An Empirical Study On Cohesive Devices In Chinese-english Consecutive Interpretation

In consecutive interpretation, what is interpreted is a relatively complete discourse, notbroken sentences. Cohesive devices are indispensable for discourse production. Based onCohesion Theory which was put forward by Halliday and Hasan, cohesive devices can begrouped into five: reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction and lexical cohesion. Chineselanguage focuses on parataxis while English language focuses on hypotaxis. The cohesiverelation in Chinese is underlying while that in English is apparent, so that interpreters may notrealize the cohesive relation in Chinese to English consecutive interpretation (C-E CI) and notbe able to employ correct cohesive devices in C-E CI, thus making the interpreting obscure,unclear or even mistaken.The chief aim of this study is to answer the following questions:⑴what is the generalsituation of the application of cohesive devices in C-E CI;⑵what is the difference anddeficiency in the application of cohesive devices in C-E CI;⑶Are interpreters aware of theexistence of cohesion in C-E CI? The approaches adopted extensively in this empirical studyare transcript analysis and questionnaire.12Chinese paragraphs which featured with implicitand explicit cohesive relation from the Report on the Work of the Government are carefullychosen as the research material. The research material is recorded and then sent to theresearch subjects. Research subjects are made up of3groups: qualified interpreters who havea systematic knowledge of interpreting techniques and abundant interpreting experience;student interpreters that have received one or two years of interpreting training and own alittle practical experience; new learners who have no training or practical experience.Research subjects are required to interpret the materials consecutively and record at the sametime. Later on, a careful analysis is carried out to figure out whether the cohesive device isapplied or not in each sentence interpreting. The analysis is conducted as within-subjectanalysis and between-subject analysis, trying to find out the difference, deficiency andinadequacy of the application among the interpreters of same level and that amonginterpreters of different level. Then, a post interview is carried out. The interpreters are askedto finish a questionnaire, aiming at finding out if the interpreters were aware of Chinesecohesive relations and whether the interpreters hold an idea of applying cohesive devices inC-E CI.The study reveals that in applying cohesive devices in C-E CI,⑴there is a bitdifference among the interpreters of same level but interpreters of different level differ greatlywith each other;⑵Qualified interpreters have awareness of cohesive relations in C-E CI and they intentionally apply correct cohesive devices;⑶most of student interpreters are aware ofcohesive relations, but they fail to achieve cohesive relation like comparative reference,substitution and causal conjunction and they seldom apply these cohesive devices in C-E CI;⑷with regard to new learners, they have no knowledge of cohesion theory and no cohesiveawareness in C-E CI, so they hardly apply cohesive devices. It is highly suggested thatinterpreters should foster a way of cohesive thinking in C-E CI and train themselves withmore practice and more importance should be attached to the teaching and learning ofcohesion theory and cohesive devices in interpretation education.