Analysis Of And Coping Strategies For Disfluencies In English-Chinese Consecutive Interpretation

Fluency is an important criteria for assessing the quality of interpretation,but ensuring fluency is not an easy task.When disfluencies occur in the interpretation,they will delay the delivery of the information,which greatly hinders the quality of the output,thus disrupting listeners’ experience.Based on the mock conference on “Interview With William A.Haseltine at the Brookings Institution”,this case study aims to investigate the causes of disfluencies in English to Chinese interpretation and strategies to reduce them.Adopting Maclay and Osgood’s classification,disfluencies in this case study are classified into four categories,namely,filled pauses,unfilled pauses,repeats and self-repairs.After analyzing the cases,the author concluded three main causes behind these disfluencies: lack of background knowledge,deficient listening and analyzing,and excessive stress.The author also proposes five corresponding strategies based on the causes of the disfluencies in this case to improve the fluency: 1)Enhance preparation before interpretation and improve the preparation strategy;2)Improve listening and analyzing through targeted practice of sense-group division and retelling;3)Strengthen self-monitoring,review and summarize interpretation performance in time;4)Upgrade oral ability and flexibility of expression through paraphrasing practice;5)Relieve tension and build up a stronger mind through simulated real-life practices.