The Role Of Interpreters In Press Conference Interpreting In Light Of Adaptation Theory

The paper did a preliminary research on the interpreter's role in press conference interpreting from the perspective of adaptation theory. At present, the interpreting studies at home and abroad enjoy a trend of interdisciplinary research and applications of different theories in interpreting are quite fruitful. The adaptation theory is a highly adaptable theory, from which the study of interpreting may draw a lot of enlightenments. Interpreting is a complicated language using process of choice making, which requires adaptation at different levels.In press conferences, consecutive interpreting is the mostly used method and the audience are always professional journalists from different countries. In international conferences, culture-loaded expressions appear a lot, which brings a lot of pressure to interpreters. In such a context, the interpreter plays various roles in adapting to different situations. The author holds that the interpreter is not merely a conduit or passive translation machine adapted to the linguistic structure; instead, he/she is the participant and co-constructor of the communication, which would be impossible without him/her. Meanwhile, the interpreter's performance exerts influence on the communication process. As a culture mediator, the interpreter has to make appropriate choices on the basis of different cultural and social background to achieve the best communicative effect. The interpreter is also a quick learner, who prepares thoroughly before the task and adjusts strategies when facing new problems and topics in the dynamic interpreting process.The paper also suggested three ways for the interpreter to enhance his/her role in the interpreting process. First, the interpreter has to enhance language proficiency of both the source and the target languages and pay more attention to comprehension and expression to adapt to the linguistic structure. Secondly the interpreter should improve his/her psychological ability through full preparation and onsite adjustments to tackle various challenges and adapt to the changing physical context. Thirdly, to be a culture ambassador, the interpreter should cultivate cultural awareness through professional training and daily life influence to adapt to the cultural context.