The effect of cognitive load on simultaneous interpreting performance: an empirical study at the local level

Perspectives ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Zhangminzi Shao ◽  
Mingjiong Chai
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Simultaneous Interpreting

scholarly journals Students’ Review on Interpreting Teaching in Libya: Challenges and Future Prospects

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 3-16
Author(s):  
Mohammed Juma Zagood
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Future Prospects ◽  
Course Structure ◽  
Simultaneous Interpreting ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
The Future ◽  
Consecutive Interpreting ◽  
The Way

This empirical study discusses the challenges faced by interpreting students at the Department of Translation and Interpreting Studies at the Libyan Academy in Tripoli. It attempts to answer the following question: what is the students’ perspective on the teaching of interpreting at the Libyan Academy? To answer the aforementioned question, a questionnaire has been designed for the aim of identifying the challenges encountered by students of interpreting courses at the Libyan Academy. The questionnaire that consists of closed statements and open questions was given to twelve students who passed the interpreting courses. The questionnaire is designed to include questions about the course structure; materials; the division between theory, methodology and practice; and speeches and audios interpreted. The open questions allowed students to express their views regarding the challenges they faced and the possible future improvements. The findings showed that there are some challenges of interpreting teaching from the students’ perspectives. These challenges include the way the courses are divided between theory, methodology, and practice; speeches selected for consecutive interpreting practice, recordings selected for simultaneous interpreting practice, shortage of time slots given to students for practice, out-date lab equipment, and lack of real-life situations where students can practice liaison interpreting. At its conclusion, the significance of this study relies in the suggestion of some recommendations to overcome the challenges raised with the aim of improving interpreting teaching at the Libyan Academy in the future.

scholarly journals Gaze and eye movement in dialogue interpreting: An eye-tracking study

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 780-787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabet Tiselius ◽  
Kayle Sneed
Keyword(s):  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Eye Movement ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Cognitive Effort ◽  
Simultaneous Interpreting ◽  
Gaze Patterns ◽  
Averted Gaze

AbstractPrevious studies have investigated the cognitive processes of simultaneous interpreting and translation using eye-tracking. No study has yet utilized eye-tracking to investigate cognitive load and cognitive effort in dialogue interpreting. An eye-tracking study was conducted on two groups of interpreters (experienced and inexperienced) with varying language backgrounds during a staged dialogue interpreting session. The aim of the study was to explore gaze patterns in dialogue interpreting in relation to the interpreters’ action and translation direction. The results indicated there were differences in gaze patterns depending on the action and the language used. Participants averted gaze more when interpreting into the allophone language (the L2 for a majority of the participants in this study). This may indicate that interpreting into L2 in a dialogue may involve more cognitive effort than interpreting into L1. Finally, gaze patterns did not differ significantly between inexperienced and experienced dialogue interpreters.

Prosodic phenomena in simultaneous interpreting

Interpreting ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Ahrens
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Prosodic Features ◽  
Dynamic Features ◽  
Source Text ◽  
Conceptual Approach ◽  
Simultaneous Interpretation ◽  
Simultaneous Interpreting ◽  
Computer Aided

This paper reports on an empirical study on prosody in English-German simultaneous interpreting. It discusses prosody with particular reference to its tonal, durational and dynamic features, such as intonation, pauses, rhythm and accent, as well as its main functions, i.e. structure and prominence. Following a review of previous studies on the topic, a conceptual approach for the analysis of prosody in terms of structure and prominence is developed and subsequently applied to an authentic corpus of professional simultaneous interpretation consisting of three German versions of a 72-minute English source text. Prosodic patterns in the corpus are analyzed by means of a computer-aided method using the software PRAAT. The findings confirm that prosodic features are interdependent and that those in the target texts show certain characteristics that are specific to simultaneous interpreting.

Cognitive load in relation to non-standard language input

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-286
Author(s):  
Michaela Albl-Mikasa ◽  
Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow ◽  
Andrea Hunziker Heeb ◽  
Caroline Lehr ◽  
Michael Boos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Ecological Validity ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Research Community ◽  
Physiological Mechanisms ◽  
Cognitive Demands ◽  
Simultaneous Interpreting ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
English As Lingua Franca ◽  
Widespread Interest

Abstract The linguistic, psycholinguistic, and neural processes underlying simultaneous interpreting and translation have attracted widespread interest in the research community. However, an understanding of the cognitive load associated with these bilingual activities is just starting to emerge, and the underlying behavioral and physiological mechanisms are still poorly understood. In this article, we describe a promising interdisciplinary approach to assess the behavioral and physiological indices of cognitive load during interpreting and translation in laboratory and simulated workplace settings. In this context, we emphasize the importance of ecological validity and explain how comparisons between authentic non-standard input and edited English versions of the same stimuli can be used to evaluate cognitive load while controlling for the general cognitive demands associated with interpreting and translation. The perspective we present in this article might pave the way for a clearer understanding of the multifaceted dimensions of cognitive load during simultaneous interpreting and translation as well as during the processing of English as Lingua Franca.

scholarly journals Cases, Conflict, and Accommodation: Patterns of Legal Interaction in an American Community

1983 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 803-874 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Engel
Keyword(s):  
Conflict Resolution ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Trial Court ◽  
Trial Courts ◽  
Indigenous Law ◽  
Civil Cases ◽  
Complex Relationships ◽  
Civil Trial

This article provides an overview of an empirical study of a civil trial court and the environment of indigenous law and conflict resolution in which the court operates. The article combines an analysis of civil cases and litigants with an investigation of alternative nonjudicial approaches used by residents of the community. The first section of the article examines the emergence of legal conflicts from the fabric of social relationships in the community and compares cases and parties in the court with those that gravitate toward nonjudicial settings. The second section compares processes and outcomes available in the court with those that may be obtained nonjudicially. The article concludes that different categories of cases emerge from different kinds of social relationships and for this reason are associated with fundamentally dissimilar patterns of values, norms, procedures, and outcomes. It also emphasizes the benefits to be obtained from investigating the complex relationships and interchanges that link local level trial courts to their communities.

Back to Basics: An Empirical Study Demonstrating the Importance of Local-Level Dynamics for the Success of Tropical Marine Ecosystem-Based Management

2009 ◽  
Vol 37 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 349-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Christie ◽  
Richard B. Pollnac ◽  
Enrique G. Oracion ◽  
Agnes Sabonsolin ◽  
Roxie Diaz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Ecosystem Based Management

Probing quality criteria in simultaneous interpreting

Interpreting ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Macarena Pradas Macías
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
Quality Criteria ◽  
Evaluation Study ◽  
Speech Comprehension ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Experimental Stimulus ◽  
Simultaneous Interpreting ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Definition Of

This article describes an empirical study designed to contribute to research into interpreting quality by moving towards a definition of the criterion of ‘fluency’ in the evaluation of simultaneous interpreting. Based on an interdisciplinary review of the literature and preliminary tests of the production and perception of pauses and their effect on speech comprehension, ‘silent pauses’ are investigated as a subparameter of fluency. Following the line of research initiated by Collados (1998), the study analyses the quality expectations of 43 expert users as well as their evaluation of German-Spanish interpretations manipulated by additional silent pauses. Although the differences found in the evaluation study cannot be shown to be statistically significant, there are trends indicating that the principal hypothesis, whereby silent pauses as a subparameter of fluency have a negative effect on fluency evaluation, has received some empirical support. Subjects appear to have detected and responded to the experimental stimulus (two levels of additional silent pauses between 2 and 6 seconds in duration) by giving lower mean ratings for ‘fluency’ to the experimental videos than to the control.

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