Exploratory Study On Optimal Interpreting Experience In Class For Student Interpreters-from Perspective Of Flow Theory

Today many interpreting researches have been focusing on interpreting itself, be itinterpreting process, product, performance, practice and profession. However, few studiesfocus on interpreters as human beings and few of them explore the psycho-affectiveframework interpreters bring to their tasks. Among the few studies, the most researchedones focus on the negative emotional and psychological impact of interpreting experienceon public service interpreters, which in and of itself implies a negative tone. It is time toshift the pendulum and focus on the positive functioning of interpreters, using flow theoryand its studies to understand the positive, adaptive, creative and emotionally fulfillingaspects of interpreters. This is where interpreting studies and positive psychology intersect.The concept of optimal experience, or flow, serves as a theoretical cornerstone ofpositive psychology (Shernoff&Csikszentmihalyi,2009) which can shed light onunderstanding interpreters’ interpreting experience. Flow is defined as the mental state ofoperation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling ofenergized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. There arenine components of flow, among which the most important one is the balance of challengeand skill.Optimal experience is positively correlated to motivation which is especiallyimportant for interpreting beginners. That is why this study focuses on class interpretingexperience of student interpreters. From the perspective of flow theory, this study tries toexplore the optimal interpreting experience in class for student interpreters in School ofInterpreting and Translation Studies in Guangdong University of Foreign Studies from thefollowing aspects: how is interpreting tasks’ potential in arousing optimal interpretingexperience in class; what is the general interpreting experience of student interpreters ininterpreting class and how does visual access of interpreting tasks influence student interpreters’ experience and what are the reasons behind.Through the study, it is found that interpreting class in this case generally providespositive experience, but the potential of arousing optimal experience, or “flow” is not thathigh (just slightly above the neutral level). The main reason why interpreting tasks in classdo not effectively arouse students’ optimal experience is that students suffer from a lack ofbalance of challenge and their interpreting skills as it is the most dominant condition forarousing flow. It is also found that “deep flowers”(those whose optimal experience arecharacterized by higher intensity, complexity and order) only take up a very smallpercentage (5.3%) of the total in the class. Topic also seems to have mediating effect onwhether students experience flow. In addition, it is found that visual access in interpretingtask has no significant effect on arousing optimal interpreting experience as it doesn’tsignificantly change the difficulty level of the interpreting task, thus not changing thedifficulty level’s relativity to students’ interpreting skills. Although adding visual access ininterpreting task has no significant effect on arousing optimal interpreting experience as awhole, it does have some effect on the inner structure of the experience: increased sense offun and decreased level of concentration.These findings help us gain a better understanding of interpreting tasks in class, howthe students feel about their interpreting tasks and the effect of visual access on interpretingexperience. Hopefully teachers can draw some insights from these findings to improve theinterpreting experience in class for students. Directions of future research are alsosuggested.