Pre-task Preparation For Consecutive Interpretation From The Perspective Of Schema Theory

According to the interpreter's own practical experience,interpretation differentiates from written translation in the huge pressure and time limitation.As a result,interpreters should not only master solid bilingual knowledge and interpreting skills but also possess the significant ability to get well-prepared before the interpretation task to meet the requirements of field interpretation and thus satisfy the audience.Pre-task preparation is a process of knowledge accumulation and cognition.The interpreter stores knowledge and build up knowledge structures to facilitate the comprehension of new knowledge and set up new structures.The process conforms to the view of schema theory in cognitive psychology.Therefore,the present report will regard the schema theory as the theoretical basis and analyze pre-task preparation according to the three types of schemata,namely,“content schema”,“linguistic schema”,and “formal schema”.In this report,the author analyzes and summarizes the preparation process at Samoa-Chengdu Conference on Direct Flights,aiming to study the effects of pre-task preparation on CI(Consecutive Interpretation)performance.The author specifies the pre-task preparation for three schemata in this report.The participants and the theme of the conference are prepared to collect content schema.Task terminology and speech styles are prepared to accumulate linguistic schema.The narrative speech,introductory speech,and argumentative speech are prepared for the collection of formal schema.With the transcript of the practice,the author makes case studies of difficulties encountered.It can be noted from the case analysis that pre-task preparation for the three schemata can effectively enhance the fluency of statements,accuracy of language,and anticipation of information,and thus promote interpretation performance.Meanwhile,three specific coping strategies are provided based on the above analysis in an attempt to provide helpful references for further CI practices: collecting content schema in an all-around way,accumulating linguistic schema in long-and short-term preparations,and acquiring proficiency in formal schema.The author hopes that this report could be of some hints and references to the current interpretation training and future studies in this field.