Comprehension And Expression Of Metaphor In CE-EC Consecutive Interpretation

The present experiment report concerns itself with the difference in the reaction time and the interpretation strategies when different interpreters face English and Chinese metaphors in English-Chinese bilingual consecutive interpretation. This experiment takes 30 interpretation major postgraduates as subjects. In the experiment, the subjects are offered one English text and one Chinese text. Ten metaphors are identified in each text. The experiment focuses on the reaction time and strategies that the subjects take when facing English and Chinese metaphors in consecutive interpretation. All the records are transcribed as texts to be marked. Besides these, questionnaires and interviews are also taken in this analysis and discussions.According to the results, (1) the subjects take longer reaction time with English metaphors than with Chinese metaphors; (2) the subjects prefer to interpret English metaphors literally but explain the meanings of Chinese metaphors. According to the differences from reaction time and interpretation strategies that interpreters have, this report suggests that interpreters should accumulate more cultural knowledge from different languages. For example, interpreters whose mother tongue is Chinese should learn more about English cultures because there is much culture-loaded information in metaphors. The present experiment offers some new explanations for the process of interpreting English and Chinese metaphors, which is also helpful for interpretation teaching practice.