On C-E Consecutive Interpreting Of Impromptu Speech From The Perspective Of The Theme-Rheme Theory

Nowadays,the intensifying exchanges between China and the world make translation and interpretation increasingly important.Impromptu speech is a common form for consecutive interpreting.However,impromptu speech is usually featured in incomplete constituent,redundancy,implicit logic and loose structure,which pose great challenges to consecutive interpreters.This paper intends to explore if the Theme-Rheme theory helps to improve the performance of consecutive interpreting of impromptu speeches from Chinese to English,in an attempt to guide the interpretation practice and teaching of consecutive interpreting.The Theme-Rheme theory encompasses the Thematic theory and the Thematic Progression Patterns.It mainly studies constituents of sentences and the organization of discourses.Based on that,the author examines the theory's impact on consecutive interpreting from four aspects:the delivery,completeness of primary information,accuracy,and coherence.To that end,the author recruits two groups of subjects to interpret consecutively an impromptu speech from Chinese to English,with one group using the Theme-Rheme theory,the other not.The quantitative and qualitative analysis illustrates what differences the Theme-Rheme theory made in interpreters' performance and how the theory affects the quality of consecutive interpreting.The findings of the research indicate that applying the Theme-Rheme theory can be helpful in improving the quality of the interpreting in the four aspects.To be specific,the theory is helpful for interpreters to choose an appropriate subject,distinguish the primary information from the secondary information,grasp the logic behind the texts as well as explicitly link the sentences.Besides,it is also suggested that the more knowledge of the background information,the better performance of the interpreting.