Characterizing The Role Of Sermon Simultaneous Interpreters -a Multiparametric Model

This thesis attempts to characterize the role of sermon simultaneous interpreters from four perspectives or parameters and intends to position that role on the"invisibility/visibility"continuum in as comprehensive a manner as possible. Traditionally, many metaphors of interpreter's role, including"conduit"or"channel", pointed to the"invisibility"or"disengagement"of interpreters. Recently, a number of interpreting studies researchers began to question the appropriateness of those metaphors and therefore the characterization of interpreters'role with them. They proposed some hypotheses about the"visibility"of interpreters and formulated some models to characterize that role. However, few of those studies touched upon the role of sermon simultaneous interpreters and many of the models may be inapplicable in the context of sermon interpreting. In addition, those studies often attempted to characterize the role of interpreters from a single perspective. In view of the limitations of previous studies, this thesis introduces four parameters to characterize the role of sermon simultaneous interpreters with a combined methodology of questionnaire survey, interview and non-interference observation. The findings of this thesis are that the role of sermon simultaneous interpreters tends to vary with the parameters used. For example, the findings show certain homogeneity in terms of the two parameters of"user expectation"and"product-based role performance", while the other two parameters, namely"interpreter perception"and"speaker expectation", indicate some heterogeneity in the findings.