scholarly journals The Strategic Dimension of Interpreting

2002 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kurt Kohn ◽  
Sylvia Kalina

Abstract This article analyses consecutive and simultaneous interpreting from a strategic point of view. A concept of discourse-based mental modelling serves as a basis to describe the cognitive-linguistic processes and strategies underlying comprehension and production in interpreted bilingual communication. By contrast with processing in the monolingual context, the interpreting process is characterised by adverse conditions including above all the lack of semantic autonomy and the continuing presence of elements of the source language during different stages of processing. The strategies interpreters use will therefore necessarily differ from those used in monolingual communication and will be adapted to the specific requirements of the interpreting process. Characteristic difficulties of interpreting and corresponding strategic processes are discussed with reference to the communicative transfer relation between source and target discourse, the sequential organisation of source discourse comprehension and target discourse production in consecutive interpreting, the parallel organisation of source discourse comprehension and target discourse production in simultaneous interpreting, and the complexity of content andlor linguistic representation of the source discourse. In an empirical analysis, a bit of simultaneous discourse is studied along with introspective data on the processes at work during production. The introspective data was obtained by means of a retrospective thinking-aloud protocol. Product-related and process-related data indicate that the strategies discussed are used in real-life interpreting situations.

Author(s):  
Mohammed Juma Zagood

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.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Juma Zagood

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.


2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominic Detzen ◽  
Tobias Stork genannt Wersborg ◽  
Henning Zülch

ABSTRACT This case originates from a real-life business situation and illustrates the application of impairment tests in accordance with IFRS and U.S. GAAP. In the first part of the case study, students examine conceptual questions of impairment tests under IFRS and U.S. GAAP with respect to applicable accounting standards, definitions, value concepts, and frequency of application. In addition, the case encourages students to discuss the impairment regime from an economic point of view. The second part of the instructional resource continues to provide instructors with the flexibility of applying U.S. GAAP and/or IFRS when students are asked to test a long-lived asset for impairment and, if necessary, allocate any potential impairment. This latter part demonstrates that impairment tests require professional judgment that students are to exercise in the case.


2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 389-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcela M. Porporato

ABSTRACT This case, based on a real-life situation of how logistics costs function in daily operations, aims to provide students with the opportunity to understand how logistics costs are calculated and how the inter-organizational nature of these costs affects the profitability of two companies. The case hinges on understanding cost behavior (fixed and variable) and on management control systems design. Although logistics costs represent a small fraction of total costs in manufacturing companies, they can negatively affect the bottom line if left unattended. Students are presented with data relating to a three-year project in the automotive industry that shows that the project has been experiencing a sustained increase in costs that has eroded its profit margin. While it appears that logistics costs are the problem, it cannot be verified until the contracts are studied. In addition, the financial- and contract-related data provided are sufficient to extend the profitability analysis to the provider of logistics services. This case is suitable for management accounting courses at the master's or advanced undergraduate level; it has been tested and well received by students who want to gain a greater understanding of logistics costs—their nature, behavior, possible containment strategies, and inter-organizational effects. Data Availability: Some of the data are from public sources, but the logistics contracts and cost schedules are private; the confidentiality agreement with the two companies requires masking certain details and modifying the numeric data.


Author(s):  
Cristina Tassorelli ◽  
Vincenzo Silani ◽  
Alessandro Padovani ◽  
Paolo Barone ◽  
Paolo Calabresi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has severely impacted the Italian healthcare system, underscoring a dramatic shortage of specialized doctors in many disciplines. The situation affected the activity of the residents in neurology, who were also offered the possibility of being formally hired before their training completion. Aims (1) To showcase examples of clinical and research activity of residents in neurology during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy and (2) to illustrate the point of view of Italian residents in neurology about the possibility of being hired before the completion of their residency program. Results Real-life reports from several areas in Lombardia—one of the Italian regions more affected by COVID-19—show that residents in neurology gave an outstanding demonstration of generosity, collaboration, reliability, and adaptation to the changing environment, while continuing their clinical training and research activities. A very small minority of the residents participated in the dedicated selections for being hired before completion of their training program. The large majority of them prioritized their training over the option of earlier employment. Conclusions Italian residents in neurology generously contributed to the healthcare management of the COVID-19 pandemic in many ways, while remaining determined to pursue their training. Neurology is a rapidly evolving clinical field due to continuous diagnostic and therapeutic progress. Stakeholders need to listen to the strong message conveyed by our residents in neurology and endeavor to provide them with the most adequate training, to ensure high quality of care and excellence in research in the future.


2021 ◽  
pp. 089719002110086
Author(s):  
Fiorenzo Santoleri ◽  
Luigia Auriemma ◽  
Antonella Spacone ◽  
Stefano Marinari ◽  
Fabio Esposito ◽  
...  

