A Study Of Working Memory In E-C Simultaneous Interpreting Based On Gile’s Effort Models

Interpretation can be divided into Consecutive Interpretation and Simultaneous Interpretation according to the operating mode. Simultaneous Interpretation is widely used in all kinds of international conferences for its feature of time-saving. Therefore, understanding the working principles of Simultaneous Interpretation is very significant. Gile’s Effort Model clearly illustrates the process of Simultaneous Interpretation, showing four steps in Simultaneous Interpretation, that is, Listening and Analysis, Memory, Speech Production and Coordination. Memory is the second step in SI. Through the comparison and contrast of sensory memory, short-term memory and long-term memory, it is concluded that memory in Gile’s Effort Model mainly refers to short-term memory. Therefore, short-term memory plays a significant role in SI. But it is worth noticing that the concept of working memory in this thesis is different from that of short-term memory. Specific analysis will be given from the perspective of function and constitution. And then this thesis introduces three kinds of working memory models, namely, the early working memory model proposed by Baddelley and others, the embedded processing working memory model by Nelson Cowan and the concentric circle model by Oberauer. And the status, effects and application of working memory in the Simultaneous Interpretation are then analyzed. By comparing the working memory in C-E SI with that in E-C SI, the importance of working memory in E-C SI is discussed.Finally, on the basis of the analysis of the factors that affect working memory, some strategies are proposed to improve the quality of domestic SI.Based on the above analysis, the conclusion of the thesis is that memory indeed plays a significant role in SI, especially the working memory. Gile’s Effort Model has proven this. While through comparison and contrast, it is discovered that the influence of working memory on E-C SI is greater than that of C-E SI. Therefore, some strategies to train working memory are put forward in the last part of the the thesis to improve the quality of domestic SI. However, working memoryis not the only factor affecting SI, thus other three factors in Gile’s Effort Model should be considered together to better improve the performance of SI.