The Application Of Symbols In Note-taking Of CI

As China's reform and opening up develop by leaps and bounds, the demand for competent interpreters in China today is greater than any other time in history, and the need for studies on interpretation is also more urgent than any other time before.Consecutive interpreting takes a leading role in China, with more than 50% of conferences performed in the consecutive mode. So the importance of consecutive interpreting should deserve intensive exploration. Note-taking in consecutive interpreting plays a great important role in the interpreting performance, we may even say that the success of interpreting depends on note-taking to a large extent. As human memory is limited, note-taking acts as an important support of memory, especially in the case that the segment of speech lasts as long as ten minutes or more, yet it also brings with it some negative impact-distracting the attention and effort that is supposed to be distributed to listening and understanding. So it is essential to seek for a method to reduce the effort cost by note-taking, and an effective way out is to introduce symbols.Theoretically speaking, according to Daniel Gile's Effort Model, the application of symbols will lower the processing capacity spent on note-taking because less time and energy are needed for note-taking, leaving more effort available for listening and analyzing, thus the overall output of interpretation can be improved. For their convenience and easy association, symbols have evident advantages in saving time and energy in note-taking, or in other words, they are helpful in improving note-taking efficiency. Besides, since symbols do not belong to a particular language, they can be conveniently jotted down in one language while easily read out in another, just like figures. Moreover, they can help to separate ideas from language itself, thus prevent interpreters from mechanically taking down everything they have heard and being trapped by separate words.Inspired by Gile's Effort Model, this thesis aims to make a full exploration into the application of symbols in note-taking of CI, so as to provide the interpreting trainees with some practical suggestions on how to improve the quality of CI.