On Interpretation Context From The Perspective Of Adaptation Theory

In the modern linguistics field, context is such an important concept that it has been studied from the perspectives of sociolinguistics, semantics, pragmatics, to name just a few. There is no exception in interpretation study. Interpretation, as an important means in present international exchanges and cooperation in diverse fields, is of great importance nowadays. Interpretation research has been on the rise and more interdisciplinary-oriented. Context, as an important linguistic concept, has attracted much attention in various fields. As interpretation in essence takes place in certain situations, context and interpretation are inseparable.Interpretation is dynamic contextual communication. During interpreting, interpreters will inevitably encounter the problem of language choices in lines with different contextual factors in order to transfer original message accurately and achieve smooth communication. Inspired by Vershueren's adaptation theory from the viewpoint of pragmatics, which involves the issue of language choices, this paper attempts to study on interpretation context from the perspective of adaptation theory in the following chapters.In chapter one, through theoretic base on context and interpretation, the author puts forward reclassification of linguistic context and non-linguistic context in details especially for interpretation study. And then the relationship between context and interpretation is generally presented. It is pointed out that context plays an indispensable role in interpreting process and interpretation relies on the context.In chapter two, after a review of previous research on context in interpretation, limitations are found. With an introduction of Vershueren's adaptation theory and its applicability, the author attempts to apply adaptation theory to context study in interpretation and find out context adaptation rules that can benefit the interpretation practice.In chapter three, adaptation to linguistic and non-linguistic context in interpretation is respectively elaborated with some authentic interpretation tasks as illustrations. As for linguistic context, adaptation is made at levels of sound, vocabulary, phrase, paragraph and discourse. As for non-linguistic context, adaptation should be made to social context, mental context and physical context. Social context adaptation is discussed in terms of cultural context and times context, while speaker's and listener's mental context is analyzed for mental context adaptation, and forphysical context adaptation, participants, setting, topic and non-verbal communication are probed into. In addition, the feature of dynamism in adaptation process is also emphasized.In chapter four, considering context adaptation in interpretation, some discussions will be put forward as for how to make interpretation teaching more scientific and efficient. Due attention should be paid to contextual clues in interpretation teaching in terms of textbook compiling, complementary material choice and classroom instruction.