Mechanism For SI Anticipation Based On Echo Constructions:An Empirical Study

Anticipation,an essential feature of human action for phenomenological philosopher Edmund Husserl(1967),is a vital cognitive process in enhancing Simultaneous Interpreting(SI)quality and efficiency.But how anticipation is realized mentally is in lack of empirical evidence.Most studies available on SI anticipation are concerned with finding relevance with subjective factors and forming image schema in the brain.There has been little investigation into the SI anticipation using cognitive construction which concerns objective factors of somewhat fixed constructions.This study has first discovered from our interpreting practice a somewhat fixed construction in both Chinese and English,which is composed of two echoing parts,the two parts consist of somewhat fixed components and echo with each other.We call this pattern an Echo Construction,the first part being the source information,and naturally,the following part an expectation.The echo construction is often seen in Chinese poems,Chinese two-part allegorical sayings,and English folk adages.We further divide ECs into two types;one is substantive EC and the other schematic EC.For example,"the more...,the more..." is an English schematic EC because the form of it is partially fixed while“?????,??”is a Chinese substantive EC because it is completely fixed.This echoing construction fits in well with the simultaneous interpreting anticipation in that it reflects human's cognitive tendency and that it characterizes the culture,particularly the language.Then this paper aims to explore into the mechanism for anticipation on the basis of EC construction in SI anticipation.To do that it establishes a model of SI anticipation consisting of two routines made up by three steps:building completeness,finding relevance and forming schema.One routine is for the anticipation of substantive EC and the other is for schematic EC.Finally,this paper tests the model by means of the test on different MTI(Master of Translation and Interpreting)students added by questionnaires.The test and questionnaires show that EC construction facilitates the anticipation because it improves the SI quality and efficiency.To conclude,EC is a very important construction of human language.And the anticipation on EC reflects human's cognitive ability as well as the capability for cultural exchange.Thus it plays an important role in language communication for human.So the establishing of an EC model of Anticipation is helpful to promote cross-cultural communication and especially to SI in that on one hand it introduces objective factors to the researchers,thereby contributing to the relevant studies,and on the other hand it will benefit the interpreters when dealing with ECs and then improve the quality of interpreting practice.