The Time Constraint in Conference Interpreting: Simultaneous vs. Consecutive

The present paper focuses on the concept of time constraint in interpreting. The main aim of the study is to compare the two modes of interpreting, i.e. consecutive and simultaneous in terms of the temporal load imposed by the operations constituting each of them. The discussion centres on the issues of external pacing and processing capacity management, the two focal points of The Time Constraint. The paper also examines a range of strategies interpreters resort to in order to minimise the impact of time pressure in both CI and SI, such as EVS regulation, economy of expression, text-editing strategies, and notation techniques

Consecutive Interpreting at a Literature Festival

This chapter offers a descriptive focus on consecutive interpreting (CI) of interviews in English for an Italian-speaking audience at the annual Mantua Literature Festival in Italy. Introductory remarks on how this relates to more widely studied interpreting scenarios are followed by an overview of practical arrangements for CI at the Festival. Short extracts from interviews with authors are then examined, in each case comparing the English original with a transcription (and back-translation) of the Italian interpretation. A number of features are discussed (e.g. establishing a rapport with the audience, authors’ views on their characters, emotional participation), with tentative conclusions about the interpreter’s approach and priorities in such cases

NOTE-TAKING IN INTERPRETING CLASS

Note-Taking is said to be helpful in undertaking interpreting task, particularly in consecutive interpreting. As research found out, note-taking was proved to be ‘a necessary helper’ in consecutive interpretation (Meifang, 2012). In informal research in two interpreting classes it was found out that for majority of the students note-taking was helpful. However, in consecutive interpreting practice some students found that it was distracting and made the interpreting task even more difficult because they had to do two tasks at the same time, i.e. listening to the speech to be interpreted and thinking about what to write. In addition, they also claimed that they had difficulties in using their notes for accomplishing the interpreting task. More practices were then given on how to take notes during the interpreting task. The factor which students claimed to be intimidating was also eliminated. This paper will present how the note-taking practice works in the interpreting classes. Keywords: note-taking, interpretin

Are Interpreting Strategies Teachable? Correlating Trainees’ Strategy Use with Trainers’ Training in the Consecutive Interpreting Classroom

Since the early 1970s, interpreting strategies have aroused much interest among interpreting research scholars. Strategies should be recommended as components of interpreter training because they are useful for interpreters to solve or avoid problems resulting from cognitive and language-specific constraints. This paper reports on a small-scale study, investigating if undergraduates’ strategy use is positively related to their teachers’ inclusion of strategy training in the consecutive interpreting classroom. Forty-one undergraduate trainees and three of their teachers participated in the study. Retrospection was used to collect data on participants’ mentioning of strategy use immediately after performing consecutive interpreting from English into Chinese. Questionnaires were administered to elicit data on teachers’ inclusion of strategies in class. Data analysis shows that sixteen strategies were used by the students and that those strategies were taught by their teachers. A correlation analysis shows that there is a moderate correlation between student’s strategy use and their teachers’ inclusion of strategy training

Студенческие конкурсы устного перевода как современное средство профессиональной подготовки переводчика

The article discusses approaches to organizing consecutive and simultaneous interpreting competitions for students in Russia and abroad based on similarities with piano competitions. Recommendations are made with respect to competition objectives, entry requirements, jury composition and assessment criteria. The authors stress the role of institutional incentives aimed at increasing the involvement of teachers of interpreting when organizing such contests and encouraging students to participate and offer their services as volunteers

Variedades de interpretación: modalidades y tipos

The wide range of modes, functions and features in interpreting demands criteria to differentiate interpreting varieties. This paper seeks to establish categories useful for research, training and profession. Two kinds of criteria have been applied. Those referring to the continuity of speech, leading to interpreting modalities, and those referring to communicative goals in different situations, leading to interpreting types. Interpreting modalities can be simultaneous or consecutive. Among simultaneous varieties the use or not of electronic equipment or the relation between the source and the target text result in submodalities. Consecutive modalities can be dialogical or monological. Each modality features specific aspects regarding channel, speech mode, communication skills, genre and special requirements. Interpreting types consider conference, audiovisual, professional, community and court environments. Each type shows specificities as far as participants, modalities and genres are concerned.El amplio rango de modos, funciones y rasgos que rodean la interpretación requiere criterios diferenciadores para categorizar variedades. La presente propuesta busca categorías útiles para la investigación, la formación y la profesión. Se han empleado criterios relativos a la continuidad o discontinuidad del discurso oral, que conforman las modalidades de interpretación y criterios relativos a los objetivos de comunicación en cada situación de uso, que conforman los tipos de interpretación. Las modalidades pueden ser simultáneas y consecutivas. Entre las primeras el uso o no de medios electrónicos y la relación del texto origen con el texto meta da lugar a submodalidades. Las modalidades consecutivas pueden ser dialógicas y monológicas. Cada submodalidad presenta características propias respecto al canal, modo de discurso, destrezas comunicativas, condicionamientos específicos y géneros. Los tipos recogen la interpretación de conferencias, audiovisual, para profesionales, social y de tribunales. Cada tipo presenta características propias de participantes, modalidades y géneros

