A Case Study On Reformulation In Consecutive Interpreting Of Impromptu Speeches

The Impromptu speeches pose challenges of redundancy,incomplete sentences and logic ambiguity to consecutive interpreters,as speakers are likely to stutter and falsely start a sentence when they do not have prepared written scripts.This practice report examines the causes of and the solutions to the problems faced by the author during her consecutive interpreting of impromptu speeches,namely to detail process and specific skills of reformulation.This case study aims to explore three issues: the features of impromptu speeches in the practice,the challenges of adopting reformulation in consecutive interpreting of impromptu speeches and the solutions to the problems.Recordings of the author's interpreting were transcribed and analyzed with the guidance of the Interpretive Theory of Translation.The Theory holds that interpreters first understand the sense of speech and reword that sense in a different language.In the light of that principle,the author revised the transcript of interpreting and compared the two versions with the source text.This study concludes that redundancy,incomplete sentences and logic ambiguity in impromptu speeches add much difficulty to consecutive interpreting,although hesitation facilitates understanding of sense to some extent.Specific skills of dealing with those challenges in reformulation are presented on the lexical,syntactic and discourse level.In terms of redundancy,interpreters can use summarization to reduce repeated meanings,thus highlighting speakers' key points.Refilling incomplete sentences with necessary explanation is suggested to bridge the gap of sense between speakers and their audience.Confronting logic ambiguity,interpreters are expected to figure out the logic centered on theme and add appropriate link words to make the discourse structure clear and easy to understand,which will enhance efficient communication between speakers and audience.