УНИВЕРЗИТЕТ “СВ.

КИРИЛ И МЕТОДИЈ” – СКОПЈЕ

ФИЛОЛОШКИ ФАКУЛТЕТ “БЛАЖЕ КОНЕСКИ” – СКОПЈЕ

ДОДИПЛОМСКИ АКАДЕМСКИ СТУДИИ

МИМОЗА КАРАМАРСКА

ТЕМА: КОНСЕКУТИВНО ТОЛКУВАЊЕ ВО ОБУКАТА НА КОНФЕРЕНЦИСКИТЕ

ТОЛКУВАЧИ

ДИПЛОМСКИ ТРУД

Скопје, 2018
Ментор: Проф. Д-р Емилија Саржоска-Георгиевска
Филолошки факултет “Блаже Конески”
Скопје

Членови на комисијата: Проф. Д-р

Филолошки факултет “Блаже Конески”
Скопје

Проф. Д-р
Филолошки факултет “Блаже Конески”
Скопје

Проф. Д-р
Филолошки факултет “Блаже Конески”
Скопје

КАТЕДРА: АНГЛИСКИ ЈАЗИК И КНИЖЕВНОСТ

2
 Abstract

Consecutive interpreting entails a large number of almost concurrent cognitive,

psychomotor and affective processes, all of which pose major challenges for the conference
interpreter who has to deal with them simultaneously. The conference interpreter is constantly
confronted with unexpected situations that must be dealt with while he/she is already working at
the limits of his/her available processing capacity. The aim of this paper is to provide an insight
into the role of the consequent interpretation in the conference interpreters training. For every
consecutive interpreter, having an individual or collective, effective conference interpreters
training is indispensable. This paper presents the basic principles and guidelines, as found in the
existing literature, to serve as a base and inspiration for developing independent capacity of the
conference interpreters to implement consequent interpretation. The first part defines consecutive
interpreting, explains its use and provides a brief overview. In the main part, consecutive
interpreation is presented as a part of conference interpreters traing its function explained. After
that, the principles and propositions for developing conference interpreters training including the
influential role of the consequent interpretation are presented and explained in detail, as proposed
by experts in the field. In the next chapter, the pedagogy of consequent interpretation is presented,
i.e. the various stances on how it should be taught to students, and when it should be introduced in
the curriculum, regarding the level of study, as well as the phase of consecutive interpreting
teaching. In the end, the future of the consequent interpretation in the conference interpreters
training is discussed regarding the technology improvements and the possible substitute of note-
taking by digital voice recorders, and the introduction of a new mode of interpreting, namely, the
simultaneous consecutive mode.

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 Table of contents

Introduction................................................................................................................................6
Chapter 1: Consecutive conference interpreting (CCI)
1. Consecutive Interpreting………………………………………………………………………9
1.1 Conference interpreting............................................................................................................10
1.2 Conference interpreter..............................................................................................................10

1.3 Consecutive conference interpreting.........potocka za tocka 1......................................11

2. Da se dodade Liaison interpreting

Chapter 2 Theoretical framework

Voved CCI process.......................... voved vo 2 del sumirano.......................................................12

CCI process models Da se spomenat samo kako edna recenica I da prodolzam so Seleschovic CCI
cognitive models

1. Seleschovic
2. Gile
3. Basic skills of the interpreter da se dodade (multitasking, focus, concentration, memory short
term and long term(Memory and Note‐Taking,) notes taking (Note-taking training, Content of
notes, Form of notes), Public speaking skills,
3.1 Form of notes, when to start taking notes and content of notes
4. Meaning Transfer in Consecutive Interpreting: A Multidisciplinary Approach in conference
interpreting... moze da se izvadi sam delot za Seleschovic I Gile I da se vmetne kaj niv 20

Chepter 3 The importantce…. Naslov The role of the consecutive interpretation in the conference
interpreters training

Gore gi vidovme vaznite modeli I se nadovrzuva na naslovt na chepter 3

1. The sequence of CCI and SI

training………………………………………………………....23
2. Professional Skills of CI and Their Teaching and
Training......................................................24
4
3. Language Issues...da se izvrise.....................................................................................26
4. CI Strategies.............................................................................................................................32
5. Cognitive Learning Theory......................................................................................................31
a. Social Cognitive Theory.....................................................................................................34
b. Cognitive Behavioral Theory.............................................................................................35

CCI training

Training issues (When to start taking notes )na kraj na diplomskata pred conclusion

Effective Strategies for Teaching conference interpreters Consecutive Interpreting

Skrateno I kako podtocki

Typical progression

a. Activities ...........................................................................................................................41
b. Creating practice scenarios.................................................................................................42
c. Role plays...........................................................................................................................42
d. Why this approach?............................................................................................................44

Chepter 4 Conclusion

CI Models.................................................................................................................................36
CI Quality.................................................................................................................................37

e. Skills……………………………………………………………………………………..40

6. Conclusion...............................................................................................................................46
7. Резиме (Summary)...................................................................................................................49
8. Користена литература (References)………………………………………………………...55

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1. Introduction

The authors provide two perspectives on the teaching of consecutive interpreting: The
pragmatic approach and the cognitive justification. Consecutive interpreting is described as
requiring outstanding skills in language comprehension and production.

The main question that is elaborated in this paper is:

What is the role of the consequent interpretation in the conference interpreters training ?

Some programs are consciously striving to shift the dominant paradigm away from
simultaneous interpretation as the ultimate goal for interpreters. As well, the past few years have
seen a shift in the certification of conference interpreters. This paper describes how conference
interpreters can use meaningful learning activities that allow them to develop a strong foundation
in consecutive interpreting. This approach allows conference interpreters to later use consecutive
interpretation in interactions best suited to CI and also to determine when the interaction is
best suited to a combination of consecutive and simultaneous modes.

The main aims of this paper are:

- To prove that consequent interpretation has very important role for the conference
interpreters.

6
 - To prove that the ability of the conference interpreters to implement consequent
interpreation can be achieved throught trening as the most effective, useful and productive way.

The reason why I choose this theme was, first of all, the importance and practical meaning
of the consequent interpretation in the conference interpreters training. As a future conference
interpreter I will implement consequent interpretation in my daily work. Every interpreter must be
able for pracital implementation of the theoretical knowledge.

Meaning and meaning transfer is central to consecutive interpreting, both pragmatically

and theoretically. Therefore, a comprehensive and sophisticated understanding of meaning
components, and the process, major influencing factors and patterns of meaning transfer is
fundamental not only to consecutive interpreting practice, quality assessment, teaching and
training, but also to theoretical studies of consecutive interpreting.

Practically, the study has applications in the practice and training of consecutive
interpreters through the identified meaning-based interpreting norm, which change the “pure”
personal intuition-based interpreting practice and teaching.

Although the essence of interpreting – whether simultaneous (SI) or consecutive (CI) – is

to faithfully transfer the meaning of the ST (source text) into the TT (target text), systematic and
comprehensive studies of meaning transfer have been very limited to date. The paper for the role
of the consequent interpretation in the conference interpreters training is of course very
challenging. It involves both linguistic and Extralinguistic parameters, and can be approached from
wide variety of disciplines such as psychology, philosophy of language, culture study, and
linguistics and its related disciplines, etc. In view of these complications, the present paper only
focuses on the consequent interpretation as a essencial part of the conference interpreters training.
In the following chapters will discuss the research background, present the scope, aims and
questions of this study, the theoretical framework and research method, and outline the
significance of the research and organization of the dissertation.

Current research in the field of both spoken and signed language interpreting points us
toward consecutive interpreting. However, signed language interpreting programs report
inconsistent approaches to incorporating this research. Some programs are consciously striving

7
to shift the dominant paradigm away from simultaneous interpretation as the ultimate goal for
interpreters. As well, the past few years have seen a shift in the certification of interpreters.

This paper describes how students can do meaningful learning activities that allow them to
develop a strong foundation in consecutive interpreting. This approach allows them to later use
consecutive interpretation in interactions best suited to CI and also to determine when the
interaction is best suited to a combination of consecutive and simultaneous modes. Such a
blended approach demonstrates the ability to bridge CI research with effective practices. In
the specialized interpreting and teaching practices, we believe that when interpreters recognize
interpreting options based on discourse requirements, we can make choices about using
simultaneous or consecutive interpreting. I recognize that spoken language interpreter education
programs have always approached the learning of consecutive interpreting in a structured
manner, however, one of the unique elements of signed language interpretation is that an
interpreter can be working with the two different language modalities (i.e., a spoken and a
signed language) at the same time without interference, which has led to much more use of
simultaneous interpreting in our field.

While research has demonstrated the effectiveness of consecutive interpreting, educators

and interpreters often view CI as only a stepping-stone to simultaneous interpreting. Many
experienced interpreters have had little training in CI, and few workshops address the issue. As
well, interpreters and educators may have limited exposure to seeing interpreters successfully use
CI in their practice, and thus believe they should use CI but lack the skill to do so . Therefore,
students need to be firmly grounded in consecutive interpreting. This paper describes some
of the approaches that can help interpreters to acquire proficiency in consecutive interpreting. Such
proficiency in teaching will allow interpreters to examine the discourse event and select
strategies for successful interpretation by blending CI and SI.

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Chapter 1: Consecutive conference interpreting (CCI)

1. Consecutive Interpreting

Consecutive has been described as the ‘noblest’ mode of interpreting, and there is force in the
argument that one who claims to be a fully-fledged conference interpreter must master both
simultaneous and consecutive.

Before working in consecutive, we should make sure that we will be interpreting from a
position from which we can clearly hear the speakers, and that we have a working surface to
support our notepad, documents, and microphone, which should be fixed in position with a desktop
microphone stand.

In consecutive, it is all the more important to be a good public speaker. We should not forget
to make eye contact with the audience, and make sure to project poise and confidence with our
body language. All the principles of quality interpreting apply, with the additional requirements of
the visual dimension and non-verbal performance factors.

I approach interpreting and teaching with a view that meaning is created and co-constructed
by participants in the interaction/conversation, and interpretation is a “meaning-making event.”
During an interaction, participants and interpreters rely on contextual knowledge, schemata

9
or interpretive frames,1 and linguistic and cultural knowledge. This meaning-making process
takes time, in order to work with all of these variables, and underscores the need for
consecutive interpreting. Consecutive interpreting can be deffinited as the rendering of
interpretation after the participant has produced a complete response, question, or idea(s).

