交替传译过程及能力发展中国法语译员和学生的交替传译活动实证研究

Process of Consecutive Interpreting and Competence Development An empirical study of consecutive interpreting by Chinese-French interpreters and students of interpreting

本文拟借助跨学科的研究成果,针对交替传译的思维特点,研究设计了三个理论模式,对职业译员和各种程度的学生译员在交传活动中的心理表征进行了实证性研究。研究以口译活动外部表征(信息、时间变量、语言及策略等)作为变量参数,观察各变量在思维过程和能力发展阶段的作用,相互关系和不同变化,籍此验证理论模式的解释力,从中分析归纳出交替传译中心理语言活动的普遍规律,揭示口译技能的实质和影响口译能力发展的主要因素。

Interpreting is becoming more and more important in increasingly frequent international communication. However, interpreter training and the theoretical study of interpreting lag behind. Many basic problems concerning interpreting are awaiting systematic research and exploration. Consecutive interpreting, as a professional activity in cross-cultural communication, has its own unique psychological model and ways of thinking. In order to convey faithfully and accurately the communicative intentions of two speakers of different languages, an interpreter is supposed to have a good command of not only both languages, but also relevant skills and techniques. During the process of consecutive interpreting, the input, i.e. the original language, serves as the basis for the interpreter to think and then convey meaning, but on the other hand, it poses constraints on the analysis and inference by the interpreter. The output, i.e. the target language, is the outcome of thinking. It reflects how the interpreter understands the original information and how good he is at expressing himself. It also shows how cross-language, cross-cultural communicative factors interfere in the conveying of substantial meaning. This paper makes an empirical study of the thinking process, characteristics, and interfering factors in consecutive interpreting from a multi-disciplinary perspective, employing relevant theories and methodology from linguistics, psycholinguistics, cognitive linguistics, pragmatics as well as theoretical studies of translation. This paper consists of seven parts. It reviews studies of the process of consecutive interpreting and competence development over the last 30 years both at home and abroad and presents all the models proposed to illustrate the process of consecutive interpreting. Basing on this, the writer proposes her own hypothesis of theoretical model and gives a systematic description. In proof of the feasibility of the model, the paper takes as subjects professional Chinese-French interpreters and student interpreters. This paper, based on the observation of the consecutive interpreting activities by three groups of the subjects and using as variables information, time, language and strategies, makes a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the role of each variable, relations among the variables and changes in the development of interpreting competence. Hopefully, the empirical study in this paper helps to disclose the essence of skills in consecutive interpreting and contributes to skill training of interpreters, thus improving the quality of interpreting.