Cross-cultural Awareness In Interpreting: Problems And Solutions

Nowadays, with economic globalization and the further promotion of opening up inChina, interpreters are playing more and more important roles in cross-culturalcommunication. However, it is not enough for an interpreter to possess only language skills.As a cross-cultural communicative activity, interpretation also deals with the problems ofcultural transmissions. This essay aims to overcome the cross-cultural barriers ininterpreting from the perspective of cultivating cross-cultural awareness of interpreters. Ininterpreting, hearing the information of source language can lead to the problem ofmisunderstandings due to cross-cultural differences. In that case, methods need to be foundto deal with cross-cultural barriers by improving interpreters’ cross-cultural awareness.The whole essay consists of four chapters. Besides introduction and conclusion, theother four parts are the main body of the essay. The introduction part mainly states thepurpose and arrangement of the essay. Chapter One introduces a definition aboutcross-cultural awareness, the relationship between cross-cultural awareness and interpreting,as well as the previous studies at home and abroad. Chapter Two starts from aninvestigation and a study on MTI students’ cross-cultural awareness, analyzes themisunderstandings caused by lacking of cross-cultural awareness in interpreting, andelaborates the cross-cultural barriers existing in interpreting. The cultural differences, socialcustoms, thinking mode and religious beliefs that cause obstacles in interpreting will beanalyzed. In Chapter Three, the author puts forward some proposals on cultivating andimproving interpreters’ cross-cultural awareness in interpreting which can help themovercome these cross-cultural barriers. Chapter Four is about limitations and implicationsof the research. Finally, a conclusion is made on the whole thesis.