The Impact Of Compression Strategies On Chinese-English Simultaneous Interpreting For Spontaneous Speech

The thesis looks into the impact of compression strategies on Chinese-English simultaneous interpreting for spontaneous speech. Due to its immediacy nature, simultaneous interpreting focuses on the efficiency and effectiveness of communication. Faced with the pressure of time constraints, and real time situation, interpreters tend to analyze the source texts and "compress" delivery when producing target texts, and convey the most important key messages. Currently, the academic circle lacks attention on the study of compression strategies, and thus there is a gap in many fields of research. The majority of existing literature focuses on omission strategies, a subfield of compression strategy, rather than on the bigger issue of compression.The thesis combines theoretical analysis with empirical study, aiming to fill the research gap. Based on the compression theory proposed by Chernov, eight students are selected as interpreters to participate in the designed experiment. Dawrant’s grading tool for simultaneous interpreting is used to evaluate interpreters’performance, so as to provide basis of analysis on the research. Afterwards, qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted based on the transcripts of interpreted speeches, analyzing the five layers of compression strategies. Tentative conclusions are drawn, aiming to provide suggestions and advice for improving performance of Chinese English simultaneous interpreting for spontaneous speech.