A Comparative Study Of Student Interpreters’ Performance In EC Simultaneous-Consecutive And Consecutive Interpreting Modes

In the context of break-neck technological progress,many cutting-edge technologies haven been applied to translation and interpretation.In addition to Consecutive Interpreting（CI）and Simultaneous Interpreting（SI）,a novel mode of technology-assisted interpreting emerged more recently thanks to the immediate recording and play-back functions.Simultaneous Consecutive Interpreting（SimConsec）is a relatively new and rarely used hybrid mode of interpreting.In this mode,interpreters use a digital recording device to record the source speech（while taking or not taking notes）,play it back into earphones and interpret it simultaneously.Taking up as much time as CI,the interpretation is delivered after the original,thus seen as an alternative for long CI.Sim-Consec is still under-researched,especially in the Chinese and English language pair,despite some pioneering studies showing its superiority over CI for better interpreting quality.Given such a research gap,this thesis seeks to compare Sim-Consec with traditional CI in a controlled experiment with student interpreters,in order to test its superiority,identify the differences in interpreting quality and find out the likelihood of adopting this mode in real conferences or self-directed practices（based on subject interviews）.To answer these questions,three methods are adopted to collect and analyze data:an interpreting experiment in which subjects’ performances were videorecorded（for video-and transcript-based grading）,post-experiment interviews of subjects（for interpreter self-assessment）,and audience questionnaire（for audience response study）.This study found out that Sim-Consec can yield better interpreting quality overall based on triangulation of data（subject interviews,audience response and grading）.More specifically,it can enhance interpreting performance in accuracy,information completeness,and logic clarity while reducing interpreters’ memory load and stress.Nonetheless,disadvantages also exist.The hybrid mode was found to be a hindrance in terms of eye contact,pronunciation and intonation,and confidence perceived by the audience（with the last two contrary to some previous studies）,albeit not to the extent of offsetting the benefits and putting a dent in the enhanced performance.Interviewed subjects were also very positive about Sim-Consec with more than 85%of subjects expressing their willingness to use this mode in real conferences mainly for its boost to accuracy and completeness with less stress in interpreting,provided that they are more familiar with the mode and receive proper training.It can be drawn from these findings that extra training or practice is needed for interpreters to master Sim-Consec and this mode is also suitable for the preliminary training of SI.Such training can be incorporated into the curricula of interpreter training programs.The results of this study are conducive to the exposure of and further research on Sim-Consec with enlightenment for conference interpreting,interpreting practices and interpreting training.