The Effect Of Productive Vocabulary Ability On The Word Accuracy In C-E Consecutive Interpreting

Based on the theoretical foundations of propositional analysis of semantic content and Gravitational Model of Linguistic Availability, the present study intended to investigate the effect of productive vocabulary ability on word-accuracy in C-E CI, and the possible explanations. The author first reviewed the effect of L2 proficiency on interpreting performance, then, focused on the studies of word-accuracy in interpreting, on the basis of which formed the framework of the present study. In addition, the author proposed the specific research questions.To answer these questions, the author conducted an in-depth observation of a corpus consisting of consecutive interpretation by 9 student interpreters for the beginning part of Premier Wen Jiabao' s Press Conference in 2006.Analysis of the corpus yielded the following major findings:First, there exists positive correlation between productive vocabulary ability and word-accuracy, that is, the higher the productive vocabulary ability, the more accurate the output is during an interpreting task;Second, characteristics of the errors of different groups in word-accuracy in C-E CI is that the most occurred errors are those most relevant words, specific phrases and expressions in interpreting.Finally, regarding factors contributing to the formation of this phenomenon, the characteristics of interpreting, linguistic availability together with the retrieval of words are identified as the essential factors. Apart from these conclusions, the author also put forward several constructive recommendations for future interpreting training.