difference in performance between these two presentation conditions when bilinguals simultaneously interpreted from English to German or from English to Spanish. The reason why visual speech did not contribute to performance could be the presentation of the auditory signal without noise (Massaro, 1998). This hypothesis should be tested in the future. Furthermore, it should be investigated if an effect of visible speech can be found for other contexts, when visual information could provide cues for emotions, prosody, or syntax.

This article summarizes recent research on working memory and attention, with an emphasis on one theoretical framework in which working memory and attention are intricately related (Cowan, 1988, 1995, 1999a). Within this framework, working memory is conceived as an activated portion of long-term memory and, within that activated portion, the focus of attention and control processes that direct it. The focus of attention presumably can link activated elements to form new chunks of information. Several basic phenomena are sketched out, along with their potential relevance for the process of simultaneous interpreting. Current controversies that are likely to be of relevance to interpreting also are discussed. Although the question of how interpreters meet difficult processing demands cannot be answered presently because few studies have examined interpreting, the evidence does point the way to a number of promising lines of research on interpreting that could be carried out.

We begin by noting that, in addition to the more or less established trends of cognitive modelling and neurolinguistic or behavioural experimentation, a more recent orientation in research on interpreting (IR) as a complex cognitive process is functional neuroimaging. We then describe current brain imaging methods — electroencephalography, magnetoencephalography, positron emission tomography, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and near-infrared spectroscopy — and provide selected examples of their use in language processing and interpreting research, accompanied with brief evaluations of their applicability for IR. In spite of limitations related to invasiveness, temporal resolution, and experimental design, positron emission tomography (PET) is potentially the strongest tool for investigations of the neural substrates of ongoing interpreting performance. Finally, we describe what we believe is the first published study of speech shadowing and professional simultaneous interpreting using PET. Shadowing of the non-dominant language produces more extensive activations in the temporal cortex and motor regions than shadowing of the dominant language, which suggests that even in the simultaneous repetition task, the less automatized language recruits more neural resources. Simultaneous interpreting, whether into the dominant or into the non-dominant language, predominantly activates left-hemispheric structures. Activation patterns are, however, clearly modulated by the direction of interpreting, with more extensive activation during interpreting into the non-dominant language.

In this paper I examine simultaneous sign language interpreting with a focus on two dimensions: interpreting between languages of different modalities, and interpreting between two different languages. As I discuss, there is interplay between the two: At times, the task at hand is modality-driven, and at other times, structure-driven. When sign language interpreters are at work, the two dimensions come together in interesting ways, and as I will argue, offer ways to understand the task of simultaneous interpreting between spoken languages. I discuss sign language phonology and how it interacts with the constraints of simultaneous interpreting; I also discuss the possibilities of visual and spatial representation in sign languages, and how these present interesting dilemmas for interpreters working under time constraints.

This paper describes how the expert-performance perspective differs from the common-sense view of professional ability and how this approach can be applied to the study of professional interpreting. The expert-performance approach is first introduced with findings from many traditional domains of expertise, such as chess, music, medicine, and sports. Most importantly, expert performance is shown to be primarily acquired through the engagement in designed training activities, namely deliberate practice (Ericsson et al., 1993). The second part of the paper briefly discusses earlier research on expert interpreting motivated by more traditional views of expertise in interpreting. Finally, the expert-performance approach is applied to the study of superior interpreting performance and potential studies of superior interpreting under representative conditions are outlined.

It would be convenient if a candidate interested in a career in simultaneous interpreting could take a test that would accurately indicate whether or not that person has the aptitude and skills required to start a course in simultaneous interpreting with a reasonable chance of success. This paper suggests that a reliable and efficient testing procedure valid for this use, taking less than an hour to administer and score, could be delivered on demand at a reasonable cost. The paper first proposes such a testing procedure, building on existing techniques in spoken language testing, then outlines the development steps and material needed to build, calibrate, and validate such a testing system. The development of this testing procedure would result in a completely automatic instrument for selecting candidates for admission to interpretation training programs. Other potential uses for the procedure would include both monitoring student progress during training and screening candidates for certification exams, although details of the item selection and scoring might differ across the three uses.