Ineffective Note-taking In Consecutive Interpreting Of Impromptu Speech And Coping Strategies

Impromptu speech carries strong oral features,such as vague information,loose logic,redundant expressions,etc.,which bring high uncertainties to interpretating activities.Nevertheless,impromptu speech,a most common form of speech,is an inevitable challenge to overcome if one wishes to be an interpreter.When conducting consecutive interpreting of impromptu speech,an interpreter’s performance is largely dependent on his or her consecutive notes.The effectiveness of note-taking is highly related to the quality of consecutive interpreting,influencing directly on the completeness,accuracy,logic,fluency and grammatical correctness of one’s interpreting.Taking the Q&A session of the contemporary dance piece Pace as a case study,this thesis analyzes in depth the three major causes of ineffectiveness in note-taking reflected in the author’s interpreting by transcribing the original speech and the interpreted speech and comparing them with the interpreter’s notes.The three causes are listed as follows: a)deviations in note content,b)insufficient note logic,and c)difficulty in parsing notes.Based on the analysis of the case examples and the review of academic studies,the author then summarizes three long-term improvement strategies to address the problem of ineffectiveness in note-taking,which require the interpreters to a)optimize the effort model of listening and note-taking,b)enhance the logical structure of notes,and c)improve the initial processing of notes.