On Problem Triggers And Corresponding Strategies In CH-EN Simultaneous Interpretation For Chinese Colloquial-style Speeches

Chinese colloquial-style speeches have the following features:redundancy, illogic, broken sentences and vivid, often humorous expressions. These features often demand enormous efforts in the context of simultaneous interpretation. When the efforts demanded exceed those that can be provided by translators, the translation quality will be affected.Studies, either domestic or abroad, seldom start from speech styles when exploring simultaneous interpreting. Few papers summarize the problem triggers in Chinese colloquial-style speeches and the corresponding translation strategies. Even fewer papers do novice-expert comparative studies in this aspect. Therefore, based on the Effort Model theory, and based on the 10 features (raised by Hong Lei and Wang Binhua) common in English and Chinese speeches, features that can be used to identify the styles of speeches, this thesis firstly raises 4 problem triggers unique in Ch-En simultaneous interpretation for Chinese colloquial-style speeches, and then analyzes how these problem triggers affect the translation quality (especially accuracy and fluency) and how novice and expert interpreters respond to these problem triggers. By doing so, this thesis seeks to give inspirations to the teaching and learning of Cn-En simultaneous interpreting.Based on quantitative and qualitative study, the major findings of this thesis are as follows:1) the four problem triggers will affect translation quality of both groups, yet expert interpreters are less affected. Illogic causes most problems for both groups. The performance gap stands widest when the two groups interpret texts featuring redundancy or illogic.2) When dealing with redundancy and broken sentences, the two groups use similar strategies like waiting and predicting. However, when dealing with illogic and vivid, especially humorous expressions, expert interpreters are quicker and more decisive, and can better grasp and process the core messages, or can better use the strategy of closely following the speaker.