An Exploratory Comparison Of Quality Between Simultaneous And Consecutive Interpretations

The thesis applies the Effort Models of Simultaneous Interpretation and ConsecutiveInterpretation, Principles of Fidelity, the Sequential Model and psycholinguistic theories toillustrate that consecutive interpretation has better quality concerning fidelity to the originalspeech and acceptability of the interpretation. Supported by the above mentioned theories, thethesis intends to answer the following questions:1. Are there any differences between simultaneous interpretation and consecutiveinterpretation concerning quality?2. If there are some differences, which mode of interpretation has better quality concerningfidelity to the original speech and acceptability of the interpretation?3. What causes these differences, if there are any?The study is an empirical research based on experimental tests on the second-yearpostgraduates majoring in interpretation (UIBE-EUJICS Interpreting Training Program) at theUniversity of International Business and Economics (UIBE). The subjects were divided intotwo groups. One group interpreted consecutively and the other simultaneously. The foursubjects were divided randomly, since language proficiency and cultural background werecontrolled as invariables. Two speeches were chosen for subjects to interpret.Information-unit-based and error-based analyses and qualitative analyses are adopted toanalyze the subjects' interpretation performance on the two speeches. In theinformation-unit-based and error-based analyses, the author used descriptive and inferentialanalyses to analyze the data from the experiment. In qualitative analyses, individual subjects'interpretation performance is analyzed in terms of the quality of the target language (mainlyfidelity to the original speech and acceptability of the interpretation). The author draws thefollowing conclusions after carefully analyzing the experimental results:1. There are some differences between consecutive and simultaneous interpretations.2. Consecutive interpretation has better quality concerning fidelity to the original speech andacceptability of the interpretation. It is more accurate, logical and coherent thansimultaneous interpretation. It can better convey the intention of the speaker.3. Differences between consecutive interpretation (CI) and simultaneous interpretation (SI)in processing capacity management and in time constraints also lead to difference inquality. Additionally, in consecutive interpretation, interpreters are provided with morecontext than in simultaneous interpretation.As the subjects participating in the experiment are second-year postgraduates majoring ininterpretation at UIBE, the study may shed light on the training of interpreters.