Background: In the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), nintedanib and pirfenidone, with their different mechanisms of action, lead to a reduction in the rate of progression of the fibrosis process measured by the reduction of functional decline, and, in particular, the decrease in forced vital capacity (FVC) and of the diffusion capacity of the lungs for carbon monoxide (DLCO). The objective of this study was to analyze real-life adherence, persistence and efficacy in the use of pirfenidone and nintedanib in the treatment of IPF. Methods: A non-interventional multicenter retrospective observational pharmacological study in real-life treat-ment at 1 and 2 years was conducted. Furthermore, we analyzed the levels of FVC and DLCO at 6 and 12 months, respectively, from the start of treatment. Results: We identified 144 patients in the period between January 2013 and April 2019. From the point of view of adherence, there is no difference between the two drugs, even though patients who used pirfenidone had increasingly higher values: 0.90 vs 0.89, in the first year, and 0.91 vs 0.84, in the second year. In the first year of treatment, the percentage of persistent patients was 67% and 76%, while in the second year, it dropped to 47% and 53% for pirfenidone and nintedanib, respectively. Conclusion: The stratification of the adherence values as a function of the response to treatment in terms of FVC at 12 months for both study drugs showed that patients with optimal response scored adherence of more than 90%.


2008 ◽  
Vol 2008 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Quax ◽  
Jeroen Dierckx ◽  
Bart Cornelissen ◽  
Wim Lamotte

The explosive growth of the number of applications based on networked virtual environment technology, both games and virtual communities, shows that these types of applications have become commonplace in a short period of time. However, from a research point of view, the inherent weaknesses in their architectures are quickly exposed. The Architecture for Large-Scale Virtual Interactive Communities (ALVICs) was originally developed to serve as a generic framework to deploy networked virtual environment applications on the Internet. While it has been shown to effectively scale to the numbers originally put forward, our findings have shown that, on a real-life network, such as the Internet, several drawbacks will not be overcome in the near future. It is, therefore, that we have recently started with the development of ALVIC-NG, which, while incorporating the findings from our previous research, makes several improvements on the original version, making it suitable for deployment on the Internet as it exists today.


2007 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 290-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kilian G. Seeber ◽  
Christian Zelger

Abstract Simultaneous conference interpreting represents a highly complex linguistic task and a very delicate process of information transfer. Consequently, the notion of truth – which applied to the field of simultaneous interpreting entails an accurate rendition of the original message – is of pivotal importance. In spite of that, an analysis of experimental transcripts and corpora sometimes seems to suggest that interpreters betray the speaker by deliberately altering the original. While we cannot exclude that such instances do exist, we argue that sometimes what looks like betrayal may in fact be a rendition based on a sound ethical decision. In this paper we take a closer look at these situations in an attempt to shed more light on the potential motivations underlying the interpreter’s decisions and actions. Using examples from real life interpreting situations, we take the interpreter’s output and put what at first sight appears to be a betrayal of the speaker on the ethical test bench, both from a deontological and a teleological perspective. Based on this analysis we propose a model suggesting that the interpreter uses three principal message components, verbal, semantic and intentional, in order to come up with an accurate interpretation of the original, which we call “truthful rendition.”


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
F. Gómez ◽  
O. Prieto-Ballesteros ◽  
D. Fernández-Remolar ◽  
J. A. Rodríguez-Manfredi ◽  
M. Fernández-Sampedro ◽  
...  

Viking missions reported adverse conditions for life in Mars surface. High hydrogen signal obtained by Mars orbiters has increased the interest in subsurface prospection as putative protected Mars environment with life potential. Permafrost has attracted considerable interest from an astrobiological point of view due to the recently reported results from the Mars exploration rovers. Considerable studies have been developed on extreme ecosystems and permafrost in particular, to evaluate the possibility of life on Mars and to test specific automated life detection instruments for space missions. The biodiversity of permafrost located on the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve has been studied as an example of subsurface protected niche of astrobiological interest. Different conventional (enrichment and isolation) and molecular ecology techniques (cloning, fluorescence“in situ”probe hybridization, FISH) have been used for isolation and bacterial identification.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-152
Author(s):  
Pavel Reich

Abstract The aim of the present paper is to focus on the language of Human Resources (HR) as one of the subfields of English for business purposes in respect of positive evaluation and stancetaking and to identify to what extent evaluative language common in real-life situations is reflected in currently available textbooks of English for HR (EHR). Authentic language is taken from blogs and interviews with prominent HR managers on www.thehrdirector.com, which is a global online magazine dedicated to HR professionals. The corpus created from these texts is analysed from the point of view of evaluative language and the data ascertained are put into contrast with the language presented in three commonly available HR English textbooks. The analysis focusses on the lexical level of language and is based on the Appraisal framework (and the system of Attitude) of Systemic Functional Linguistics. Even though the present study is intended as qualitative rather than quantitative, the findings are quantified in order to shed some light on the commonality and frequency of some of the phenomena ascertained and their reflection in the textbooks. The outcomes of the analysis might serve as food for thought and inspiration for tertiary-level teachers of general business English courses as well as highly specialised courses focusing on the language of human resources.


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