Interpreters should to:

• consider the mode to be used, the rationale, and how to incorporate consecutive and/or
simultaneous modes throughout an assignment according to a meaning-based model.2

• assess the requirements of an assignment prior to accepting it (this requires obtaining sufficient
information)

• analyze the impact of their decisions and actions before, during, and after assignments

• provide effective consecutive interpretation

To learn consecutive interpretation, interpreters must first acquire the theory and experience
of using CI. Interpreters gain fundamental skills by studying and applying discourse and text
analyses. With this foundation, interpreters are ready to acquire additional interpreting skills.
The first step should help students understand the evidence from spoken/signed language
research that supports the use of CI for accuracy, precision, and effectiveness. Next, there
should be a link research with practice, through educators modeling CI, interpreters practicing CI,
and educators and practitioners sharing their CI experiences.3

2. Conference interpreting

This is arguably the most prestigious and highly remunerative form of interpreting, but equally
the most demanding one as it is characterised by high-quality performance owing to the growing
developments in international communication. Conference interpreting used to be associated only
with multilateral diplomatic interpreting;4 However, the concept of linguistic equality advocated
by the European Union (EU) has contributed to spreading conference interpreting to almost all

1
Goffman, (1974).
2
Russell, (2005, pg 91–100).
3
Shaw, R. (2007)
4
Pöchhacker (2004: pg 16)
10
fields of interlingual and intercultural communication. One could thus talk not only about political
or diplomatic conferences, but also medical, technical, agricultural, etc. conference interpreting.
Conference interpreting is carried out with either CCI or mostly SI. Conference interpreters should
thus be able to interpret effectively in both modes.

3. Conference interpreter

A conference interpreter is a professional language and communication expert who, at

multilingual meetings, conveys the meaning of a speaker's message orally and in another language
to listeners who would not otherwise understand.

The work of a conference interpreter is an oral intellectual exercise which is quite distinct from
written translation and requires different training and qualifications. Conference interpreters work
in the heat of debate, thinking as they speak. They usually work from one or several foreign
languages into their mother tongue. Conference interpreters use different modes of interpretation
(simultaneous, consecutive, whispering) depending on the type of meeting and working
environment. And they usually work in a team put together for a specific conference by a
consultant interpreter who will take into account the language needs and other requirements of the
event. This type of interpreters have made a commitment to quality and professionalism. They are
bound by their code of professional ethics and undertake to observe the strictest professional
secrecy.5

4. Consecutive conference interpreting

CI is mostly used at press conferences, among other situations. But why so? Is there a specific
reason for this mode choice, or is it only used because the venue does not have a booth / it would
be too expensive to rent the equipment for a one-hour press conference?

There are two more aspects:

1.) There might be situations when the client wants to make sure the interpretation is really correct
(e.g. depositions, court proceedings). People not used to checking the quality of simultaneous

5
AIIC 2004
11
interpretation find it much easier to check the quality of consecutive interpretation and send
bilingual experts to do so.

2.) Clients are often fully aware of the fact that getting a message across in consecutive mode takes
twice as long - or looking at it from another angle, you may only have to answer half as many
questions during the time available. So sometimes we know we are providing consecutive
interpretation because it may be convenient for the organiser to have to allow for more time for
interpretation.

Consecutive is also becoming more popular again in Germany. However, these

assignments are no longer just the nice and friendly dinner speeches, receptions and opening
ceremonies we used to practice as students. In actual fact some of the consecutive assignments
tend to be extremely technical and can take several hours or even days! It is then that I stongly
recommend to have two or more interpreters on the job - as we would have for simultaneous
interpretation - who take turns of 20 to 30 minutes.

There are also assignments where part of an event is to be interpreted simultaneously for a
small group of participants and whenever a member of this group wants to take the floor,
consecutive interpretation needs to be provided (hiring 300 headsets - for example - is much more
expensive than paying the surcharge for consecutive). I personally find it very hard to switch from
simultaneous to consecutive (the other way round - funnily enough - is not a problem for me). I'd
be interested to hear whether other colleagues have found the same phenomenon to be true. So for
this type of assignment it is also helpful to have at least two interpreters - one for consecutive only
and one to two for simultaneous. Again, we have seen such events take several hours without a
break! So I think we need to rethink the team strength standards for consecutive.6

5. CCI process

Most of the process models proposed to account for the interpreting process have been oriented
towards describing the SI process. Only a few models have dealt with the CCI process. The

6
Roderick, (2012: pg 62-63)
12
following discuss a representative sample of CCI process models, the notetaking strategy and the
role of attention and memory

6.1 CCI process models

The earliest account of the processes of CCI and SI has been proposed by Herbert (1952) who
has identified the three stages of ‘understanding’, ‘transference’ and ‘speaking’ (ibid: 10).
However, as Pöchhacker (2004: 97) argues, Herbert’s account is too general since it only touches
on language-related issues and practical interpreting techniques and suggestions without venturing
much into the mental aspects underlying the process. More detailed models have later been
proposed by several other researchers. Among these are Seleskovitch’s theory of sense, Gile’s
Effort models and Weber’s model which are the subject of the present discussion in the following
sub-sections. The list of models chosen here is by no means comprehensive, but is only selected
as a representative sample since there are other researchers who have suggested more or less
similar models or stages of the process either in passing or with detailed discussions. It is
representative in that each one of these models approaches the issue from a different perspective
or point of emphasis. The list is thus intended to reflect this variety.

6. Training issues

A great part of the literature on conference interpreting is devoted to training and pedagogy.
Degree and research training programmes, establishing interpreter training programmes at
universities has been a driving force behind research into (conference) interpreting. Moreover,
with the increasing demand for highly qualified conference interpreters, natural talent alone has
increasingly started to be deemed unreliable due to growing developments in international
communication7, hence on the one hand the need for training that has been felt as early as 1941
when Professor Antoine Velleman, himself a CCIr, founded the Geneva School of Interpreters
which was the first school to specialise in conference interpreting training8, and on the other the
belief that ‘interpreters are made not born’.

7
Moser-Mercer, (1994b: 57).
8
Bowen and Bowen, (1985: 26).
13
 Furthermore, the importance of training in interpreting can be seen in the development of
criteria of rating and quality for interpreter training programmes such as the criteria of ‘best
practice’ set by AIIC27 and those by the EMCI Consortium which was set up in 2001 in
cooperation between fifteen European universities, the European Commission’s Joint Interpreting
and Conference Service and the European Parliament’s Directorate of Interpretation9. The
importance of training is also seen in recent list of such criteria and for a discussion of the rationale
behind these criteria. The points discussed below concern aptitude testing, interpreting curricula
and the sequence of CCI and SI training.

7. CCI training
Training exercises that some preliminary exercises are usually administered before starting
actual training on a certain interpreting mode to develop in students the abilities to deal with
linguistic material, perform multiple tasks simultaneously, retain information in memory, etc. This
is because teaching CCI right from the start ‘presupposes’ students’ ability to transfer messages
across languages, which is not often the case as training will not be needed if students already
possess such abilities. Thus, It is suggested a preparatory phase of exercises with written texts and
improvised speeches; In one language and then involving two or more languages to develop in
students the ability to consider not words, but larger units of meaning such as sentences and
paragraphs. Starting with this preparatory phase offers instructors an opportunity for assessing
students’ abilities of quick and efficient processing and analysis of verbal material of different
types, well or poorly structured, clearly or badly delivered, with or without a regional, social or
foreign accent, delivered at a high speed or at a low presentation rate, and so on. According to
Lambert10, students should then be made aware of, and taught, anticipation and prediction to learn
how to detect the procession and final outcome of statements in various situations and speech
comprehension and production to enhance active listening and organise their thoughts to produce
convincing and meaningful statements.
Memory exercises without notes can then be introduced for students to be made aware of how
their memories function and how they could develop strategies for efficient STM and LTM
storage. Afterwards, trainees should be made aware of public speaking skills and phraseology and

9
cf. Donovan ,(2006: 4ff).
10
Lambert, (1989: pg 83–91).
14
master public speaking conventions before applying them in mock conferences or specific settings
such as eulogies, after-dinner oratory, etc. Ilg and Lambert argue that note-taking techniques and
CCI proper can then be introduced and practised. They argue that investing some time in this
preparatory phase will lead to a faster acquisition of CCI skills and yield successful results. Ilg and
Lambert’s above sample of how training in CCI should proceed from beginning to end is identical
to a large extent with that of Lederer 11 and Seleskovitch12 who provide a rather more detailed
presentation. Concepts to describe the interpreting process (attention, analysis, re-expression,
memory, etc.) and preparatory exercises (paraphrasing, sight translating, anticipation, etc.) have
been discussed in some depth in this and the previous chapter; therefore, the following sections
focus only on public speaking and note-taking training.

8.1 Public speaking skills

According to Herbert13 and Capaldo14, like anyone involved in public relations (e.g. academics,
business representatives or statesmen), the CCIr ought to have a pleasant voice and good public
speaking skills. Excellent public speaking skills are interpreters’ ‘safety net’ when difficulties arise
because if CCIrs possess such skills, they can devote full attention to solving problems if they
occur or might even be able to hide the presence of problems. The way interpreters deliver their
rendition reveals their verbal and non-verbal behaviour which is a significant factor that
contributes to the audience’s impression of the delivery. Thus, teaching trainees public speaking
skills should form an essential component of CCI training courses.

Students should be taught how to present accurate and complete information, speak clearly
with a steady and well inflected voice at a normal presentation rate, have self-confidence and
composure, and maintain good eye contact with the audience. Besides sight translating, other
methods have been proposed to teach students public speaking skills.

One method is ‘a special course in Public Speaking’ offered in parallel with the CCI course at
the Monterey Institute of International Studies. During the course, students are taught to speak in

11
Lederer, (1990: pg 53–60).
12
Seleskovitch, (1999: pg 55-66).
13
Herbert, (1952: 59).
14
Capaldo (1980: 244f).
15
front of an audience and enhance their language flexibility. In the first four weeks, trainees read
written texts in the form of presentations which are varied according to the subject matter. During
the second half, students paraphrase original texts from English to English by conveying the
message of the original through changes in structure and vocabulary.

Moreover, students are asked to complete projects in vocabulary and text analysis. The use of
videotapes is suggested by Schweda-Nicholson15 as another method for teaching public speaking
skills. In this technique, students listen to a short speech and take notes. They are then given a few
moments to examine their notes before rendering the original one by one while they are videotaped.
The instructor makes comments on students’ performance after playing back tapes and then allows
students to give their own comments. Students’ recorded performance is judged on the basis of
their overall delivery (e.g. eye contact with the audience, voice inflection, poise, etc.), correct
rendition, thoroughness and fidelity.

According to Schweda-Nicholson, the technique should be used at an early stage in the course
because this helps students identify their weak and strong points in their style from the start and
thus pay attention to the areas where improvement is needed. She argues that because it gives
students the opportunity to see themselves as they will be seen by the audience, the technique has
proved irreplaceable in drawing students’ attention to the problems their performance suffers from.
Among the most common of these are students’ overreliance on notes, halting and slow delivery,
low voice and monotonous delivery, use of ‘cover-up tactics’ like speaking very quickly or
swallowing words in the hope of not being understood when unsure of a particular point, and
confused facial expressions which tend to appear when students are unsure of some information.

