The Function Of Memory In Consecutive Interpreting

Nowadays, Consecutive interpreting is widely used in conferences, business talksand political negotiations, etc. In consecutive interpreting, a great obstacle forinterpreters is to memorize information accurately. Due to limitations to short-termmemory of human beings, one may not be able to handle speeches longer thanmemory capacity. Without accurate memorization of information from the sourcelanguage, it is impossible for interpreters to accurately interpret it. The purpose of thispaper is to discuss the role memory plays in the process of CI.Based on theories of memory mechanism, note-taking in CI and difficulties in CImemory, the paper analyze memory in CI through an empirical study. Memory in CIincludes memory by mind and note-taking. In analyzing the materials, the paper hasfound that there are five points crucial for improving CI memory: comprehension, keywords, logic, tenses and figures. Without paying attention to those points, interpreterscan hardly memorize all the messages in the source language. During the process ofCI, interpreters listen, analyze, comprehend and down notes almost at the same time.Therefore, to properly distribute attention is very important.Through the empirical study and analysis, the paper comes to the generalconclusion that around70%of the information in the source language should bememorized by mind and the other30%by taking notes. In specific, comprehensionand logic analysis should be done in the mind, while key words, tenses and figures arebetter memorized if written down. In a word, memory by mind plays the leading rolein CI memory, and note-taking is a very useful supplement that serves as a trigger torecall memory. With proper training, interpreters can manage to memorize most of theinformation in the source language through a combination of memory andnote-taking.