Theoretical approaches to interpreting skills and their

wa.amu.edu.pl

ADAM MICKIEWICZ UNIVERSITY IN POZNAŃ

Faculty of English

Theoretical approaches to interpreting skills and their

application in interpreter training

Paweł Korpal, M.A.

Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań

pkorpal@wa.amu.edu.pl

Outline

• interpreter aptitude and skills• approaches to interpreting skills• interpreting skills in interpreter training

My objectives

to give examples of research on both cognitive and non-cognitive interpreting skills

to show how the cognitive and psychological approach to interpreting can be implemented in interpreting pedagogy as a means to enhance interpreters’ skills and competencies

Product-oriented vs. process-oriented research in IS

Interpreting quality (Bühler 1986; Kurz 1993; Kopczyński 1994; Moser-Mercer 1996; Shlesinger et al. 1997; Pöchhacker 2001; Collados Aís 2002)

Interpreting strategies and skills (Gile 1995; Vandepitte 2011; Seeber 2011)

Cognitive and processing models of SI (Darò and Fabbro 1994; Gerver 1975; Moser-Mercer 1978)

Psycho- and neurolinguistic methods in Interpreting Studies: EEG, eye-tracking, questionnaires, memory tests etc.

Triangulation! (Alves 2003)

Interpreter aptitude

● (1) an innate capacity, an inherent ability, a set of cognitive resources forming an individual’s general intelligence;

● (2) an acquired ability for proficiency in a given field.

Harris and Sherwood (1978): ‘natural translation’

What skills?

● linguistic?● cognitive?● psychological?● social and cultural?● business-related?

Determinants of interpreter performance

Determinants of human performance and their interaction (Moser-Mercer 2008, adapted from Blumberg and Pringle 1982).

Interpreter aptitude

Chabasse and Kader (2014)

Languages

Language combination:

Language A: native

Language B: active

Language C: passive

Interpreter training vs. L2 learning

Glossary management

The cognitive approach (CA)

Interpreters' working memory (e.g. Daneman and Carpenter 1980; Padilla et al. 1995; Moser-Mercer et al. 2000; Chmiel 2012)

Processing models of SI (Darò and Fabbro 1994; Gerver 1975; Moser-Mercer 1978)

Gile’s Effort Models (1995)- SI:

- the Listening and Analysis Effort (L)

- Short term memory Effort (M)

- the Speech production Effort (P)

- the Coordination Effort (C)

CA: Application in interpreter training

● Gile's Effort Models as an illustrative representation of multitasking in SI and skills which need to be practised by trainees

● processing models of SI – moment-by-moment changes

● Gile's problem triggers

● interpreters' and interpreting trainees' working memory capacity

● visualisation and other memory aids

The psychological approach (PA)

● most language learning approaches in general, and interpreter training programmes in particular, appear to disregard the learner as a human being and neglect the psychoaffective framework he brings to the task of learning a language” (Brisau et al. 1994);

● “in subsequent decades, as conference interpreters came to do most of their work in the booth, the balance between cognitive and affective characteristics apparently shifted towards the former” (Pöchhacker 2011: 107);

● “schools rarely administer tests explicitly aimed at more “soft” skills, such as motivation, ability to learn quickly, open-mindedness, etc., despite identifying these skills as an integral part of a good candidate” (Timarová and Ungoed-Thomas 2008: 43).

Research on psychological factors in interpreting

● Schweda Nicholson (2005): interpreters’ personality (“head-dominated”, favouring a logical approach; a more or less equal number of extraverts and introverts);

● Bontempo and Napier (2011): emotional stability as a predictor of performance in conference interpreters;

● Timarová and Salaets (2011): learning styles, motivation and cognitive flexibility in interpreter training

The psychological approach – stress and anxiety

● Cooper et al. (1982): the sources of occupational stress among conference interpreters, perceived stress and job satisfaction;

● Klonowicz (1994): physiological stress responses in simultaneous interpreting (reflected in blood pressure and heart rate);

● Moser-Mercer et. al (1998): the effect of prolonged turns on the psychological and physiological stress as well as interpreting quality;

● Kurz (2003): the level of physiological stress in novices and professional interpreters;

● Chiang (2010): the correlation between trait anxiety and foreign language anxiety in interpreting trainees and their impact on learning outcomes.

PA: Application in interpreter training

● individualised learning/teaching (research on trainees' and candidates' personality)

● public speaking● improvisation● voice control● stress management, dealing with anxiety● ability to work in teams

References (choice)

Bontempo, K. and J. Napier. 2011. “Evaluating emotional stability as a predictor of interpreter competence and aptitude for interpreting”, Interpreting 13, 85-105.

Chabasse, Catherine. 2009. Gibt es eine Begabung für das Simultandolmetschen?: Erstellung eines Dolmetscheignungstests mit Schwerpunkt Simultandolmetschen. Berlin: SAXA Verlag.

Christoffels, Ingrid and Annette de Groot. 2005. “Simultaneous interpreting: A cognitive perspective”, in: Judith F. Kroll and Annette de Groot (eds.), Handbook of bilingualism: Psycholinguistic approaches. New York: Oxford University Press, 454-479.

Lazarus, R.S. and S. Folkman. Stress, Appraisal and Coping. New York: Springer Publishing.

Gile, Daniel. 1995. Basic concepts and models for interpreting and translation training. Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Jimenez, A. I. and D. Pinazo Calatayud. 2001. “I failed because I got very nervous. Anxiety and performance in interpreting trainees: An empirical study”, The Interpreters’ Newsletter 9, 21-39.

Kao, P. C. and P. Craigie. 2013. “Evaluating student interpreters’ stress and coping strategies”, Social Behavior and Personality 41 (6), 1035-1044.

Kurz, I. 2003. “Physiological stress during simultaneous interpreting: A comparison of experts and novices”, The Interpreters' Newsletter 12: 51-67.

References (choice)

Lambert, Sylvie. 1991. “Aptitude testing for simultaneous interpretation at the University of Ottawa”, Meta 36 (4), 586-594.

Mackintosh, Jennifer. 1999. “Interpreters are made not born”, Interpreting 4 (1), 67-80.

Moser-Mercer, Barbara. 1994. “Aptitude testing for conference interpreting: Why, when and how”, in: Sylvie Lambert and Barbara Moser-Mercer (eds.), Bridging the gap: Empirical research in simultaneous interpretation. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 57-68.

Moser-Mercer, Barbara, Alexander Künzli and Marina Korac. 1998. “Prolonged turns in interpreting: Effects on quality, physiological and psychological stress (pilot study)”, Interpreting 3:1, 47–64.

Riccardi, A., G. Marinuzzi, and S. Zecchin. 1998. “Interpretation and stress”, The Interpreters’ Newsletter, 18, 93-106

Schweda Nicholson, Nancy. 2005. "Personality characteristics of interpreter trainees: the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)", The Interpreters' Newsletter 13, 110-142.

Seeber, Kilian G. 2011. “Cognitive load in simultaneous interpreting: Existing theories – new models”, Interpreting 13: 2, 176-204.