A Process Study Of Simultaneous Interpreting From The Perspective Of Schema Theory And The Implication For Schema Application Strategies

Schema, as an important concept in the domain of cognitive psychology, has beenshaped to account for the prerequisites and process of human being’s learning aboutthe world and acquiring new knowledge. It refers to the systematic representation ofknowledge and experience existing in human brain. Modern schema theory holds thathuman brain processes, predicts and reforms information in a dynamic andall-dimensional way, through which new information and existing schema constantlyinteract with each other. In recent years, schema theory has been widely applied inresearches on listening and reading comprehension process, as well as secondlanguage acquisition. This has set the basis for the application of schema theory ininterpreting studies. In interpreting process, especially in the simultaneousinterpreting which poses huge cognitive load on the interpreter, schema functions asan indispensable and irreplaceable facilitating and smoothing factor. It is of greatrelevance and significance in the whole process of simultaneous interpretingencompassing listening and analysis, memorizing and target language production.This thesis looks into the process of simultaneous interpreting from theperspective of schema theory. With a systematic overview and exemplified illustrationof schema functioning models and an in-depth exploration as for how schema wouldfacilitate the three phases of simultaneous interpreting respectively, especially thevery first step, source language listening and analysis, the author would try to putforward some suggestions concerning effective activation and application of schema,holding that both declarative knowledge and procedural knowledge should bemobilized during this process to form, accumulate and maximized the useful schema.In this way, the author hopes to render a better understanding of the mental process insimultaneous interpreting for those practitioners and trainees, and provide them withsome insights to training and practices of simultaneous interpreting with regard tobetter schema application and process optimization, which would definitely lead tobetter performance on site.