The Effect Of Background Knowledge On The Quality Of Consecutive Interpreting

Along with the Chinese market opening up to the world,there is a larger demand for professional interpreters to serve as an international communication bridge and an intermediary for collaboration and coordination among organizations from different countries.This interpreting report is based on the reflection of the author’s English to Chinese consecutive interpreting task at the International Forum on Chinese Characteristics and Cross Culture Project Management,a sub-forum for the International Forum on Chinese Characteristic and Cross-Cultural Project Management and China Congress on Project Management 2017.The report consists of four chapters with the first describing the background information,the main processes and speech analysis for the interpreting task.The topics relevant to the sub-forum is project management,cross-culture exchange and the speaker has a heavy Spanish accent.The second chapter deliberates on the pre-interpreting process in terms of thematic knowledge build-up,glossary building,the speaker’s information,physical and mental adjustment and self-evaluates the overall interpretation outcome.The third part is concerned with the case analysis to showcase the challenges caused by terminologies,speaker’s accent and lack of background knowledge in the process of interpreting and applies the Effort Model Theory to showcase the importance of long-term background knowledge building for its positive impact on improving the interpretation quality.Finally the author concludes that: 1)different time frame of preparation should lead to different preparation priorities;2)solid background knowledge plays a decisive role in delivering the interpreting performance;3)the knowledge base influencing the interpretation quality comprises linguistic and extra-linguistic knowledge;linguistic knowledge implies to familiarize with different accents and extra-linguistic knowledge relates to short-term and long-term knowledge building;4)to improve interpretation quality is to enhance comprehension for novice interpreters,thus allowing more energy to spend on coordination and production.Therefore,the author suggests that: 1)efficient glossary building should include the contextual meaning and logical links among them;2)when preparation time is limited and the speaker has a strong accent,it is advised to talk to them before the interpreting task and observe the delivery style;3)interpreting training should include listening comprehension for accented English and long-term background knowledge building.