At the University of Salford, ‘vocal training’ is incorporated into the conference interpreting
training programme with the help of vocal specialists and specific focus on - voice projection in
large rooms - delivery (consistency of pace, rhythm, intonation) - breathing exercises (avoidance
of the ‘head voice’) - general voice care - performance-related vocal stress16.

8.2 Note-taking training

15
Schweda-Nicholson, (1985: pg 148–54).
16
Tipton (2005, personal communication).
16
 The strategy of note-taking, note-taking has been discussed as a strategy. This section looks
into note-taking from a didactic point of view. It discusses researchers’ views on how students
should be taught to master note-taking in terms of when to start taking notes and the content and
form of notes.

8.2.1 When to start taking notes?

Beginners should be taught to start taking notes as soon as the speaker starts delivering his/her
speech because in some situations what might look like a few words may unexpectedly end up as
a very long discourse. Almost 60 years on and this professional view has not changed because
Jones17 argues that although it is true that interpreters deal with ideas not words when taking notes,
the CCIr should start note-taking as soon as possible insofar as he/she can be sure where an element
fits in the notes. For example, if the CCIr hears The Prime Minister attacked the leader of
opposition for being opportunistic over the issue of the war, he/she should note down The Prime
Minister only when he/she hears the verb attacked, thus realising that this noun phrase functions
as a subject and not an object because the sentence may well be a passive sentence: The Prime
Minister was attacked by the opposition leader …. In such a case, The Prime Minister will
obviously be in the object position. Jones states why it is important for the CCIr not to take the
risk of lagging too long behind the speaker by drawing a comparison between CCI and SI.

First, the simultaneous interpreter can always be in a better position than the CCIr if he/she
lags behind the speaker since the former can catch up with the speaker by accelerating delivery,
but the CCIr will be taking notes, and it is obvious that writing notes takes more time than speaking.

Second, the simultaneous interpreter’s choice about his/her final delivery is a decision that
directly determines what his/her audience will hear unlike the CCIr whose decision is only about
the notes which are only a means to an end, and some of the words might not even be included in
the final rendition18.

8.2.2 Content of notes

17
Jones (1998: 67- 70).
18
Seleskovitch and Lederer (1995: 31)
17
 Most researchers argue that the CCIr should note the idea (sense), not words or phrases. Jones19
provides a detailed discussion of two types of information that should be noted down. The first
refers to chunks of the original that should be noted to help in ‘jogging’ memory. The other kind
refers to parts which are taken down to relieve memory because the CCIr cannot or does not want
to remember them. Borrowing Pöchhacker’s terms20, the former are referred to as ‘retrieval cues’
and the latter externally stored information. Seleskovitch and Lederer (1995: 32f) also emphasise
noting down first and last statements.

8.2.3 Form of notes

This discussion concerns training students on how to take notes in terms of the language of
notes, symbols and abbreviations and the layout of notes.

9 Consecutive Interpreting v.s Simultaneous Interpreting

There are two major work modes in conference interpreting: SI and CI. In SI, “interpreters in
a sound-proof booth with headsets, control consoles and microphones, and a direct view on the
meeting room, deliver versions of the discourse in different languages “on line” with a lag of a few
seconds, alternating every 20-30 minutes or as speakers take turns on the conference floor”21. This
indicates that as a complicated language transferring process, SI involves a series of interrelated
operations at the same time. As simultaneous interpreters represent the meaning of a SL (source
language) section into the TL (target language), they pay concurrent attention to the following
section of SL, understand it and put it into short term memory while keeping on with the
interpretation of SL, and undertaking simultaneous monitoring over the output of the TL so that
they can provide an accurate and fluent interpretation of the speaker’s message. In essence, SI
imposes more cognitive demands on the interpreter.

In CI, “the interpreter listens to a speech segment of a few minutes or so, takes notes, and then
delivers the whole segment in the target language; then the speaker resumes for a few minutes, the
interpreter delivers the next segment, and the process continues until the end of the speech”22.

19
Jones (1998: 45-49)
20
Borrowing Pöchhacker’s (2004: 124)
21
Setton, (1999, p. 1).
22
Gile, (2003, p. 26)
18
Since CI does not have any particular technical prerequisites, such as sound-proof booths and
microphones, it can be widely used on occasions when simultaneous interpreting is not available.
Before simultaneous interpreting came into being, CI was regarded as the main interpreting mode
in both the League of Nations (the ancestor of the United Nations) and the International Labour
Union.

Comparing the two interpreting modes, the main distinction between SI and CI is the gap
between listening and translation. In the process of CI, an interpreter has sufficient time to analyse
and understand the message content as a complete text entity without continuous incoming
interference from source language. Likewise, consecutive interpreters are not faced with the
cognitive pressure of concurrent listening and speaking. Thus they are able to control their own
speaking speed, reorganize the SL speech into the TT, ask the speaker when problems of
understanding occur, and even correct a mistake immediately after it is made.

Although there is no strict requirement for the length of ST, the “classic” CI is usually done
with the assistance of note-taking. This makes it differ from dialogue interpreting or liaison
interpreting. Liu23 divides the process of CI into the following five stages:

1) hearing, including listening;

2) analysing and comprehension;

3) memorizing and/or note-taking;

4) remembering and note-reading;

5) interpreting.

In this five-stage- process, consecutive interpreters must abide by the following principles:
they are required to actively listen to and at the same time analyse the content of the ST, so as to
grasp its essence and logical structure; while taking notes and concurrently listening to the ST,
they need to coordinate their attention well between listening and comprehension and note-taking;

23
Liu (1993)
19
the latter must not be detrimental to the attention needed for listening and comprehension
processes.

In the interpreting phase, unlike written translation with its stringent requirements for style,
the interpreter only needs to faithfully, completely and accurately reproduce the idea/message
content from the ST into the TT. Some deviation from the words or phrases of the ST is permissible
if this can enhance the audience’s understanding. For example, if in the process of interpreting,
consecutive interpreters come across cultural or technical concepts which could be hard to
understand for the TL audience if they were translated directly, the interpreters should add an
explanation about these concepts to the TT. But the rule is that they are not allowed to put their
own points of views into the TT.

After this brief introduction, the following section will discuss meaning transfer in consecutive
interpreting, which is the central research object of the present study.

10 Meaning Transfer in Consecutive Interpreting: A Multidisciplinary Approach in

conference interpreting

The term ‘meaning’ as used in this thesis has roughly the same import as the term ‘sense’, as
used in the interpretive theory of translation, except that it is differentiated into Experiential,
Interpersonal and Textual meaning, according to SFL. Transfer is also a keyword in this thesis. Its
adoption is based on the following three considerations.

First, the intended concept is different from that of translation which often implies the
requirement of equivalence or invariant requirements24, which would be too idealistic and too far
away from the real world of interpreting practice.

Second, the intended concept of transfer has a wider sense, including both meaning
equivalence and various kinds of meaning shift identified in the empirical study chapters.

Third, the term transfer is considered appropriate because it correctly implies that the
consecutive interpreters intend to move all the meanings in the ST into the TT.

24
Göpferich, (2010, p. 374)
20
 On the basis of the discussion above, the term ‘meaning transfer’ as used in this thesis can be
defined for present purposes as how the consecutive interpreters move Experiential, Interpersonal
and Textual meaning from the ST into the TT.

This also applies to interpreting studies, both practically and theoretically. From the practical
aspect, the essence of interpreting is to faithfully transfer the meaning of ST into the TT.
Theoretically, almost all the academic studies centre on meaning and its transfer between ST and
the TT. For example, the interpretive theory of translation attaches primary importance to the study
of sense. In terms of interpreting quality assessment, Bühler25 regards meaning consistency with
the original text as the most important criterion. It follows that sophisticated understanding of the
process, influencing factors, and patterns of meaning for transfer is fundamental not only for
interpreting practice but also for interpreting studies as a whole. As mentioned, however, there has
been little systematic and comprehensive study of meaning transfer, and, furthermore, insufficient
scientific analysis and description of meaning components as applied to interpreting studies in
general. In the West, as an influential interpreting theory, the interpretive theory uses sense, a
concept lacking clear operational definition and categorization, to study meaning transfer.

After reviewing all the interpreting models summarized by Pöchhacker26 and Setton27, it can
be concluded that interpreting models are too general, simple and indefinite for various meanings
or semantic processing. The reasons for this generality are that most of models draw on
psycholinguistics and cognitive science to represent information and language processing in the
interpreter’s mind. These researchers are not interested in the different types of meaning that can
be present in a text, which is of real interest to linguists.

The underlying reason for the inadequacy of meaning transfer study is due to the
undertheorized conceptualization of meaning transfer, on the one hand, and to the complexities
and difficulties of the study of meaning transfer, on the other.

CI has been selected for the present study of meaning transfer for the following reasons: the
necessity of consecutive interpreting as a conference interpreting skill and its prelude to

25
Bühler (1986)
26
Pöchhacker (2004b, pp. 84-109)
27
Setton (2003, pp. 29-89)
21
simultaneous interpreting teaching and training; the insufficiency of consecutive interpreting
research as such, particularly in terms of transfer of various meanings from ST into the TT.

For a professional conference interpreter, CI is a work mode which must be mastered.

Although SI is used in the majority of conference interpreting markets, it has not totally taken the
place of CI, which continues to be widely used on occasions including high-level political
dialogues and negotiations, press conferences, small bilingual meetings, ceremonial occasions,
business meetings, court interpreting and lecture interpreting.

Compared to SI, CI has its own advantages such as being less costly, less unwieldy in
equipment and more flexible over time and space. These are the reasons why CI still exists in the
current interpreting market. Moreover, in the course of the tests to enlist conference interpreters,
such as the SCIC (Service Commun Interprétation-Conférences) and the UN, the candidates must
first of all take CI exams. If they fail, they cannot take the test for SI. In other words, inadequate
CI skills demonstrate that the candidates lack essential interpreting skills to become qualified
conference interpreters.

Skilful mastery of CI can pave a smooth pathway for prospective conference interpreters to
effectively and efficiently learn SI. Setton28 believes that it is essential to teach student interpreters
this “hand-to-hand-combat” interpreting skill in the case of equipment breakdown and other
emergencies. And more importantly, the development of consecutive interpreting skills can
improve student interpreters’ skills in analysing and handling information.

CI can effectively help prospective interpreters learn how to appropriately analyse a ST in

order to reproduce the meaning into the TT. In this way, they can avoid the interference and
constraints of linguistic surface structures, and reduce the risk of “transcoding” in the process of
learning SI.

The training in CI is conducive to “fostering analysis and reformulation”. In addition,

interpreting teachers/trainers find it easier to identify interpreting students’ interpreting errors and
their underlying reasons, and help correct them. In short, mastering CI can supply a very important
and solid basis for learning SI. Despite the need to master consecutive interpreting skills for a

28
Setton (2003, p. 27)
22
professional interpreter, CI studies as such are inadequate not only in the West but also in
Macedonia.

