AFewThoughtsonTeachingInterpretation

YangXixi

【Abstract】This paper explicates the role of interpreters in communication，some inseparable qualities of good interpreters from linguistic and non-linguistic aspects.

【Key words】function of interpretation； qualities of interpreters

【摘要】本文意在闡述口译员在交流中扮演的不同角色，从语言和非语言角度解释优秀口译员不可或缺的素质。

【关键词】口译的功能 口译员素质

1.Function of Interpretation

Translation is an activity that serves as a means of communication，a transmitter of culture，a technique of language learning，and a source of personal pleasure.（Peter Newmark.1988） Interpreters，engaged in professional translation，function in the first place as communicators to bridge the gap between multilingual cultures.The aim of communication is achieved only through the medium of interpreters，who generate，guarantee the quality，speed and effect of the multilateral conversation.Take for example，interpreters make frequent presence at press conferences，firm meetings，business negotiations，overseas tourism，international education exhibitions，etc.Without interpreters aid that realizes the overlapping of speakers and listeners ideas and thoughts，the efforts made by both parties who speak their own languages merely would probably come to nil.

In the communication model of interpretation，during the process of interpretation，interpreters are neither the source nor the terminal of messages，nor do they speak their own mind，but serve as an indispensable central component of such communication.By using the target language，interpreters are supposed to convey speakers ideas faithfully，explicitly and speedily.They are at the same time responsible to listeners because interpretation should accommodate listeners language mode and cultural background，otherwise the inappropriate interpretation with anything that disobeys listeners habitual thinking will be commented as evil.Client is another subject that interpreters have to provide satisfactory service for，who to a large degree，sings high for their good professional reputation and vice versa in their career development.

However，interestingly，there are always some exceptions to normality.In the lately released Chinese movie Ye Wen，when Japan invaded China，after in single Master Ye defeated 10 Japanese rivals he was asked for his name by the supremely defiant Japanese military officer who aside watched the entire martial arts match.He just replied three words “I am Chinese.” The interpreter，who happened to be Master Yes ex-apprentice，wittingly changed the life-risky speech into the Japanese military officers expected answer “I am Ye Wen.” Such tactful interpretation version that not only realizes the aim of communication but also saves Master Yes life follows H.P.Grices cooperative principle in conversation （1975）.

2.Qualities of Interpreters

2.1 Language Knowledge

Interpreters are first of all required to have an excellent foundation of both the source language and the target language in aspects of phonology，lexicon，syntax，pragmatics and so on before they become the ready practitioners.One-sided mastery of language is just halfway to fulfill the duty of bidirectional information transfer.If an interpreter，supposedly，has not gained a native-like competence in English，or at least a good mastery of it，the imbalance between the language proficiency in English and his mother tongue will incur a good many problems，hindering the continuum of language flow.

Quite unlike translation，interpretation does not necessarily chase after words and facts to reach kind of perfection，but actually it is of a relatively lower degree of refinement in terms of range of vocabulary，ways of organization，etc，which is in accordance with the characteristics of spoken language.However this does not deny the superb language skills that back up interpreters field experience.

2.2 Topic Knowledge

A good translator is supposed to know bits of everything，of course without profundity in every related field.The same is true with a first class interpreter for the fact that interpretation setting varies from economics，politics，business，law，education，arts，science，technology，healthcare to social welfare.The widespread scope of interpretation content determines that an interpreters topic knowledge must have an equally large coverage to satisfy various needs of interpreting.In Sperber and Wilsons Relevance Theory （1986），the stronger the relevance，the less processing effort will be made in reasoning，and the better the contextual effects will be.A good application of he Relevance Theory goes to the situation of conference interpretation，the language of which follows a highly automatically procedural rule just similar to the procedure of the conference itself.It is commonly suggested that if pre-conference preparation works well，like the interpreter getting familiar with the formulated conference language in use，collecting data of participant parties，the degree of relevance will conspicuously rise which tremendously helps to enable a fluent interpretation.

An effective accumulation of relevant classified knowledge is recommendable for later use when the needed information must be retrieved timely and highly efficiently.The storage process may last for shortly several days or as long as years in duration，depending on interpreters familiarity with the topic knowledge.Interpreters could acquire relevant knowledge through either directly the field practice or indirectly his unremitting consultancy with dictionaries，encyclopedias，literature，websites as well as experts if possible.

2.3 Reaction

Quick reaction on the spot is a crucially important quality of interpreters that HRs of international organizations recruitment pay close attention to.Generally RT 2-3s is considered as a preferable data to evaluate an interpreters instantaneity.Admittedly，some languages with distinctive structural differentiation in between have a longer lagged RT，e.g.，Chinese and European languages.RT 4s in such circumstances is definitely allowable.In Professor Liu Miqins experiment，prompt reaction may consequently lessen the accuracy and organization of the interpreted speech.Interpreters，therefore，will think before they leap whether a much too early utterance is a desirable step，or a clear，lucid and well organized speech act weighs more.Other factors such as fatigue，illness，gloominess and excessive nervousness are prone to result in slow reaction，hence inevitably reducing the integral quality of the interpretation.An active psycho-mentality in preparation for related stimulus is advisable to obtain good accuracy and explicit organization with shortened RT.

2.4 Comprehension

Correct understanding of the source language is of a decisive importance in a serial of activities of interpretation.In many occasions，communicators intention does not reveal literally，and likewise listeners often do not understand the discourse superficially.An excellent interpreter has the capability of phonetics discrimination，comprehensive analysis on grammatical components，pragmatics，context，style，culture and psychology as a whole body all in a very limited time.

Psychologist J.R.Anderson proposed a three-stage model of human speech generation—structuring stage→transferring stage→performing stage.Accordingly，to comprehend integrally the source language is the prerequisite to translating thought to the form of speech and then re-expressing in words.Misinterpretation may be owing to a poor or erroneous understanding of discourse from the very beginning of the communication.

3.Conclusion

In the process of interpretation，a good understanding of languages is in the prior place to guarantee the exactitude of interpretation.Other contributing factors such as outstanding language skills and knowledge to advance linguistic availability，broadened topic knowledge，nimble reaction，accurate comprehension are also well worth concerning when we teach and practice interpretation.

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