A Report On A Simulated Consecutive E-C Interpreting Of Obama's Speech At Howard University In 2016

As the"last lesson"for graduates and a form of international cultural exchanges,commencement speeches by celebrities are increasingly sought after.It is also an important way to spread ideas.People expect to understand their implications and find inspiration and strength in celebrity speeches.As a result,consecutive interpreting for commencement speeches comes into being.Its demand is also expanding day by day.In this background,analyzing and summarizing both merits and demerits of consecutive interpreting tasks have certain reference values and significance for would-be interpreters and relevant researchers willing to engage in such an endeavor.This report is on a simulated consecutive English-Chinese interpreting practice done by this author who did a consecutive E-C interpretation of Obama's commencement speech at Howard University in 2016.On October 13,2016,under the supervision of the mentor,the author conducted her interpreting practice of the said speech from 9:00 a.m.to 11:30 a.m.for 47 graduating students with the logistic assistance of her 5 classmates.In this task,the author used the video of Obama's speech as the source language material and recorded the whole process of her consecutive interpreting practice.Afterwards,after listening to the sound recording over and over again,the author transcribed it and then compared the transcription of the on-site interpretation with the revised transcriptiorn to further analyze this practice and summarize and reflect on both gains and losses in the task.The report aims to apply the Interpretive Theory in order to point out major difficulties interpreters might meet in the process,discuss how to remain faithful to the original language,and put forward some feasible interpreting strategies.This report begins with a brief introduction to the report itself,practice background and the task.Then the author reviews the preparatory work done before interpreting from the linguistic aspect like pronunciation,intonation,stylistic features of the speaker and expected glossary of terms and the non-linguistic aspect like preparations in background information,mental and physical strength,equipment and participants.The consecutive interpreting process and post-interpreting matters are addressed.Afterwards,the author briefly introduces the origin,development and main contents of the Interpretive Theory.Under its guidance,combined with the interpreting practice,the author selected several representative examples for analysis by comparing the original discourse with both on-the-spot and revised versions of interpretation in the phases of listening comprehension,deverbalisation and re-expression.The report discusses how to choose proper interpreting strategies in the light of the Interpretive Theory.At last,the report draws a conclusion by reflection that interpreters should lay a solid foundation in both English and Chinese languages,broaden their extralinguistic knowledge,make an adequate preparation before interpreting and reflect on the practice carefully afterwards for better performances in the future.Besides,the author presents the limitations of the report and provides some suggestions on how to improve MTI teaching.