Generally, in the West, five paradigms have been widely adopted for interpreting studies. They
are:

 The paradigm of IT (the Interpretive theory of Translation),

 NL (Neurolinguistic processing),
 CP (cognitive processing),
 TT (target-text-oriented translation-theoretical approach), and
 DI (dialogic discourse-based interaction) as shown in the following table.

As the study of meaning transfer is very challenging, not only for interpreting and translation
studies but also for linguistics, and, moreover, since meaning transfer study involves many factors,
only the adoption of multidisciplinary approach can fully exert the advantages of the relevant
disciplines, and at the same time, address their respective weaknesses.

Although interpreting practice has thousands of years of history, its academic study extends
back less than fifty years. The main reason for this is that, unlike translation studies, it lacked
adequate retrievable real-life data before the invention of tape recorders. Even at present, the
gathering of real-life interpreting data remains a challenge for interpreting scholars around the
world.29

11 The sequence of CCI and SI training

This section deals with the methodological controversy over the sequence that should be
followed in training on CCI and SI. On the one hand, there are researchers who favour starting
training with CCI, maintaining that CCI is itself an ideal exercise for SI and that students who do
well in CCI can make good simultaneous interpreters since they will be able to transfer the
principles they have learned through CCI easily to SI. The main reason this group of researchers
cite for their preference of starting training with CCI is the proximity of the two languages which

29
Gile (2005, p. 133)
23
comes about as a result of the overlapping between perception and re-expression in SI and thus
might well cause students to fall into the trap of unconsciously parroting or ‘transcoding’ what the
speaker says instead of performing real interpreting which must come as a result of real analysis
and genuine understanding. CCI, with this natural separation of the two processes of perception
and re-expression in its process due to the inevitable longer time lag, allows for the deverbalisation
stage to occur very easily and gives students the chance for performing proper analysis of the
speech input, thus grasping the sense of the original and then re-expressing this sense in the TL.

On the other hand, there are some researchers who argue that CCI and SI should be taught at
the same time, citing different reasons. Working memory and interpreting and Longterm memory
(LTM) and interpreting, many empirical studies have shown that simultaneity and divided
attention, which are more outstanding in SI, impair or reduce recall abilities. Of these, an
interesting study Lambert30 has compared the subjects’ performance under listening, CCI, SI and
shadowing. Subjects have been asked to recall the information they have processed immediately
after each task. Listening has yielded the highest recognition scores. CCI has yielded higher
recognition scores than SI and shadowing because CCI involves a complete overt rehearsal of the
text, longer exposure to information, visual cues provided by the notes, and oral feedback provided
by the delivery. CCI and listening have been found to represent a deeper level of processing than
SI and shadowing because only CCI and listening allow the interpreter to process information ‘in
silence’. Consecutive delivery is a form of rehearsal which is beneficial for, rather than detrimental
to, subsequent recall and that a strong argument can be made that consecutive processing may
enhance learning and memory.31 Given the more coherent argument put forward by the first group
of researchers cited above and the results of Lambert’s and many other empirical studies on shared
attention and its negative effects on recall abilities particularly in SI and the benefits CCI offers to
memory and information retention, it seems preferable to start with training on CCI before SI.

30
(Lambert 1989)
31
(Ilg and Lambert 1996: 85).
24
Chapter 2: The role of the consequent interpretation in the conference interpreters training

12 Professional Skills of CI and Their Teaching and Training

Interpreting has much longer history than translation. It began in ancient times before the
invention of writing. The earliest literature on consecutive interpreting studies was written by
interpreting practitioners to assist those wishing to enter the profession. Their purposes are to
provide prospective interpreters with consecutive interpreting principles and techniques ranging
from listening and understanding, note-taking to reproduction. This type of professional skills
writing is characterised by description and prescription. The proposed consecutive interpreting
principles, skills, comments and suggestions are all based on interpreters’ personal practical
experience, intuition and introspection, but not on any scientific analysis of data. As most
interpreting researchers are also trainers and teachers as well, teaching and training has featured
most prominently in CI literature. Didactic writing ranges from the use of various methods to teach
CI, such as the concept map and summary training, public speaking skills, sight translation
exercises, videotape-aided training and a simplified two-step model of active listening and
production, to various scattered research themes as follows: the importance of preparatory phase
and preliminary exercises before teaching CI per se; CI as a training method to enhancing English
skills; metacognitive evaluation method for students’ evaluating their own performance in

25
classroom; ways of facilitating attention in CI and the effect of anxiety on interpreting trainees’
consecutive interpreting performance; reflection and comments on the problems and prospect of
interpreting textbooks.

The main problem in this aspect is that research on teaching and training and actual CI teaching
and training lack interaction. Most of interpreting training is based on the teachers’ personal
interpreting experience but not on research results or findings. After an overview of the entire
consecutive interpreting skills and their teaching and training, some distinctive skills for
consecutive interpreting, such as memory and note-taking, must be given more emphasis.

13 Memory and Note‐Taking in CI

When an interpreter consecutively interprets 5–10 minutes of a speaker’s utterance into the
target language, the audience is always amazed at his or her outstanding memory. For example, as
the master of consecutive interpreting can translate in consecutive mode with phenomenal
accuracy hardly relying on his/her notes. This is true of one consecutive interpreting talent,
Lafrance who consecutively interpreted André Philips’s hourlong speech without any interruption.
His brilliant performance earned him more applause than the speaker himself32. This indicates that
the success of CI requires a “sound memory” and because of this, some methods for improving
memory skills of CI have been put forward by some researchers.

Paradoxically, however, memory as a vital skill component of CI has not been given as much
attention in empirical studies as SI does. The memory relevant to interpreting activities can be
categorized into short term memory (STM) and long term memory (LTM). Seleskovitch33 appears
to have anticipated current conceptions of long-term working memory by stressing the nature of
notes as minimal cues, in whatever form, for retrieving a maximum of conceptual content.

32
(Ilg & Lambert, 1996)
33
Seleskovitch (1975)
26
 In addition, she pointed out that interpreters need to divide their attention between the
conceptual processing of input and taking notes, and the latter must not detract from the attention
needed for comprehension processes. Note-taking in consecutive mode is a matter of “short-term
processing” and at the same time “long-term storage”, but even to date little is known about the
complex cognitive processing involved.34

Due to the interaction between notes and memory, the effect of memory on CI performance
quality is mainly based on interpreters’ personal experience and intuition. This also makes it
difficult to scientifically identify the real relationship between memory and CI quality. Note-taking
in CI is distinct from the notes often taken during classes. It mainly functions as the reminder
assisting the interpreter to memorize the message. Despite the fact that consecutive interpreters
usually have a powerful memory, without note-taking it would be almost impossible for them to
remember all the details in the speaker’s statement, especially proper nouns, dates and figures.

Pöchhacker proposed that notes serve as both “external storage devices” for numbers or names
and “retrieval cues” for memorized information and concepts. All professional or didactic books
on CI include a section on note-taking skills. The above literature exclusively on note-taking is
concerned with the following topics: the “what” and “how” for taking notes, the application of
abbreviations and symbols, language selection in the course of taking notes and/or techniques for
reading back notes.35

14 Language Issues

Interpreting involves at least two languages. It is natural for interpreting researchers to pay
attention to the issues relevant to transferring SL into the TL. Linguistic issues with respect to
interpreting studies usually involve the contrast between SL and the TL. They constitute three
types. One is meaning transfer, and the other is linguistic forms made up of words, phrases, clauses,
sentences, and the third one is phonology. Meaning Transfer “The identification and analysis of
meaning have long been the backbone of interpretation and translation research”36.

34
Pöchhacker (2004b, pp. 123-124)
35
Pöchhacker (2004b, p. 124)
36
(Schweda Nicholson, 1985)
27
 Different scholars approach meaning transfer from various personal professional/academic
backgrounds and disciplinary perspectives. Because of this, it has different nomenclatures such as
“idea” , “sense”, meaning”, “proposition”, “information”, “message” and “semantics”. Naturally,
meaning transfer is often concerned with the construction of meaning and with its loss. In this
study, text is a semantic unit and refers to “any passage, spoken or written, of whatever length,
that does form a unified whole” for the purpose of communication by real people in actual
circumstances37.

For this reason, the discussion of literature on text will be categorized under Textual Meaning
transfer. Most research on Textual Meaning has been devoted to SI. Compared with SI, fewer such
studies at the text level have been done for CI. Although Cohesion as a type of Textual Meaning
in CI has been touched upon by some interpreting researchers, there are few studies on the
interactive relationship between Textual Meaning and other types of meaning, such as Experiential
and Interpersonal Meaning.

Despite the fact that all the studies aforementioned are carried out on the basis of the contrast
in source-target texts, their focus is on textual features themselves. This makes them different from
the traditional translational approach to the source-target relation. To date few studies have
conceptualized meaning transfer, and have systematically and comprehensively explored how
various types of meaning are transferred from ST into the TT and their interaction. Kondo is an
exception. He began by distinguishing three layers of meaning in SL: the surface layer, meaning
in the sense of semantic or informational content, and implied meaning, and emphasized that many
interpreters have difficulty in accurately understanding the third layer and in handling it in
interpreting. However, he did not explore strategies to overcome these difficulties, let alone the
regularities of translational behavior behind them.38

The most intensive study of meaning transfer in CI is the “theory of sense ” (théorie du sens)
of the “Paris School”. Also referred to as the interpretive theory of translation (IT), this is actually
not a new theory39. Drawing on neuropsychology and on Jean Piaget’s genetic psychology, it was

37
(Halliday & Hasan, 1976, pp. 1-2)
38
Kondo (2003)
39
(Pöchhacker, 1992)
28
developed by Seleskovitch and her colleagues40 at ESIT in the late 1960s, and its dominant
influence was during the 1970s and 1980s.

According to the interpretive theory, the object of interpretation is ‘sense’ as such, rather than
words or any linguistic structures. The criteria for interpreting evaluation depend on how well the
intended “sense” in the source text is delivered to the target text.

As the central concept of the interpretive theory, sense is summed up by Seleskovitch41 as

follows:

1. Sense is conscious while linguistic meaning is a conditioned reflex; this applies both to
surface and to deep structures. If such deep structures exist at all, the syntactic arrangements we
make in constructing our sentences are just as reflex in nature as is the choice of lexical items;

2. Sense is made up of the linguistic meaning aroused by speech sounds and of a cognitive
addition (complements) to it that emerges together with that linguistic meaning;

3. Sense is non-verbal, not only because the cognitive addition remains unvoiced, but also
because sense as a whole is dissociated from any language form in cognitive memory as soon as
it has been understood.

Sense is different from linguistic meaning, but linguistic meaning is its basis. It is not internally
contained in any language, but begins at the time of the phonologically perceptive input, and
completes as the final product when linguistic knowledge and cognitive complement are
combined. It is conscious and nonverbal, and exists in the interpreter’s mind as a conceptual mental
representation. It also consists of implicitness as well as explicitness. Implicitness is what the
speaker intends to say or means (pragmatic meaning), while explicitness (literal meaning) is what
is actually said or written.