Top 10 Law School Home Pages of 2011

For the third consecutive year, the website home pages for all ABA-accredited law schools are evaluated and ranked based on objective criteria. For 2011, law school home pages advanced in some areas. For instance, there are now thirteen sites using the HTML5 doctype, up from a single site in 2010. In addition, seventeen schools achieved a perfect score for three tests focused on website accessibility, up from eight in 2010. Nonetheless, there’s enough diversity in coding practices and content to help separate the great from the good. For this year’s survey, twenty-four elements of each home page are assessed across three broad categories: Design Patterns & Metadata; Accessibility & Validation; and Marketing & Communications. Most elements require no special design skills, sophisticated technology or significant expenses. For interpreting these results, the author does not try to decide if any whole is greater or less than the sum of its parts

Simultaneous Consecutive Interpreting: A New Technique Put to the Test

The paper reports a small-scale experimental study to test the viability or even superiority of technology-assisted consecutive interpreting as a new working method for conference interpreters. In this technique, pioneered in 1999 by an EU staff interpreter, a digital voice recorder is used to record the original speech which the interpreter then plays back into earphones and renders in the simultaneous mode. The performances of three experienced professional interpreters (French-German) in the conventional consecutive and the ‘simultaneous consecutive’ mode were assessed and compared on the basis of transcript analysis, self-assessment and audience response. Our findings suggest that simultaneous consecutive permits enhanced interpreting performances, as reflected in more fluent delivery, closer source–target correspondence, and fewer prosodic deviations. Though the interpreters’ personal working experience and preferences appeared to have a significant influence on their performance, all three subjects easily adopted the technology-assisted interpreting mode and considered it a viable technique.L’article présente une étude expérimentale à petite échelle ayant pour objectif de tester la viabilité, voire la supériorité de l’interprétation consécutive assistée par technologie numérique, comme nouvelle méthode de travail pour l’interprétation de conférence. Cette technique, utilisée pour la première fois en 1999 par un interprète de la Direction générale de l’interprétation de l’Union européenne, consiste à enregistrer le discours original à l’aide d’un dictaphone numérique pour permettre à l’interprète, muni d’écouteurs, de le réécouter et le reproduire en simultanée. Les productions consécutives et « techno--consécutives » de trois interprètes professionnels et expérimentés (français-allemand) ont été examinées et comparées à partir de l’analyse des transcriptions, de l’autoévaluation des interprètes et de la réaction des auditeurs participant à l’expérience. Les résultats montrent que la « simultanée consécutive » génère de meilleures performances, notamment en ce qui concerne la fluidité du discours, la correspondance source cible et les déviations prosodiques. Bien que l’expérience personnelle des interprètes ainsi que leurs préférences quant au mode de travail semblent avoir influencé considérablement leur performance, les trois sujets ont facilement adopté l’interprétation consécutive assistée par technologie numérique et la considèrent comme une technique viable

Common Errors and Problems Encountered by Students English to Indonesian Consecutive Interpreting

The aims of this study are to find out the common errors and problems encountered by students in consecutive interpreting from English to Indonesian. Qualitative method involving analysis, error validation, and interviews was applied to answer the research questions. The data were obtained by collecting the video recording in consecutive interpreting of six students in liaison class and conducting interviews with the students to obtain further information. This study found that addition is the most frequent errors encountered by the students which consists of 8 occurrences or 30% of 27 occurrences. The errors were made by the students because of some problems that they encountered in the way they interpret the message to the client. The data gathered from the students' interview were categorized the problems into seven different reasons; nervousness, lack of language proficiency, time pressure, lack of practice, lack of vocabulary, concentration, and environment. Overall, the findings lead to a final conclusion that the students of English to Indonesian consecutive interpreting still need some improvements and guidance to interpret and deliver the message

Digital pen technology and consecutive interpreting: another dimension in notetaking training and assessment

Rules of note-taking have been defined and modelled in order to be taught during training of consecutive interpreting. However, not much has been done to find relevant ways of evaluating the progressive acquisition of such systems and of note-taking skills. When instructors want to assess an interpretation, it is generally the quality of the consecutive interpretation and the final notes which allow them to give feedback and evaluate the performance. Such a product evaluation of the interpretation is generally made without being able to clearly distinguish the process of note-taking. Thanks to digital pen technology, trainers have now the possibility to capture simultaneously the video of the notes being taken and the audio of the speech, and therefore can provide better advice and remedial strategies to their students. Such technology is presented in the following article along with pedagogical suggestions for its use and for training in consecutive interpreting