Exhibition Interpreting Practice Report

This report is based on the author's personal interpreting practice experience during Phase 2 of the 124th China Import and Export Fair from October 22nd to 27th,2018 in Guangzhou.The client is Hefei Happy Trading Company Ltd.,a foreign trade company from Auhui Province,China,specializing in the production and sales of artificial flowers.The main task of the author is to assist in organizing samples and receiving foreign buyers and to interpret for the client at the Canton Fair.China Import and Export Fair,also known as Canton Fair,was established in 1957 and is held every spring and autumn in Guangzhou,China.It is the largest-scale and most comprehensive international trading event in China.At every session of Canton Fair,there are many Chinese and foreign companies looking for part-time interpreters.Meanwhile,many Chinese foreign trade workers are gradually improving their English.In business interpreting,interpreters' roles are diversified and important.This report is based on the author's exhibition interpreting practice,with Niska's pyramid model of interpreter roles(conduit;clarifier;culture broker;advocate)as the theoretical guidance(Niska,2000).The theory is practical and useful,and the roles advocated by Niska can be analyzed based on different interpreting settings and can explain most roles played by interpreters.The report is divided into six chapters.Chapter One introduces practice background and the significance of the practice.Chapter Two reviews research on the role of the interpreter and on bilingualism.Chapter Three describes the interpreting task.Chapter Four describes the preparation and the performance of the task,and proposes strategies for interpreting difficulties.Based on the theories of bilingualism by Grosjea,Edwards and other scholars,Chapter Five analyzes the clients'bilingual competence and discusses exhibition interpreters' roles in the quasi-bilingual or even bilingual communicative context.According to Niska's theory of pyramid model of interpreter roles and considering the features of the task of exhibition interpreting,the author discusses exhibition interpreters'traditional roles in this context,including roles as a conduit,a clarifier,a culture broker as well as an advocate which could refer to roles as an assistant,a salesperson and a learner.Then,the author further discusses exhibition interpreters'role as a language assistant in this communicative context,which could refer to roles as a silent communicator,a verifier,a corrector and an advisor.Finally,Chapter Six draws the conclusion that interpreters should flexibly adopt,switch or combine their roles according to the specific settings and communicative contexts in order to facilitate the smooth communication between interpreting service users from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds.Moreover,in natural communication,interpreters who make role judgements based on complex thinking activities will not be replaced by machine interpreters in a certain period of time,and human interpreters should proactively explore their own advantages and rise to the challenges brought by the ever-changing interpreting profession.