Full comprehension of sense depends on sufficient shared knowledge between the speaker and
the listener. Without shared knowledge, text only together with cognitive structures cannot cause
sense to emerge. “Nonverbal” sense is defined with relevance to three stages in the interpreting
process: “interpretation or exegesis of discourse, de-verbalization, and reformulation”. In the

40
(Seleskovitch & Lederer, 1995)
41
Seleskovitch (1978, p. 336)
29
process of grasping sense, cognitive complement plays a crucial role. It includes verbal context,
situational context and cognitive context. Sense in this dissertation refers to meaning used in the
interpretive theory. Verbal context consists of a word/sentence and its surrounding words or
sentences.42

Situational context refers to the situation where the interpreter works. It includes the entire
Extralinguistic context with the combination of a speaker, an interpreter, the audience, the
conference proceedings, etc.

Cognitive context constitutes the real world knowledge and the background knowledge about
a speech topic and the knowledge acquired through the specific and immediate hearing of the
text43. Polysemy and ambiguity in a speech occurs mainly because the interpreter only obtains the
“surface” or “Verbal” meaning of the text without all the “cognitive elements” and
“complementary information” at “his/her disposal” to “extract” sense.

Therefore, cognitive complements play the main role in reducing the ambiguity of meaning in
words and sentences in a speech. With cognitive complements, the interpreter can choose exact
wording appropriate in the circumstance. The above has discussed the theory of sense in detail. I
will now make some further comments on it.

The interpretive theory claims that sense is distinct from linguistic meaning (literal meaning),
but also admits that sense has a particular relationship with linguistic meaning. The problem is
whether linguistic meaning still completely exists, partly exists or totally disappears when sense
is grasped by the interpreter or is sense no more than another different terminology for the definite
contextual meaning of linguistic meaning in the interpreter’s mind after their understanding of the
source text.

Seleskovitch argues that “sense as a whole [is] dissociated from any language form in cognitive
memory as soon as it has been understood”, but this does not imply that it has been dissociated
from linguistic meaning in the source text. If sense does not have any relationship to the linguistic
meaning in the source text, the whole process of conveying sense in interpreting cannot be called

42
(Salama-Carr, 1998, p. 112)
43
(Lederer, 2003)
30
interpretation. After all, the sense the interpreter intends to convey is not his or hers, but the
speaker’s. The speaker’s intended meaning is represented through the source text which is the only
way for the interpreter to get to know the sense. Sense consciously and nonverbally exists in the
interpreter’s mind as a conceptual mental representation when linguistic meaning merges with a
relevant cognitive complement. This explanation expounds the process of how sense can be
produced, rather than definitely tells what the sense really is. Sense as a conscious and nonverbal
state only exists in the interpreter’s mind and so it is very difficult to demonstrate its existence or
non-existence. It is much harder to use it as a “yardstick” to make analysis and assessment44.

After assessing Seleskovitch’s model, Jensen45 makes a conclusion that “It cannot be proved
that Seleskovitch is wrong, just as she cannot prove that she is right”. In fact, the interpretive theory
is in “a less logically rigorous manner” and “increasingly acquired a bad name”.

Gile46 summarizes the weaknesses of the interpretive theory: research methodology mainly
based on the subjective speculation and individual experience; lack of empirical examination and
interaction with relevant disciplines;

unclear and imprecise definition of terminologies.

These are the reasons why the interpretive theory has come to be criticized by other interpreting
scholars as being unscientific.

In the interpretive theory, Seleskovitch only refers to all the meanings in the source text as
linguistic meaning. But the problem is: what is the linguistic meaning made up of and do any
changes happen to it after it is combined with cognitive addition? As for this, the interpretive
theory cannot provide any sufficient empirical evidence to verify what occurs to the linguistic
meanings in the source text when sense appears and is reproduced in the target text. No matter
how the meaning in the source text is transferred to the target text, linguistic meaning should
always exist and be the important component in the course of the meaning transference. The
meaning transferring process operating in the interpreter’s mind cannot be seen or analyzed.
However, the products of this process, the source text and the target text are definite, stay there

44
(Pöchhacker, 1992)
45
Jensen (1985)
46
Gile (1995c)
31
and wait for us to analyze them. Through the analysis and contrast of these two, we can infer what
is going on in the interpreter’s mind when the meaning in the source text is transferred to the target
text47.

From this perspective, systemic functional linguistics can refine and enrich the interpretive
theory because it definitely indicates that any text includes three types of meaning (Ideational,
Interpersonal and Textual). Through contrasting ST and TT with the help of the functional text
analysis, it can be inferred how three types of meaning in ST are transferred into the TT. In
summary, the present studies in interpreting field lack the conceptualisation of meaning transfer
and in-depth analysis and contrast of various types of meaning transfer from ST into the TT.

Owing to the time limitation that is so integral to interpreting practice, these meaning
categorization theories from translation scholars may not be totally appropriate for interpreting
studies, but their insights will shed light on the present study. Although many kinds of meaning
categorization have been proposed by translation scholars, the present study does not aim to
discuss their merits and weaknesses in detail. The study only wishes to explore meaning transfer
from a new research perspective, that is, from the perspective of Halliday’s SFL. The merit of this
approach is that it can cover both macro Situational Contextual and Social Institutional factors, on
the one hand, and micro textual linguistic features, on the other. These accord with multi-faceted
nature of meaning transfer. Words and Phrases According to SFL48, three types of meaning are
realized by Lexicogrammar. In other words, they are represented by relevant words, phrases and
clauses.

However, the interpretive theory claims that the goal of interpreting is not to translate words,
phrases or syntactic structures, but to deliver the “sense” from SL into the TL. Given the continuing
influence of “the Paris School”, studies on the transfer of words or phrases from SL to the TL are
very modest.

15 CI Strategies

47
(Hatim & Mason, 1990, pp. 3-4)
48
Halliday & Matthiessen (2004)
32
 The term strategy refers to a teleological course of action undertaken to achieve a particular
goal in an optimal way”. Interpreting strategies are usually defined as interpreters’ conscious
procedure to solve their potential interpreting difficulties in the course of interpreting.

Kalina49 defines an interpreting strategy as “goaloriented, so that the goal determines the
amount and thoroughness of processing. It may be consciously used, but may also have become
automatic in so far as the processor will not have to make any cognitive decision”.

Interpreting strategies are ubiquitous in a broad interpreting context, and they can be classified
into process-oriented strategies and productoriented strategies50, on-line strategies and off-line
strategies51, comprehension strategies and production strategies52, etc.

These strategies can be further categorized into specific strategies for note-taking, memory and
stress reduction, etc. In this study, strategies refer to meaning transfer techniques for
Macedonian/English press conference interpretation.

Generally, literature on interpreting strategies to date has focused on simultaneous conference

interpreting, particularly in relation to structural asymmetries between the source and target
languages53.

Particular SI strategies include anticipation strategies, chunking, lagging strategy and

strategies for language specific pairs. CI oriented strategies are condensing/abstracting and
adaptation. Condensing is a highly recommended strategy by Herbert54, who postulates that full
consecutive interpretation should only take up 75% of the time taken by the speaker. As
interpreters are professional communicators, such a reduction was to be achieved by speaking at a
faster pace and avoiding repetition, hesitation, and redundancy.

In a similar vein, for condensing as an effective strategy and, classifies appropriate condensing
strategies into two kinds, that is, Substitution (Pronominal and lexical substitution) and Omission
(of propositional content, including non-focalized elements, known elements and redundant

49
Kalina (1992, p. 253)
50
Pöchhacker, (2004b, p. 132)
51
Pöchhacker, (2004b, p. 133)
52
Gile, (1995a)
53
Pöchhacker, (2004b, p. 133)
54
Herbert (1952, p. 67)
33
elements; and non-propositional content including phatic elements, metalinguistic elements and
expressions of attitude). Viaggio55 argued that “saying it all”, which means reproducing the sense
of the message with all stylistic and semantic nuances, does not always need the interpreter to
“convey all of the sense”. Kohn and Kalina56 posit the need for adaptation strategies regarding
target-discourse conventions including “appropriate cultural adaptations” – an issue which has
been studied by many interpreting scholars, but has received very little systematic attention as a
topic of empirical research.

The common problem of all these studies is that they do not systematically and
comprehensively research strategies for transferring various types of meaning from ST to the TT.
Furthermore, they lack any further exploration of the translational norms governing the use of
meaning transfer strategies in a given Social Institutional Context.

16 Cognitive Learning Theory

The Cognitive Learning Theory explains why the brain is the most incredible network of
information processing and interpretation in the body as we learn things. This theory can be divided
into two specific theories: the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), and the Cognitive Behavioral
Theory (CBT).

When we say the word “learning”, we usually mean “to think using the brain”. This basic
concept of learning is the main viewpoint in the Cognitive Learning Theory (CLT). The theory has
been used to explain mental processes as they are influenced by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors,
which eventually bring about learning in an individual.

Cognitive Learning Theory implies that the different processes concerning learning can be
explained by analyzing the mental processes first. It posits that with effective cognitive processes,
learning is easier and new information can be stored in the memory for a long time. On the other
hand, ineffective cognitive processes result to learning difficulties that can be seen anytime during
the lifetime of an individual.57

55
Viaggio (1991, p. 51)
56
Kohn and Kalina (1996, p. 127)
57
Sincero (2011).
34
16.1 Social Cognitive Theory

In the Social Cognitive Theory, we are considering 3 variables:

 behavioral factors
 environmental factors (extrinsic)
 personal factors (intrinsic)

These 3 variables in Social Cognitive Theory are said to be interrelated with each other, causing
learning to occur. An individual’s personal experience can converge with the behavioral
determinants and the environmental factors.

In the person-environment interaction, human beliefs, ideas and cognitive competencies are
modified by external factors such as a supportive parent, stressful environment or a hot climate. In
the person-behavior interaction, the cognitive processes of a person affect his behavior; likewise,
performance of such behavior can modify the way he thinks. Lastly, the environment-behavior
interaction, external factors can alter the way you display the behavior. Also, your behavior can
affect and modify your environment. This model clearly implies that for effective and positive
learning to occur an individual should have positive personal characteristics, exhibit appropriate
behavior and stay in a supportive environment.

35
 In addition, Social Cognitive Theory states that new experiences are to be evaluated by the
learner by means of analyzing his past experiences with the same determinants. Learning,
therefore, is a result of a thorough evaluation of the present experience versus the past.

Basic Concepts: Social Cognitive Theory includes several basic concepts that can manifest
not only in adults but also in infants, children and adolescents.

Observational Learning: learning from other people by means of observing them is an

effective way of gaining knowledge and altering behavior.

Reproduction: the process wherein there is an aim to effectively increase the repeating of a
behavior by means of putting the individual in a comfortable environment with readily accessible
materials to motivate him to retain the new knowledge and behavior learned and practice them.

