Influence Of Background Knowledge On Comprehension In Simultaneous Interpreting:a Schematic Perspective

With the emergence and development of "Global Village", the world has witnessed an increasing communication between different countries, especially among some international conferences in various fields, and thus there is a huge demand for simultaneous interpreters. Simultaneous interpreting, as the most challenging and difficult part of interpreting, has attracted worldwide attention. Characterized by simultaneity and time-saving, it plays an important role in cross-cultural communication, which sets a higher standard for simultaneous interpreters. Simultaneous interpreting itself in nature is a complicated cognitive process which consists of comprehension and production. As the first step of simultaneous interpreting, comprehension is of great importance and value. Among the main factors influencing comprehension, background knowledge is increasingly being highlighted.Early in the1930s, Bartlett, a famous British psychologist put forward the concept of schema. He defined it as a whole body of memory to be activated and reorganized and as a bridge to connect the new information and background knowledge. To put it simply, schema is an information structure made up of our knowledge accumulated in the long time. When new messages enter and stimulate our brain, the relevant schema will be activated to connect the background knowledge with new messages so as to facilitate the comprehension.This thesis, with schema theory as theoretic foundation, aims to discuss the influence of background knowledge on comprehension in simultaneous interpreting, pointing out the importance of background knowledge, and then explores the ways to prepare the background knowledge from both theoretical and exemplary levels so as to enhance interpreters’comprehension. First this thesis introduces the definition and features of simultaneous interpreting, elaborates the importance of comprehension in SI based on Gile’s Effort Model for Simultaneous Interpreting and discusses the main factors influencing the comprehension. Then it gives a brief introduction to schema theory and explores the influence of background knowledge on comprehension in SI from a schematic perspective. Moreover, the author makes a great effort to explore the ways to prepare background knowledge on the basis of schema theory so as to help interpreters to enhance their comprehension effectively.