Problems Encountered By Trainees Of Interpreting And Tentative Solutions——from The Perspective Of Reflective Learning

With further development of globalization and frequent global exchanges, interpreting assumes an increasingly prominent role. Interpreting boasts a time-honored history, but as an internationally-acknowledged profession, it began in1919when it played a crucial role of Paris Peace Conference. In recent years, interpreters are in short supply despite the tightening global job market. To meet the huge demand for interpreters, Masters of Translation and Interpretation (MTI) was launched in some outstanding and competent universities in China. Meanwhile, interpretation training centers are mushrooming in China’s first-tier cities.Lured by the high salary, many people aspire to embark on the road of interpretation. Along their learning journey, they meet with a variety of difficulties. While attaching great importance to the acquisition of interpretation skills, many trainees may meet bottlenecks and difficulties and make little progress. One possible explanation may be that they ignore an important link which is reflection. Through reviewing, examining and analyzing and reflecting on their own interpreting recordings, the trainees may find out their problems. Fact is that many interpreting trainees find it disgusting or uncomfortable to listen to their own recordings. However, they can hardly detect their problems if they don’t review their recordings.It’s also recommended that the interpreting trainees should learn from competent interpreters. By contrasting their own interpreting performance with that of the competent interpreter, the trainees may easily find out their deficiencies.Reflective teaching is advocated among teachers. Likewise, it’s advisable that reflective learning be encouraged among learners. Interpreting trainees are advised to reflect on their own recordings and take down their own problems, take targeted measures and overcome them. In a word, interpreting trainees need to adopt reflective learning method.This thesis approaches interpreting from the perspective of reflective learning which is applying reflection practice to interpreting learning. It explores the sundry of problems emerging from the trainees’interpretation process and tries to dig out the root causes behind them in an attempt to offer tentative solutions to these problems with a view to facilitating the trainees’learning journey by arousing the trainees’awareness of those hedges and problems. After reviewing and analyzing the in-class recordings of some thirty interpreting trainees, this thesis enumerates such problems as neglect of context, lack of preparation, inefficient note-king, imbalance between note-taking and memory, lack of flexibility, lack of logic and too many mouth-fillers. To tackle those problems, this thesis proposes such measures as anticipation, visualization, developing a personal note-taking system, retelling, shadowing etc.