Aims and Objectives: The purpose of the study was to disentangle the effects of simultaneous interpreting experience and training on working memory, to examine the effect of language, modality and recall on working memory scores, and to associate memory scores of trainees with interpreting quality. Design: Working memory scores were compared in the L2 reading span task (performed by professional conference interpreters, bilingual controls and interpreter trainees tested before and after training) and in the L1 reading span task and L1 listening span task (performed by interpreters and controls). Data and Analysis: Data was collected from 68 participants in experiment 1 and from 51 participants in experiment 2. It was analysed by means of linear models, regressions and t-tests. Findings: Professional interpreters consistently outperformed controls on all working memory tasks. They performed better in L1 than L2, and their scores were not affected due to modality (visual vs. auditory presentation) and recall mode (serial vs. free). Interpreter training improved working memory scores. Trainees’ higher scores predicted better interpreting performance. Originality: This was the first study to adopt a longitudinal design to examine the effect of training on memory of conference interpreter trainees. Significance: The study shows that interpreter training (but not experience) improves working memory capacity and predicts interpreting performance.
An environment-friendly, free of solvent, process for the synthesis of (R)- and (S)-ricinoleic acid amides has been developed. Starting from methyl ricinoleates and pyrrolidine or ethanolamine, the corresponding amides were obtained with yields ranging from 83-88%. Among 12 synthesized derivatives of ricinoleic acid, including the starting methyl esters, amides, and their acetates, nine compounds were obtained and tested for the first time. Studies on ricinoleic acid derivatives cytotoxicity showed that methyl esters were the least cytotoxic compounds and modification of their structure resulted in increasing cytotoxicity of the obtained products against both cancer cells and normal lymphocytes. Both enantiomers of the ethanolamine-derived amides showed the most promising anticancer potential.
Simultaneous interpreting (SI) is a cognitively demanding task. This is why there are typically two interpreters working in a booth and taking turns every 30 minutes or so. Interpreters work in pairs not only to be able to overcome fatigue, but also to cooperate and help each other. This article is an attempt to shed some light on the process of booth teamwork. Cooperation in the booth is examined in the professional context, which leads to conclusions regarding the incorporation of this skill in conference interpreter training.A survey was conducted among 200 free-lance interpreters associated in AIIC and working on various markets to find out more about their expectations and needs as regards assistance from their booth partners. The respondents were asked about their mode of operation, activities in the booth when off-mike and their perception of the need to teach cooperation to interpretation trainees. It turns out that there are some factors that may impede teamwork in the simultaneous interpreting booth. Interpreters who are off-mike can engage in last-minute preparation using materials supplied by the organizers shortly before the commencement of a conference. Additionally, fatigue may prevent them from actively listening to the input and assisting their boothmate. The results of the survey may help answer the question if teamwork and turn-taking should be part of simultaneous interpreting courses.Keywords: simultaneous interpreting, cooperation, interpreter training, booth manners INTRODUCTIONConference interpreting is a challenging task in terms of cognitive processing. It poses strong demands on the interpreter's memory and attention. Interpreters usually work near saturation level (Gile 1999), which means that their available cognitive resources are sometimes insufficient for appropriate processing and interpretation of the incoming speech. Additionally, this mentally challenging work is performed under stress and time constraints, which leads to fatigue. These extraordinary demands of the interpreting task have made it necessary to ensure special working conditions for SI, with at least two interpreters present in the booth. According to the professional standards devised by AIIC (the International Association of Conference Interpreters): "An interpreter shall not, as a general rule, work alone in a simultaneous interpretation booth, without the availability of a colleague to relieve her or him should the need arise" (AIIC: 2008). In the simplest conference setting involving two languages, two bidirectional interpreters This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article in Across Languages and Cultures 9 (2), pp. 261--276 (2008), DOI: 10.1556/Acr.9.2008 should be employed to work as a team in one booth. Moreover, "given the constraints related to quality and health, the normal duration of an interpreter's working day shall not exceed two sessions of between two-anda-half and three hours each" (AIIC: 2008). Thus, a typical setup for simultaneous interpreting involves two interpreters in a...
This paper presents results of an eye-tracking study involving sight translation. It was assumed that interpreting trainees at a more advanced stage of training would display more efficient reading patterns than their less experienced colleagues. Eighteen participants with either one year or two years of interpreting training were asked to sight translate a text from A language (Polish) into B language (English). The text included such independent variables as target sentence type (simple SVO sentences and complex non-SVO sentences) and low frequency lexical items. The dependent variables included measures assumed to indicate lexical access and syntactic processing, such as fixation count, fixation length and observation length. The study found no group effect in total task time and processing of lexical items, which indicates that one year of training might not be sufficient to show differences in the sight translation skill development. The study also revealed that sentence readability could be a better predictor of processing load than syntax and, as expected, that more readable sentences generated less cognitive load than less readable ones.
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