Triggers in Comparison:
Analyzing Explicitation Across Levels of Interpreters’ Experience in Consecutive Interpreting
Abstract
The current study intended to explore the use of explicitation in consecutive interpreting, recognizing its significance as a strategic approach, particularly given the time constraints inherent in the interpreting process. Hence, the researchers carried out a mixed-methods experiment that comprised 9 trainee interpreters and 5 experienced interpreters who engaged in English-Persian consecutive interpreting (CI). The study used both product analysis, which involved comparing the source and target texts, and process analysis, which included retrospective interviews and notes, to examine explicitation behavior. The product study primarily tried to find instances of explicitation employed by both groups, whereas the process analysis sought to reveal the underlying reasons for its utilization. The results did not show a significant difference in the reasons for explicitation between trainee and experienced interpreters. Nevertheless, a noteworthy distinction was observed in the manner in which the two groups treated this particular issue. The findings indicated that experienced interpreters are often motivated by the need for clarification. This suggests that experienced interpreters place a high importance on guaranteeing that the interpreted message is clear and easily understood by the audience. They may employ explicitation as a means to communicate the intended message with greater effectiveness. However, trainee interpreters used explicitations as a means to make up for their own poor proficiency, by filling in any gaps that may occur because of their inadequate abilities. The results of this study could be instrumental for interpreter training programs, as they provide empirical evidence on the different reasons behind explicitation strategies between trainee and experienced interpreters.
Keywords:
Consecutive interpreting, explicitation, interpreting experience, Triggers of explicitationReferences
Baleghizadeh, S., & Sharifi, A. (2010). Explicitation of implicit logical links in Persian-English translation. The International Journal for Translation & Interpreting Research, 2(2). 57–65. Retrieved from https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/informit.569033290868190
Beikian, A., Yarahmadzehi, N., & Karimpour Natanzi, M. (2013). Explicitation of conjunctive relations in Ghabraei’s Persian translation of ‘The kite runner’. English Language and Literature Studies, 3(2), 81–89. doi:10.5539/ells.v3n2p81
Blum-Kulka, S. (1986). Shifts of cohesion and coherence in translation. In J. House, & S. Blum-Kulka (Eds.), Interlingual and intercultural communication: Discourse and cognition in translation and second language acquisition studies, (pp. 17–37). Gunter Narr Verlag.
Bühler, H. (1986). Linguistic (semantic) and extra-linguistic (pragmatic) criteria for the evaluation of conference interpretation and interpreters. Multilingua, 5(4), 231–235.
Dawrant, A., & Setton, R. (2016). Conference interpreting: A complete course. John Benjamin Publishing Company. doi:10.1075/btl.120
Fu, R., & Chen, J. (2019). Negotiating interpersonal relations in Chinese-English diplomatic interpreting: Explicitation of modality as a case in point. Interpreting, 21(1), 12–35. doi://doi.org/10.1075/intp.00018.fu
Gile, D. (2009). Basic concepts and models for interpreter and translator training. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Gosy, M. (2007). Disfluencies and self-monitoring. Govor, 91–110.
Gumul, E. (2006). Explicitation in simultaneous interpreting: A strategy or a by-product of language mediation? Across languages and cultures, 7(2), 171–190. doi:10.1556/Acr.7.2006.2.2
Gumul, E. (2017). Explicitation in simultaneous interpreting: A study into explicitating behaviour of trainee interpreters. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego.
Gumul, E. (2021). Explicitation and cognitive load in simultaneous interpreting: Product-and process-oriented analysis of trainee interpreters’ outputs. Interpreting, 23(1), 45–71. doi://doi.org/10.1075/intp.00051.gum
Halliday, M. (2014). Halliday's introduction to Functional Grammar (4th ed.). Taylor & Francis Group.
Igder, R., & Karimnia, A. (2010). Explicitation in English-into-Persian translation: A study of text type. Iranian Journal of Translation Studies, 8(29), 69–86.
Liu, M., Schallert, D. L., & Carroll, P. J. (2004). Working memory and expertise in simultaneous interpreting. Interpreting, 6(1), 19–42. doi:10.1075/intp.6.1.04liu
Mohammadi, A. M. (in press). A pragmatic analysis of the process of explicitation in simultaneous interpretation. Zabanpazhuhi (Journal of Language Research).
Morselli, N. (2018). Interpreting universals: A study of explicitness in the intermodal EPTIC corpus. Retrieved from https://www.intralinea.org/index.php/specials/article/2 320
Shreve, G. M., Lacruz, I., & Angelone, E. (2011). Sight translation and speech disfluency: Performance analysis as a window to cognitive translation process. In C. Alvstad, A. Hild, & E. Tiselius (Eds.), Methods and strategies of process research: Integrative approaches in translation studies (pp. 93–120). John Benjamins.
Tang, F., & Li, D. (2016). Explicitation patterns in English-Chinese consecutive interpreting: Differences between professional and trainee interpreters. Perspectives: Studies in Translatology, 24(2), 235–255. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2015.1040033
Tang, F., & Li, D. (2017). A corpus-based investigation of explicitation patterns between professional and student interpreters in Chinese-English consecutive interpreting. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer. doi:10.1080/1750399X.2017.1379647
Tang, F. (2018). Explicitation in consecutive interpreting. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Tommola, J., & Helevä, M. (1998). Language direction and source text complexity: Effects on trainee performance in simultaneous interpreting. In L. Bowker, M. Cronin, D. Kenny, & J. Pearson (Eds.), Unity in diversity: Current trends in translation studies (pp. 177–186). St. Jerome Publishing.
Vahedi Kia, M., & Ouliaeinia, H. (2016). Explicitation across literary genres: Evidence of a strategic device? The International Journal for Translation & Interpreting Research, 8(2), 82–95. doi:10.12807/ti.108202.2016.a06
Yazdani Moghaddam, M., Shahraki Deh Sukhteh, S., & Delarami Far, M. (2017). Explicitation in translation: A case of screen translation. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 8(1), 75–80. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.0801.09
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
DOR
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Fatemeh Bayat, Sima Ferdowsi, Somayeh Baniasa-Azad
![Creative Commons License](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/4.0/88x31.png)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Copyright Licensee: Iranian Journal of Translation Studies. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0 license).