Application Of Ad Hoc Knowledge Acquisition Strategies In Consecutive Interpretation Of The 12^th Global Summit Of Michelin Group

The concept of ad hoc knowledge acquisition originates from Daniel Gile’s the Basic Concepts and Models for Interpreter and Translator Training. Ad hoc knowledge acquisition is defined here as the acquisition of information for a specific translation or interpretation task. Interpretation generally requires the acquisition of specific information for an individual assignment. However, in most cases, project information that is provided by the conference organizer seldom contains all the knowledge necessary for interpreters to perform their work. Hence, interpreters should take the initiative to acquire project knowledge throughout the completion process of an interpretation project. Daniel Gile’s ad hoc knowledge acquisition concept can instruct the interpreters to learn project knowledge in an effective way. It divides an interpretation task into three stages according to time sequence, namely, “the pre-interpreting preparation stage”, “the last-minute preparation stage, and “the in-conference stage”, each with a different focus. Proper utilization of the three stages of an interpretation project enables interpreters to gain an in-depth understanding of project knowledge and further achieve outstanding performance in interpretation.Enlightened by Gile’s concept, and based on the author’s personal interpretation experience, this report is an application of the knowledge acquisition strategies to a media interview meeting of The 12 th Global Summit of Michelin Group. The report begins with a brief introduction to the project. Then, it elaborates on the preparation and the completion process of the interpretation project. This part is followed by the core component of this report, namely, the application of knowledge acquisition strategies in this consecutive interpretation project. This report proposes six strategies to acquire project knowledge including requesting background information, anticipating proposed topics, analyzing the speaker, sight interpreting of speech texts, making use of visual documents and making use of human source. After application of these strategies, the author acquired adequate knowledge about this project and completed this job successfully.By analyzing this consecutive interpretation project, it is discovered that the concept of knowledge acquisition not only promotes efficiency of preparation work, but also improves accuracy of interpretation production. Hereby, this report is intended to remind interpreters that the knowledge acquisition strategies are of great importance to consecutive interpretation. The aim of this report is to advocate the application of ad hoc knowledge acquisition strategies to consecutive interpretation projects.