Self-efficacy: the course wherein the learner improves his newly learned knowledge or
behavior by putting it into practice.

Emotional coping: good coping mechanisms against stressful environment and negative
personal characteristics can lead to effective learning, especially in adults.

Self-regulatory capability: ability to control behavior even within an unfavorable

environment.58

16.2 Cognitive Behavioral Theory

Cognitive Behavioral Theory describes the role of cognition (knowing) to determining and
predicting the behavioral pattern of an individual. This theory was developed by Aaron Beck. The
Cognitive Behavioral Theory says that individuals tend to form self-concepts that affect the
behavior they display. These concepts can be positive or negative and can be affected by a person’s
environment.

Cognitive Behavioral Theory further explains human behavior and learning using the cognitive
triad. This triad includes negative thoughts about:

58
Sincero (2011).
36
 The self (i.e., I am rubbish)

The world/environment (i.e., the world is irrational)

The future (i.e., my future is doomed). Sarah Mae Sincero (Mar 11, 2011). Cognitive Learning
Theory.

17 CI Models

A model is an assumption about what something is like and how it functions. Therefore
modeling can be regarded as a particular form of theoretical endeavor. It can be represented by
language or by diagrams or formulas.

Herbert59 was the earliest one who proposed the most general representation of interpreting
process. He claimed that “interpretation really consists of three distinct parts:

(a) understanding;

(b) conversion;

(c) delivering”.

His discussion is mainly limited to language-based transfer and related interpreting techniques,
and hardly deals with the mental processes in interpreting. Owing to the fact that modeling for the
present study focuses on the meaning transfer process and its variables, the following will mainly
discuss text models and processing models, first SI and then CI. In terms of text models and
processing models, the former is more predominant than the latter, and therefore reviewing the
models for SI will shed light on constructing meaning transfer model in CI.

Owing to the extra memory load on consecutive interpreters, it is not easy for them to retain
information about texture and context. Texture and context are applied by interpreters as means to

59
Herbert (1952, p. 9)
37
approach structure. In effective consecutive interpreting, structure works as a clear outline for the
translated text. This compositional plan for the text will present the overall structure within which
only relevant details of texture and context are to be found. Certain kinds of contextual and textual
information tend to be discarded if they do not fit within the compositional plan in a way which
contributes to making a sequence of sentences operational. This claim lacks sufficient CI data to
testify it.

The Effort model was first conceived by Daniel Gile for simultaneous interpreting and then
was developed for consecutive interpretation. The model is made up of two phases, i.e. the
listening and note-taking phase and the speech production phase.

Unlike SI, CI does not have to face the high production requirement and short memory load
caused by syntactic differences between source language and target language. In contrast, CI needs
some extra capacity for note-taking. From the two phases of CI above, it can be seen that there are
more constraints for interpreters in Phase One, but in Phase Two, they have much more available
capacity and time to produce the target text than in SI. Therefore, it is easy to explain why
interpreters are more willing to work in their B language in CI than in SI.

All in all, through this overview of the text models and the processing models for SI and CI
above, we can conclude that current understandings of semantic processing for both interpreting
modes are extremely general and simple, without any in-depth description and analysis of the
various types of meaning transfer, and their influencing variables.

18 CI Quality

Both research into language issues and the adoption of particular interpreting strategies tend to
implicitly improve the quality of consecutive interpreting performance. Interpreting quality has
been approached from different perspectives, for example, professional self assessment, users’
expectation, client expectations, source and target language correspondence, different evaluation
criteria, such as “faithfulness”, “fluency” and “speediness”, “sense” as the object of fidelity,
flexibility in interpreting quality evaluation, “completeness”, “accuracy” and “fluency” and the
cognitive and pragmatic effect of the interpreter’s product.
38
 Interpreting research tends to include CI and SI under the same umbrella. This implies that the
same theories, methods, research findings and results proposed for holistic interpreting quality
evaluation are appropriate for CI.

Overall CI still receives relatively little attention. CI quality evaluation is a complex topic
which needs to be further explored from a variety of dimensions such as textuality, source and
target language correspondence, communicative effect, clients’ feedback and interpreting users’
expectations, etc. Moreover, in the course of assessing the quality of transferring different semantic
components, other meanings besides proposition should also be considered. 60

19 Effective Strategies for Teaching conference interpreters Consecutive Interpreting

Ultimately, the goal of this section is to equip conference interpreters with competencies to
effectively choose if and when to use CI and SI within a given interaction. Dialogic
interpreting situations are particularly suited to developing these skills, allowing the interpreter
to attend to discourse demands and choose the mode that allows effective interpretation. We do
not employ monologic discourse at this stage (except for teaching text chunking). What follows is
a typical progression of skill-based activities.

19.1 Typical progression

The learning environment is structured sequentially, with the understanding that overlap
occurs, and learning is an iterative process. The programs should be philosophically rooted in
discourse analysis approaches , and this is where we should begin. The conference interpreters,
first engage in learning based on discourse and text analysis approaches, in which they acquire
foundational knowledge through exploring existing research and theories pertaining to
discourse analysis, linguistic features/analysis, and text analysis principles. Conference
interpreters outcomes focus on (a) mapping interactions/texts, (b) building contextualization
and construal strategies, and (c) dealing with cross-cultural approaches to purpose, goals,

60
Herbert (1952, p. 11-14)
39
and information in interactions. At this stage, conference interpreters are exposed to models
of interpretation, including interactional and cognitive models.61

Translation skills are the second major subset. The goal should be to introduce translation
strategies to and from both languages across various genres. Translation steps include (a)
planning, (b) understanding text, (c) using research/resources to deepen comprehension, (d)
using conceptual mapping, (e) creating an outline/structure (associated with the target
language), (f) preparing initial drafts, and (g) revising drafts after consultation with target
language native users, producing a final translation product. These translation skills require
interpreters to consistently apply their knowledge of discourse analysis approaches and focus
on discrete skill sets, work collaboratively, and analyze their work (process and product) for
effectiveness in achieving a desirable meaning-based product.

Consecutive interpreting skills form the next major subset, which is introduced after
discourse/text analysis and translation skills are achieved. The philosophical approach here is that
conference interpreters should see the consecutive interpretation as a viable approach throughout
their careers, not just for learning simultaneous interpreting. Once more, they bridge research and
practice by exposing to existing research in both spoken and signed language communities.
Consecutive interpreting competencies require conference interpretrs to (a) appropriately describe
the need for CI in both languages and culturally appropriate ways, (b) create effective recall notes,
(c) chunk or segment participant messages appropriately, (d) use culturally appropriate signals to
have participants pause at appropriate points, and (e) use strategies to create meaning-based
interpretation while minimally altering participants’ interaction patterns.

Simultaneous interpretation skills are taught once interpreters have a solid base in consecutive
interpreting. If conference interpreters are permitted to move to simultaneous interpreting prior to
internalizing the consecutive process, we see typical error patterns emerge, including the absence
of construal and comprehension due to short processing times resulting in lexical transcoding and
absence of meaningful linguistic use.

61
(Roy, 2000, 2005)
40
 Finally, based on this progression, interpreters are ready to practice blending consecutive and
simultaneous interpreting within a given interaction. This requires (a) application of discourse/text
analysis skills, (b) consecutive and simultaneous interpreting abilities, and (c) decision-making
schemas. Beginning in the foundational courses, conference interpreters are guided through
analysis of their work. Self-analysis is an essential learning component.62

19.2 Skills

Ideally, conference interpreters come to the interpreting task with bilingual competence63.
Then, through systematic exercises designed to develop cognitive and interactive processes for
translation and consecutive interpreting, conference interpreters can master the interpreting
process. Such training, whether in the classroom, workshops, or community practice, includes
the following64:

• text analysis that includes identification/control of linguistic aspects such as genres, registers,
semantics, cohesion, grammar, and prosody

• memory development through structured practice exercises designed to enhance short-term

memory

• text mapping for linguistic elements and interactive patterns among participants

• note-taking and mapping techniques

• identification of strategies to segment linguistic and meaning-based interactive chunks suitable

for interpretation, and to recreate the same linguistic aspects in the target language (e.g., affect,
cohesion, linking questions and answers, and dealing with new or shared information)

• creation of culturally appropriate signals to ask participants to pause for interpretation

62
(Roy, 2000, 2005)
63
(Merithew, Taylor & Johnson, 2002)
64
(Russell, 2005):
41
• effective discourse-based decision making within interactions and selection of an interpretation
mode best suited to discourse/interactional goals

• awareness of the need for consecutive interpreting when content is complicated, detail laden,
presented using linguistic structures and/or contextual cues that challenge the interpreter’s ability
to construct meaning, or situations in which error consequences are grave

• describe CI in ASL and English and introduce the rationale for consecutive interpreting or a blend
of CI/SI to participants prior to an assignment.

Beyond acquiring the above skills, conference interpreters must learn to manage logistical
issues such as positioning, the use of pen/paper, and teamwork. They should also consider eye
gaze an important variable and skill, and differentiate between its linguistic use and other
purposes. Non-linguistic eye gaze considerations include (a) the interpreter’s need to see the
non-verbal message produced by the non-deaf participant, thus requiring both participants to be
in his/her range of vision; (b) direction of gaze while attending to the message; (c) direction of
gaze while producing spoken interpretation; and (d) use of eye gaze as a cueing device (e.g., to ask
for repetition or clarification).

Conference interpreters must develop an awareness of the footprint their decisions and actions
leave on the interaction and the ability to lessen that footprint. Finally, conference interpreters
must develop a keen sense of self-analysis and the ability to articulate the effects of their
decisions and actions.

19.3 Activities

Multiple teaching activities can be used, in this paper I describe the use of role-plays as
one approach. Other classroom activities include working with DVD samples to show successful
and less successful interpretations and to practice interpreting, teacher-modeled examples of
discrete skills and CI/SI blends, and the modeling/sharing of perspectives by experienced
practitioners. We have also organized three-day retreats involving multiple student role-plays.
These retreats require numerous deaf and non-deaf participants, and multiple teams of co-
teachers (deaf and non-deaf). In our experience, these immersion-style retreats, where teachers

42
lead analysis and feedback conversations after small-group role-plays, can dramatically improve
conference interpreters performance in ways not possible in regular classes.

19.4 Creating practice scenarios

Learning activities must be carefully considered and selected in terms of materials,

scenarios, and role-playing participants. We invite deaf and non-signing participants who
can play various roles and create natural, spontaneous interactions. Whenever possible, we
should ensure that guests have insightful conversations with conference interpreters after role-
plays, describing their perceptions of the interaction. We should create scenarios and provide
participants with cards describing their roles and offering contextual information (e.g.,
interactional goal, time/place, ideas for conversation). Scenarios range from hiring a party
planner or returning defective equipment to a store to holding a parent-teacher interview or
organizing hospice care. Should be used simple interactions to start and increase complexity as
interpreters acquire competencies. We should cultivate relationships with deaf and non-deaf
community members to make this successful. Besides designing classroom scenarios, the
interpreters should be taken into the community to practice interpreting in local businesses,
such as the post office or insurance agency. We should cultivate relationships with
community business owners; they are delighted to see us return and usually allow us to film the
interactions.

