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.