On Interpreter's Memeory Load And Approaches To Improving Interpreter's On-The-Spot Performance

It has long been assumed by professional interpreters and interpreting practitioners alike that an interpreter's excellent performance on the spot owes much to his or her remarkable short-term memory ability other than anything else before interpreting theorists take other factors into account. Interpreter's low memory capacity is often regarded as a main obstacle which hinders interpreter's on-the-spot performance. Thus many people come to the false conclusion that only those with innate excellent short-term memory capacity can do interpreting tasks well.Based on people's false illusion, this paper studies the unique features of interpretation and the role of memory in interpretation. With a more detailed research into the human memory mechanism, and a case study conducted among the post-graduate students who orient in interpreting studies and practice, I find out that memory alone does not determine interpreter's excellent performance on the spot, but rather, an interpreter's excellent performance on the stage is determined by a large variety of factors, say, the interpreter's language ability, interpreter's psychological state, interpreter's interpreting skills and techniques, interpreter's voice quality and sometimes even an interpreter's physiology or personality will bear an influence upon his on-the-spot performance. Taking all these factors into account, I am going to make a tentative attempt to work out a complete and systematic program to help those who are interested in interpreting activities to train themselves on a regular basis and to employ some of the techniques on the spot.The above assumptions have made my whole paper take into shape. In chapter 1, I am going to give a general introduction for the topic I am going to discuss and to show the significance and feasibilities of my present study. Chapter 2 gives a detailed account of the unique features of interpretation and the role of memory in interpretation. Chapter 3 describes my research program, the survey I have conducted at SISU with post-graduate students who orient in interpreting studies and practices. Based on the research findings I have obtained in my survey, chapter 4 gives a general report of the factors affecting interpreter's on-the-spot performance and its related theoretical support. Chapter 5, which serves as the core of my thesis, gives a detailed account of the methods and strategies concerning how to improve interpreter's on-the-spot performance. There are not only strategies for interpreters to train on a regular basis, but also some techniques and skills for them to employ on the spot. Chapter 6 serves as a conclusion for my research. It summarizes my research, highlights the research significance and states the limitations of my study which may need further discussion and improvement.