19.5 Role plays

Prior to working with conference interactions, we should introduce consecutive

interpreting through role-plays, beginning with CI demonstrations. Demonstrations are twofold,
showing the CI process and showing discussion of the work with the interpreter. We should begin
by interpreting a typical non-complex interaction between a deaf person and a non-signing hearing
person. In the first interpretation, the teacher models inappropriate behavior and demonstrates
a few strategies that produce effective and ethical interpretations. In other words, we do what
is not appropriate.

After the interpretation, we should model an analysis discussion in the same vein. In the
second CI demonstration, deaf and non-deaf participants redo the first interaction while the
teacher models effective interpreting strategies. An analytical session follows, in which the
43
teacher-interpreter models discussion of her work with behaviors that are teached. The second
demonstration provides conference interpretors with an exemplar and template; for some, it is the
first observation of consecutive interpreting. They have the opportunity to discuss the work, the
interpreter’s strategies, and how the interpreter handles unforeseen issues. This exercise provides
conference interpreters with ideas to try and often dispels fears that consecutive interpretation is
simply about memory and that it is too difficult. Once they have seen effective CI, many
report they can envision providing CI successfully. During both demonstrations, students
observe and take notes for later conversations.

Conference interpretrs may comment on interpretation strategies, cultural appropriateness of

signals, turn-taking processes (including length of turns), and whether the interpreter inhibited
participants’ interaction patterns. They should to note evidence of accurate, equivalent, and precise
interpretation that conveys essential elements of meaning and target language discourse features.
As well, interpreters comment on natural chunking or segmentation in the discourse, additions,
omissions (Napier, 2003) and skews. When commenting on language use, interpreters cite
examples of semantics, cohesion, coherence, adjacency pairs, and other linguistic and discourse
features.

The analysis discussion includes (a) addressing participants’ goals, (b) discourse goals of
specific utterances, (c) examples of successful work and why they were successful, and (d) how
interpreter strategies supported or impeded effective interpretation.

Overall, role-plays provide invaluable opportunities for conference interpreters to learn

from each other, creating collective knowledge and enhancing understanding through hands-
on work. Analysis of their work leads to insightful discussions that provide a foundation for
the rest of their careers. We should continue role-plays and analysis discussions throughout the
interpreters’ education.

19.6 Why this approach?

For many dialogic interactions, consecutive interpretation is the most appropriate mode.
These include medical appointments, Video Relay Service (VRS) calls, and interviews. Many
interpreters use CI when interpreting for children, seniors, and foreign sign language users,
or situations in which the interpreter lacks contextual knowledge or does not know the
44
participants well. In some of these situations, a combination of consecutive and simultaneous
interpreting can be most effective. I suggest that the interpreting task requires ongoing
evaluation to determine the most appropriate mode at any given time. This choice cannot
be definitively made at the beginning of the assignment; it needs to be re-evaluated as the
discourse unfolds. To best translate meaning, an interpreter may move seamlessly between
consecutive and simultaneous as the situational demands warrant. Describing teaching approaches
for blending CI and SI is beyond our scope here, however, we can say with certainty that
teaching a blended approach cannot occur until students first acquire proficiency in consecutive
interpretation. I recognize that certain myths have shaped our interpreting and teaching practices,
and may have contributed to educators not teaching CI as a viable mode for interpreter use across
settings. These myths include:

• Only less skilled interpreters use CI.

• CI takes (much) longer.

• CI is not necessary for signed/spoken language interactions because the modalities are different;
we can use both languages, simultaneously, without interference.

• CI is used only by hearing children with their deaf parents.

• Participants don’t like CI (so we shouldn’t do it and/or non-deaf people won’t tolerate silence).

• CI isn’t used in the “real world.”

• SI is the ultimate goal.

My particular frame of reference and teaching approaches reinforce that consecutive

interpreting is a viable mode, not just a pedagogical tool leading to simultaneous interpreting.
I believe that this approach equips participants of the training with tools to significantly enhance
interpreting services. Lastly, I emphasize that programs are best served by integrating
consecutive interpreting instruction throughout skills classes for the entire program. By doing so,
we begin to move from “consecutive interpreting as a stepping stone to simultaneous
interpreting” to integrating consecutive interpreting across and throughout the curriculum. When
interpreters possess a solid foundation of consecutive interpreting, they are much more able to

45
make appropriate decisions to integrate consecutive and simultaneous interpreting into meaning-
based work. The field is in the process of rethinking what interpretation means and how best
to offer effective service based on the modes of interpretation available. Finally, I suggest that
programs that structure the teaching of consecutive interpreting from a holistic integrated approach
across their curricula and throughout the entire program contribute to shifting practices in our
profession toward incorporating research and best practices.65

20 Conclusion

At a time when multilingual conferences are becoming ever more specialised and technically
complex, when an impersonal machine assigns an interpreter to a meeting on tin in the morning
and one on dairy products in the afternoon, when the number of working languages is increasing
as rapidly as the use of consecutive is declining, and when newly-fledged (and sometimes
decidedly under-fledged) colleagues are being hastily drafted in to fill ever more booths, there is
a pressing need to maintain quality and standards in the profession of conference interpreting, to
motivate newcomers to do so and show them how, and generally to recognise that the profession’s
reputation for quality and integrity rests on the sum of our individual efforts to secure it.

The current results and conclusions strongly support the case for intercultural mediation in CCI
despite the idea that conference interpreting discourse is characterised by a greater degree of
cultural transparency than discourse in such other interpreting settings as community and/or court
interpreting. The results thus indicate a preference by professional conference interpreters to
assume the role of the consequent interpretation in the conference interpreters training. All this
points to the importance of the cultural component that plays an undeniable complementary role
to that of language in achieving the ultimate objective of virtually any interpretation encounter
(understanding and communication among the primary parties) due to the relation between culture
and the raw material, as it were, of translation and interpreting (language), which in turn points to
the need for creating in trainees awareness of intercultural mediation and a ‘bicultural competence’
in both the source and target cultures and ability to judge the clients’ knowledge (or otherwise lack
of knowledge) of one another’s culture because the possession of such awareness and bicultural

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International Journal of Interpreter Education, 2, 2010, pp. 111-119 © Conference of Interpreter Trainers 111
Effective Strategies for Teaching Consecutive Interpreting Debra L. Russell, Risa Shaw and Karen Malcolm .
46
competence is necessary if conference interpreters were to successfully assume the ideal role as
intercultural mediators, thus achieving more effective understanding and communication between
speaker and audience.

Therefore, one can only reiterate call for the introduction of the cultural component and the
issue of the interpreter’s role in the communication process to interpreter training programmes
especially when the course involves distant languages/cultures because without such an insight
into the history of nations and their cultures, effects of culture on the interpreting process, and
serious and genuine issue of the interpreter’s role, interpreting research in general and the training
of would-be interpreters in particular will be lacking a set of indispensable components that could
be vital in helping develop in students the skills necessary for making of them crosscultural
communication experts and provide them with the tools (procedures, etc.) to enable them to
assume such an ideal role.

In this respect, there are views constitute a good source that helps draw a picture of how such
an introduction of these issues into the training of student interpreters can be made and made
effectively to serve the purpose. The two existing and most common forms of culture-learning
(academic sojourn and the instrumental model of culture-learning) have practically failed or not
been very effective methods for the training of would-be cultural mediators, the former because
the primary interest of the majority of foreign scholars and researchers usually lie in obtaining a
degree and advancing their professional goals rather than in learning the foreign culture, and the
latter because the task-orientation element in it presents culture as a an obstacle to the achievement
of the specific assignment or as ‘something that has to be adjusted to, coped with, defended against,
maybe even ignored, which understates the value of learning a new culture vis-à-vis the main
job/assignment and leaves the trainee a monocultural individual in possession of very few
superficial cultural skills that he/she learns in order to cope with the situation.

Thus, the professionalisation and institutionalisation of the training model/program’ should be

implemented through a postgraduate degree, the curriculum of which should be based on the theory
and practice of CCI itself. Since the present argument concerns intercultural mediation in the field
of (consecutive conference) interpreting, it can be suggested that professionalising and
institutionalising the intercultural-mediator role in conference interpreting be implemented

47
through a module of intercultural mediation to be integrated in the existing interpreter training
programmes rather than a separate course. The module can be tailored to cater for conference
interpreters’ needs, that is, a module of intercultural mediation specifically designed to meet the
needs of the conference-interpreting profession and not any other profession. Such a unique
module can be oriented towards acquainting students with the problems of cross-cultural
communication by creating in them the type of ‘bicultural competence’ required to stand to the
challenges of intercultural communication in a more professional approach, which will in the end
benefit the profession of conference interpreting, interpreters themselves as well as clients and
users of the profession of conference interpreting.

This has implications for further research. Indeed, the present paper has shown that the
consequent interpretation has a really big and important role in the conference interpreters training
and consequent interpretation it’s easy to be implemented in the conference interpreters training.
Also It is to achieve it from the academic and professional points of view if the will is present. As
argued in many papers, the majority of academic researchers in the field of consequent
interpretation in general and conference interpreting in particular believe that conference
interpreters training plays a significant role in and has an undeniable effect on the communication
process and the interpreter’s ideal position. There is also a need for introducing the models of the
CPA (theory of sense and RT) to the theoretical components in training programmes because the
two models can provide would-be conference interpreters with an indispensable insight into the
interpreting process and the interpreter’s position and role in the communication process since.
The consequent interpretation has really important and essential rol in the conference interpreters
training.

48
 Резиме (Summary)

Консекутивното толкување вклучува голем број на речиси истовремени когнитивни,

психомоторни и афективни процеси, коишто претставуваат голем предизвик за
конференцискиот преведувач кој мора истовремено да се справи со нив. Консекутивниот
преведувач постојано се соочува со неочекувани ситуации со кои мора да се справи додека
тој веќе работи во границите на неговиот достапен капацитет за обработка.
Целта на овој труд е да обезбеди увид во улогата на консекутивното толкување во
обуката на конференциските преведувачи. За секој консекутивен преведувач неопходно е
да посетува, индивидуална или колективна, ефикасна обука на примена на консекутивното
толкување при конференицско преведување.
Овој дипломски труд ги претставува основните принципи и насоки, кои што се
наоѓаат во постоечката литература и служат како основа и инспирација за развивање на
независен капацитет на конференциските толкувачи за спроведување на консекутивното
толкување.
Во првиот дел се дефинира консекутивното толкување, се објаснува неговата
употреба и се дава краток преглед. Во главниот дел, консекутивното толкување е
претставено како дел од способноста и вештините на конференциските преведувачи кои
темелно ја проучуваат а подоцна и имплементираат неговата функција. Следствено,
принципите и предлозите за развој на обуки за конференциски преведувачи, вклучувајќи ја
и влијателната улога на консекутивното толкување, се презентирани и објаснети во детали,

49
како што се предложени од експерти од областа. Исто така, големо внимание е посветено
на делот каде е презентирана педагогијата за консекутивното толкување, односно
различните ставови за тоа како треба да се научат студентите, преведувачите кои посетуваат
обука за имплеметација на консекутивното толкување при конференциски превод. Потоа
следуваат насоки за тоа кога треба да се воведат ваквите програми во наставниот план, во
однос на степенот на студирање, како и специјализираните обуки наменети за штотоку
дипломирани студенти за практична примена на консекутивното толкување при
конференцискиот превод во самата настава.

