Explicitation In English-Chinese Consecutive Interpreting

Explicitation is defined as the process of introducing information into the target language which is implicit in the source language but can be inferred from the context or the situation.This thesis deals with explicitation based on an English-Chinese consecutive interpreting practice,the aim of which is to figure out how the interpreter employs explicitation in an authentic assignment.The analysis covers categories of explicitation,motivation of employing explicitation and its effects,as well as the assessment of the interpreter’s performance in this regard.A review of the literature shows that explicitation in interpreting registers in many different patterns.Based on the metafunction of language,the paper proceeds the analysis of explicitation in the domain of ideational metafunction,textual metafunction and interpersonal metafunction.Thanks to a thorough analysis of the recorded data of the interpreting,the study finds that explicitation in the practice mainly belongs to the field of textual metafunction.The methods of employing explicitation under ideational metafunction focus on making general or abstract words clearer and textual metafunction concentrates on identifying the specific meaning of pronouns,supplementing omitted information and improving the logic of the source text.Whatever pattern it is,the purpose of applying explicitation is mainly to make the information clearer and help the audience to better understand the source text.