An Inquiry Into The Impact Of Speech Rates On The Performance Of Simultaneous Interpreters

Simultaneous interpreters interpret for speakers with different language styles. Speech rate is one aspect of one’s language style. If the speech rate is too high, interpreters may make more mistakes and omit more original information. If the speech rate is too low, interpreters may find it hard to determine the right timing to start interpreting, thus sacrificing their fluency.Based on Daniel Gile’s Effort Model and Peter Newmark’s classification of linguistic functions, this paper inquires into the impact of speech rates on the performance of simultaneous interpreters (English to Chinese) with an empirical study. Having analyzed their performance under different speech rates, this paper proposes the reasonable rate range for English to Chinese simultaneous interpreters, relevant coping strategies and advice for conference organizers.Twelve trainees from the Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation, Beijing Foreign Studies University, are invited to take part in the experiment. Divided into three groups, they are asked to provide simultaneous interpretation for the same speech rendered into low, medium and high rates. An analysis of their performance finds that the low speed group outperforms the other in core information delivery, while the high speed group underperforms in secondary information delivery. However, when it comes to complex sentences and background knowledge, there is no major difference in the performances of interpreters across different groups.