Interpreting - Current Issue

Abstract

On the occasion of her 80th birthday, this article highlights the pioneering contribution of Ingrid Kurz to the development of interpreting studies. Following a biographical sketch describing her professional and academic career over half a century, the most important themes of her research are reviewed under the headings of history, profession, psychology, training, quality, media, and fiction. An attempt is made to gauge the impact of her pioneering work and to trace some of its links to recent research in the field. Kurz’s early work is placed in its context at the time and compared to present-day features of the discipline. With reference to trends such as internationalization, specialization and professionalization, Kurz is characterized as a precursor whose unique combination of professional commitment and intellectual curiosity in the formative decades of interpreting studies yielded an impact that would no longer be conceivable in the way the discipline has evolved in the 21st century.

Abstract

This study investigated individual differences in prediction during language comprehension in professional and student Turkish (A)–English (B) simultaneous interpreters as a function of simultaneous interpreting (SI) experience and working memory capacity (WMC). A Turkish visual-world eye-tracking prediction task examined whether the accusative versus the nominative case markers on the initial nouns of sentences could be used as cues to predicting an upcoming argument. The participants’ WMC was measured using an automated operation span task. We found a prediction effect (a significantly higher increase in fixations to the plausible agent with time in the accusative than in the nominative condition) for the professionals, but not for the students. WMC contributed positively to the prediction effect in the professionals. Our findings indicate an SI-related advantage for prediction in professional versus student interpreters. Importantly, the present findings revealed an SI-related advantage in a prediction task that did not require interpreting.

Abstract

Prediction has long been considered advantageous in simultaneous interpreting, as it may allow interpreters to comprehend more rapidly and focus on their own production. However, evidence of prediction in simultaneous interpreting to date is relatively limited. In addition, it is unclear whether training in simultaneous interpreting influences predictive processing during a simultaneous interpreting task. We report on a longitudinal eye-tracking study which measured the timing and extent of prediction in students before and after two semesters of training in simultaneous interpreting. The students simultaneously interpreted sentences containing a highly predictable word as they viewed a screen containing four pictures, one of which depicted a highly predictable object. They made predictive eye movements to the highly predictable object both before and after their training in simultaneous interpreting. However, we did not find evidence that training influenced the timing or the magnitude of their prediction.

Abstract

Conventionally, the professional interpreter speaks in the first-person singular. Research in corpus-based discourse analysis has reported shifts from this norm towards first-person plural becoming the most frequent pronoun shift in political institutional interpreting, possibly signalling interpreter ‘alignment with the institution’. Nonetheless, few studies have teased apart the simultaneous constraints of social, cognitive, and linguistic factors on institutional interpreters’ preference for the plural. The present research adopts the usage-based theory to consider the three types of explanations together. It extends recent multivariate methodologies based on this theory to analyse 2,438 first-person cases in parallel interpreting and comparable speech corpora. Following robust context analyses and cross-linguistic prosodic transcription, this study weighs the strengths of 33 associates regarding the three explanations through regression analyses. The results show that first-person shifts are better explained by chunking effects when interpreters process complex forms and referents in the source and target speeches, and when they process zero-subject source inputs. The institutional alignment explanation fails to account for the extensive grammaticalisation of plural constructions in the interpreted speech. When all the interactive and additive effects are considered together, institutional alignment or monofactorial paradigms have little explanatory power. This study concludes by highlighting the relevance of usage-based multifactorial designs to interpreting research.

Abstract

To ensure the quality of interpreter-mediated encounters, not only interpreters but also service providers need to be trained. However, most of them lack adequate training. This study aimed to evaluate educational videos as a (self-)learning tool with which to train service providers to work with interpreters. Eight educational videos were developed in a multi-stage evidence-based process. For the evaluation, semi-structured interviews with 32 service providers across settings and 12 experts in the field of interpreting were conducted in Switzerland and Germany. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using a structuring content analysis approach. Service providers described an increase in their knowledge (e.g. of the complexity of interpreter-mediated encounters, potential challenges, and how to deal with them appropriately) and confidence (e.g. reduced inhibitions about working with interpreters, perceived permission to feel insecure, and encouragement to deal with problematic situations in an interpreter-mediated encounter). However, the need for hands-on practice limits the effectiveness of the educational videos as a standalone (self-)learning tool, as noted in particular by the experts. It is recommended that they be used in combination with other methods, such as face-to-face training, which provide opportunities for hands-on practice. Nonetheless, the videos can be considered a low-threshold and initial (self-)learning tool with which to increase service providers’ competence in working with interpreters.

This article reviews The perils of interpreting: The extraordinary lives of two translators between Qing China and the British Empire978-0-691-22545-6

This article reviews 100 years of conference interpreting: A legacy978-1-5275-6719-1

This article reviews Mediated discourse at the European Parliament: Empirical investigations978-3-96110-393-5