An Experiment Report On The Effect Of Text-at-hand On MTI Trainee Interpreters' Performance In C-E SI

Today,China's voice is expected to be heard by other countries in international conferences.Simultaneous interpreting(SI)is playing an even greater role of connecting people from different cultures in those conferences.Sometimes,in order to ensure interpreting quality,interpreters may receive the text before the conference within a limited time,and interpreters can perform SI with text during interpreting.SI features high efficiency and multitasking mode,while SI with text also brings special challenge to interpreters,especially when the text is provided in a limited time.Under such circumstance,interpreters may face a dilemma-whether to use the text during interpreting.For trainee interpreters,SI with text serves as the first step for them to learn SI.Therefore,the author chose the topic of the effect of text-at-hand on MTI trainee interpreters' performance in C-E SI and invited 20 second-year postgraduates majoring in Translation and Interpreting from China Foreign Affairs University(CFAU)to conduct an experiment.Participants were equally divided into two groups.The test group performed SI with text and the control group performed SI without text.The two groups were compared to see the effect of text-at-hand on MTI trainee interpreters' performance in C-E SI.As experiment results show,trainee interpreters with text have better performances than those without text in C-E SI in terms of information completeness and information accuracy.From the perspective of fluency in delivery,trainee interpreters with text do not perform better than those without text in C-E SI.Upon analysis of experiment results,this thesis proposes strategies for trainee interpreters to make good use of text both during preparation and interpreting.Besides,coordination exercises and public speaking are effective ways for trainee interpreters to do self-practices for SI with text.Through more practices with suitable strategies,trainee interpreters can find their own way to make good use of the text.