An Empirical Study Of Pauses In English-Chinese Sight Translation

Sight translation(ST)is frequently needed in many settings that require immediate access to information presented in foreign languages.However,compared to CI or SI,ST has not been researched as widely as those other modes of interpreting.Also,as one of the vital fluency indicators,pause,especially the unfilled pause,has been seen more frequently in ST than filled pauses so that it should be one of the focuses of research for second language learners.Therefore,the author tended to explore the features of unfilled pauses for both student and professional interpreters in ST practice from three perspectives:Length,Distribution,and Reason.The ST performance of the two groups of interpreters were compared and discussed respectively.Thirty-two ST recordings and twenty-two retrospection were transcribed as faithfully as possible with Yee-Caption(Zhang Yi Yu Tong Zi Mu Tong).And the audios of recording were also put into Praat to find the proper unfilled pauses.The length of the unfilled pauses was divided into three categories:Short pauses,Medium pauses and Long pauses.The distribution also included three categories:at Sentence Boundaries,at Word,Phrase or Clause Boundaries,and within a Phrase or Clause.The reasons behind the unfilled pauses were classified with four categories,including the reasons related to "Information Organization,Information Production,Strategy Employing and Others(physical,psychological,environmental factors)" with nineteen subcategories in total.The analyses showed that with regard to the length perspective,the largest number and highest frequency of unfilled pauses for the two groups of interpreters lied in the short pause,but the professional interpreters performed better than the student interpreters on average.As for the distribution,most of the unfilled pauses of the two groups of interpreters were produced "within a phrase or clause".Likewise,the professional group behaved better.Meanwhile,the professional interpreters tended to pause at the positions where pauses were proper.Besides,the reasons for the student interpreters were more diverse and complicated than those of the professional group.The leading reasons for the two groups were related to the categories of "information production" and "others".Therefore,the author suggested students practice more in ST,reading,translation,interpreting and other skills like public speaking.Teachers could teach students self-monitoring and invisible repair techniques and also design special practices with specific ST skills in class.May this study can help students and teachers with more effective ST techniques and also shed some light on future studies on ST as well as unfilled pauses in other interpreting activities.