Strategies Of Minimizing Pauses In CI

With the enhancement of her overall national strength and the consolidation of her international status, China has attracted more attention from the international community. Under this circumstance, China's interpreting market is undergoing rapid development while interpreters, as a critical role in interpreting, are assuming greater responsibility.Consecutive interpreting (CI) and simultaneous interpreting are widely used. Consecutive interpreting, in particular, enjoys great popularity in the field of political consultation, business talks, press conference and academic lectures. Fluency is undoubtedly regarded as an important standard in evaluating the quality of an interpreter's performance. Too many pauses in consecutive interpreting will largely affect interpreters'performance. This paper aims to find out reasons behind these pauses and strategies to minimize them. Eight second-year postgraduate students majoring in interpreting took part in this empirical study, interpreting one English passage into Chinese. The data of video and audio recording of their interpreting, the interview and notes are collected. Within the framework of Daniel Gile's Effort Model, the data and notes are carefully analyzed. The major findings are: in CI, interpreters'pauses are caused by numerous factors. They are: unclear notes, seeking for appropriate expression, repetition and hesitation, etc. The reorganization of notes and the seeking for appropriate Chinese expression are, among others, the most pronounced factors. The enhancement of relevant skills should be stressed in CI training and teaching.