Interpretation and Cognition

Ahrens, Barbara

doi:10.1002/9781119241485.ch24

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Interpreting refers to orally translating one language to another, usually in real time (Ahrens, 2017). Interpreting requires a high linguistic and cultural competence level and excellent listening and speaking skills.…”

Section: Definition Of Interpretingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expertise differences in cognitive interpreting: A meta‐analysis of eye tracking studies across four decades

Wang,

Yu,

Wang

2023

WIRES Cognitive Science

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This meta‐analytic research delves into the influence of expertise on cognitive interpreting, emphasizing time efficiency, accuracy, and cognitive effort, in alignment with prevailing expertise theories that link professional development and cognitive efficiency. The study assimilates empirical data from 18 eye‐tracking studies conducted over the past four decades, encompassing a sample of 1581 interpreters. The objective is to elucidate the role of expertise in interpretative performance while tracing the evolution of these dynamics over time. Findings suggest that expert interpreters outperform novices in time efficiency and accuracy and exhibit lower cognitive effort, especially in sight and consecutive interpreting. This effect is particularly pronounced in the English‐Chinese language pair and with the use of E‐prime and Tobii eye‐tracking systems. Further, fixation count and pupil size are essential metrics impacting cognitive effort. These findings have vital implications for interpreter training programs, suggesting a focus on expertise development to enhance efficiency and accuracy, reduce cognitive load, and emphasize the importance of sight interpreting as a foundational skill. The selection of technology and understanding of specific ocular metrics also emerged as essential for future research and practical applications in the interpreting industry.This article is categorized under: Psychology > Theory and Methods Linguistics > Cognitive

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Section: Definition Of Interpretingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expertise differences in cognitive interpreting: A meta‐analysis of eye tracking studies across four decades

Wang,

Yu,

Wang

2023

WIRES Cognitive Science

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“…One possible reason for the generally stable reading behavior may be the frequent use of chunking during STR, a widely taught interpreting strategy for structurespecific difficulties (Yang, 2010). Chunking is a coping tactic that divides a sentence sequentially into several shorter segments during interpreting (Ahrens, 2017;Jones, 2014), which is believed to alleviate cognitive load on the interpreters. Chunking enables a syntactically linear approach to source sentences (i.e., the participants do not have to frequently move their eyes back and forth to restructure a sentence; they can instead concentrate on the word(s) being fixated upon).…”

Section: Generally Stable Reading Behavior As Indicated By Reading Ah...mentioning

confidence: 99%

An eye-tracking based investigation into reading behavior during Chinese-English sight translation: The effect of word order asymmetry

Tsai

et al. 2022

Trans-Int

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The focus of this study is the reading behavior of student interpreters during the process of Chinese-English sight translation. Eye-tracking was adopted to examine whether and how student interpreters’ real-time reading is affected by the degree of word order asymmetry and modulated by the amount of contextual information available. A group of interpreter trainees sight translated asymmetric sentences (sentences that are structurally asymmetric to the target language) and symmetric sentences (sentences that are similar to the structure of the target language). These sentences were presented in isolation and embedded in discourse. Their eye movements were recorded for an analysis of their rereading rate and reading ahead frequency. The results show that the rereading rate for the asymmetric sentences was significantly higher than that for the symmetric ones. There were no notable differences in the reading ahead frequency between the two types of sentences. The role of context was limited in modulating the asymmetry-induced effect. This study addresses real-time reading behavior at the word level during sight translation and deepens our understanding of the cognitive processing involved in interpretation, as well as the potential influencing factors.

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“…Segmentation, also known as chunking, is a linear strategy for dealing with word order asymmetry. By means of segmentation, interpreters divide a sentence sequentially into several shorter segments and reproduce them according to the source word order (Jones 2014;Ahrens 2017). Thus, this strategy is often termed "linearity" (Dawrant 1996, 46) and is believed to reduce working memory load during SI.…”

Section: Strategies For Addressing Word Order Asymmetrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the impact of word order asymmetry on cognitive load during Chinese–English sight translation

Ma¹,

Hsu

2020

Target

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This paper explores the impact of word order asymmetry between source language and target language on cognitive load during Chinese – English sight translation. Twenty-five MA students of translation from a Hong Kong university were asked to sight translate sentences with different degrees of between-language structural asymmetry from Chinese into English, in both single-sentence and discourse context conditions. Their eye movements were recorded to examine cognitive load during sight translation. The results show: (1) There was a significant effect of word order asymmetry on overall cognitive load as indicated by the considerably longer dwell times and more frequent fixations for the asymmetric sentences, but it was only during the later-processing stage that structural asymmetry exerted a strong influence on local processing in terms of first fixation duration and regression path duration; (2) the role of context in offsetting the asymmetry effect was very limited; and (3) although reordering may place a greater burden on working memory, most participants preferred reordering over segmentation to cope with the asymmetric structures. The empirical data point to the need to consider word order asymmetry as a variable in theoretical accounts of the interpreting process, especially for interpreting between languages that are structurally very different.

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Interpretation and Cognition

Cited by 10 publications

References 39 publications

Expertise differences in cognitive interpreting: A meta‐analysis of eye tracking studies across four decades

Expertise differences in cognitive interpreting: A meta‐analysis of eye tracking studies across four decades

An eye-tracking based investigation into reading behavior during Chinese-English sight translation: The effect of word order asymmetry

Exploring the impact of word order asymmetry on cognitive load during Chinese–English sight translation

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