The Effects Of Linguistic Styles On The Quality Of English-Chinese Simultaneous Interpretation

This thesis explores whether linguistic style influences the quality of English-Chinese simultaneous interpretation, how the quality is influenced, why it is influenced and how we can cope with such negative influences.The quantitative standard of linguistic style analysis is based on the research of Cheng Yumin, and the analysis of the experiment results is based on Effort Models theory proposed by Daniel Gile.The empirical research involves two speeches: one is the Speech on Establishing Diplomatic Relations with China by Jimmy Carter, the former US president, and the other is excerpted from Carter’s lecture at Emory University on the Sino-US negotiation before the establishment of diplomatic relations. Eight second-year students of GSTI who have received four months of SI training were asked to interpret simultaneously these two speeches. Through quantitative and qualitative analysis of the records of their interpretation, the author concluded that: the quality of English-Chinese simultaneous interpretation is affected by relatively low register, but when the register is excessively high, the quality is also lower than average. Subordination and inconsistency are two factors that bring most difficulties to interpretation. In addition, preference for formal speeches in the training also has influence. Therefore, cutting the sentences and deverbalization are two important strategies, and informal speeches should also be paid attention in training.