Авторите даваат две перспективи во наставата за консекутивното толкување:

прагматичниот пристап и когнитивната оправданост. Консекутивното толкување е
опишано како поседување на извонредни вештини во јазичното разбирање и производство,
инпут односно интерпретација. Главното прашање што е разработено во овој труд е:
Која е улогата на последователното толкување на обуката на конференциски
преведувачи?
Некои програми свесно се стремат да ја пренесат доминантната парадигма од
истовремено толкување како крајна цел за толкувачите. Исто така, во изминатите неколку
години се забележуваат промена во сертифицирањето на конференциски преведувачи. Овој
труд опишува како конференциски преведувачи можат да користат и спроведуваат
навистина значајни програми и обуки кои им овозможуваат да развијат силна основа во
консекутивно толкување. Овој пристап им овозможува на толкувачите на самите
конференции подоцна да користат последователна интерпретација во интеракциите
најсоодветни за консекутивното толкување, како и да утврдат кога интеракцијата најдобро
одговара на комбинацијата на консекутивни и симултани режими. Главните цели на овој
труд се:
- Да се докаже дека консекутивното толкување има многу важна улога за
конференциските преведувачи.
- Да се докаже дека способноста на конференциските преведувачи да го спроведат
консекутивното толкување може да се постигне преку специјализирана обука како
најефективен, корисен и продуктивен начин.

50
 Причината зошто ја избрав оваа тема беше, пред сè е поради важноста и практичното
значење на консекутивното толкување во специјализираната обуката на конференциски
преведувачи, токму за таа намена. Како иден конференциски преведувач, ќе го
имплементирам консекутивното толкување во мојата секојдневна работа. Секој преведувач
мора да биде способен за практично спроведување на теоретско стекнатото знаење.
Преносот на значењето и материјалната страна на зборот се од суштинско значење
за консекутивното толкување, и прагматично и теоретски. Затоа, сеопфатно и
софистицирано разбирање на компонентите на значењето, како и процесот, главните
влијателни фактори и моделите на трансфер на значењето се е од суштинско значење не
само за консекутивното толкување туку и за проценката на квалитетот, наставата и обуката
и теоретските студии за консекутивно толкување.
Практично, овој дипломски труд детално ја елаборира практиката и обука на
консектувниото толкување на конференциските толкувачи преку идентификуваната
нормирана интерпретација на значење, што ја менува "чистата" интерпретациска практика
и настава базирана на лична интуиција.
Иако суштината на толкувањето - дали истовремено (симултано толкување) или
последователно (консекутивно толкување) - претставува суштински точен пренос на
значењето на изворниот текст во целен текст, систематските и сеопфатните студии за
пренесување на значењето се многу ограничени и на некој начин не кореспондираат со
иновативните технологии и се она што денешното време го донесе за еден современ превод.
Самата тема на овој дипломски труд ,, Улогата на консекутивното толкување во
обуката на конференциските толкувачи" е сама по себе многу предизвикувачка. Тоа
вклучува и лингвистички и екстралингвистички параметри, и може да се пристапи од широк
спектар на дисциплини како што се психологијата, филозофијата на јазикот, студијата за
култура и лингвистиката и неговите поврзани дисциплини итн. Со оглед на овие
компликации, овој труд се фокусира само на консекутивното толкување како суштински
дел од обуката на конференциски преведувачи. Дел од овој дипломски труд е и
истражувачката позадина, преку која ги презентиравме обемот, целите и прашањата на оваа
студија, теоретската рамка и методот на истражување и го нагласивме темелното
објаснување на секој сегмент поврзан со оваа суштинска тема на мојата дипломска
дисертација. Тековните истражувања во полето на толкувањето на говорниот и пишан јазик
51
нè упатуваат кон консекутивното толкување. Сепак, програмите за јазичните преводи имаат
во себе недоследни пристапи.
Овој труд ги опишува најсоодветните техники и методи преку кои учесниците на
обуките за имплементација на консекутивното толкување при конференцискиот превод,
постигнуваат определен степен, кој им овозможува да развијат силна основа во
консекутивно толкување. Овој пристап им овозможува на конференциските толкувачи,
подоцна да користат консекутивна интерпретација во интеракции најсоодветни за
консекутивно толкување, како и да утврдат кога интеракцијата е најсоодветна за
комбинација од консекутивни и симултани режими. Таквиот мешан пристап ја покажува
способноста консекутивните истражувањата да најдат примена во ефективните практики.
Во специјализираните преведувачки и наставни практики, веруваме дека кога
преведувачите ги препознаваат опциите за толкување врз основа на барањата на дискурсот,
може да се направи избор за користење на симултано или консекутивно толкување.
Забележувам дека програмите за образование на преведувачи на говорни јазици секогаш се
приближуваат кон учењето на консекутивно толкување на структуриран начин, меѓутоа,
еден од уникатните елементи на даден јазик е дека преведувачот може да работи со два
различни јазични модалитети во исто време без мешање, што доведува до многу поголема
употреба на симултаниот превод во нашата област.
Ефективноста на консекутивното толкување, едукаторите и преведувачите
честопати ја гледаат само како отскочна штица за истовремена интерпретација. Многу
искусни преведувачи немаа доволно обука за консекутивно толкување, а со само неколку
работилници можат да се осврнат кон ова прашање. Исто така, преведувачите и едукаторите
можат да имаат ограничена изложеност успешно да го користат симултаното толкување во
нивната пракса и на тој начин да веруваат дека треба да користат консекутивно толкување,
но немаат вештини за тоа. Затоа, студентите треба да бидат практично оспособени и да
поседуваат вештини да можат без потешкотии да вршат консекутивно толкување, а тоа
најдобро се постигнува токму преку специјализирани обуки наменети за конференциските
толкувачи, како потпора и составен дел на формалното образование кое има голем
практичен недостаток, поради што толкувачите не се оспособени за самостојна и независна
работа.

52
 Во мојот дипломски труд се опишани некои од пристапите кои можат да им
помогнат на толкувачите да стекнат вештини за консекутивно толкување. Исто така детално
обработив и дел од ефикасните стратегии кои овозможуваат обучување на
конференциските толкувачи за спроведување на консекутивен превод. Улогата на
консекутивното толкување во обуката на конференциските толкувачи е суштинска,
фундаментална и без неа никогаш нема да се постигне задоволкувачки квалитет на
толкувањето.
Консекутивниот превод е опишан како "најблагородниот" начин на толкување, и
постои сила во аргументот дека оној кој тврди дека е полноправен конференциски
преведувач мора да поседува вештини за истовремено совладување и на симултаното и на
консекутивното толкување.
Преведувачите треба да размислат за најсоодветниот начин кој треба да се употреби
и како да се инкорпорираат последователни и / или симултани режими во текот на задачата
според модел базиран на значење. Да ги проценат барањата на задачата пред да ја прифатат
(ова бара добивање доволно информации), да го анализираат влијанието на нивните одлуки
и дејствија пред, за време и по задачите, се со цел да обезбедат ефективна последователна
интерпретација.
За да се каже дека определен конференциски толкувач е поседува практична
способност за консекутивно толкување, истиот треба пред тоа да се стекне со теорија и
искуство за користење на консекутивно толкување. Преведувачите се здобиваат со основни
вештини со проучување и примена на дискурс и текстуални анализи. Со оваа основа,
преведувачите се подготвени да стекнат дополнителни вештини за толкување. Првиот
чекор треба да им помогне на учениците да ги разберат доказите од говорно / потпишано
јазично истражување кое ја поддржува употребата на консекутивното толкување за
точноста, прецизноста и ефективноста. Следно, треба да постои поврзано истражување со
пракса, преку едукатори кои моделираат симултано толкување, толкувачи кои практикуваат
симултано толкување и едукатори и практичари кои најреално можат да ги споделуваат
своите симултани искуства.
Конференцискиот толкувач е лице кое е стручен експерт за јазик и комуникација кој
на повеќе јазични средби го пренесува значењето на говорот усно на друг јазик разбирлив
за слушателите кои имаат потреба од материјален превод.
53
 Консекутивниот превод најчесто се употребува на прес конференции, меѓу другите
ситуации. Тоа е така бидејки има ситуации кога клиентот сака да се осигура дека
толкувањето е навистина точно (пр, судски постапки). Многу е полесно да се провери
квалитетот на консекутивното толкување. Клиентите често се свесни за фактот дека
добивањето на порака во последователен режим трае двапати подолго, или гледајки од друг
агол, постои ризик да се одоговри само на половина од многубројните прашања, со оглед
на расположливото време. Затоа претежно на конференциите се обезбедува консекутувно
толкување во интерес на времето.
Во еден детален приказ е направена и компаративна анализа помеѓу консекутивното
и симултаното толкување. На овој начин, детално е воочен нивниот меѓуоднос и взаемна
поврзаност. По што следува објаснување и преглед на методите и стратегиите на
консекутивното толкување, начинот на кој конференцискиот толкувач се стекнува во
вештини за консекутивно толкување, како и, еден добар пример, детално објаснет за
ефикасна стратегија како конференциски толкувач треба да научи да користи консекутивен
превод.
Тековните резултати и заклучоци силно го поддржуваат случајот за интеркултурно
посредување во консекутивното конференциско толкување, и покрај идејата дека дискурсот
за толкување на конференцијата се карактеризира со поголем степен на културна
транспарентност отколку дискурсот во таквите други толкувачки поставки како заедница
и/или судско толкување. Резултатите покажуваат преферираност на професионални
конференциски преведувачи кои ја преземат улогата на последователното толкување во
обуката на конференциски преведувачи.
Специјализацијата и инстуционализацијата на модел обука/програма треба да бидат
имплементирани преку мастер студии, чии наставен план треба да се базира на теорија и
практика за консекутвно конференциско толкување.
На крајот, се осврнав кон иднината на последователната интерпретација во обуката
за конференциски толкувачи, од аспект на напредокот, иновациите и подобрувањата на
технологијата и можноста за замени земањето на белешки преку дигитални диктафони, како
и воведување на нов начин на толкување, имено, симултан последователен режим.

54
 По разгледување на сите аспекти и составни делови на консекутивното
конференциско толкување, се заклучува дека консекутивното толкување има значајна улога
во обуката на конференциските толкувачи.

Користена литература

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