Interpreter Training in Context: European and Chinese Models Reconsidered [1st ed.] 9789811585937, 9789811585944

Table of contents :
Front Matter ....Pages i-xiii
Introducing Basic Concepts of Interpreting and Interpreter Training (Jie Liu)....Pages 1-22
Interpreting Research and Training Practices in Europe and China (Jie Liu)....Pages 23-47
Acquiring Interpreting Competence Through Training: European and Chinese Training Models Explored (Jie Liu)....Pages 49-81
Didactic Approaches to Interpreter Training: Contexts, Approaches and Coping Tactics (Jie Liu)....Pages 83-102
Optimizing Interpreting Education in the Chinese Context: Principles, Curriculum and Pedagogy (Jie Liu)....Pages 103-128
General Conclusion: Towards a Contextual Model for Interpreter Education (Jie Liu)....Pages 129-136
Back Matter ....Pages 137-155

Citation preview

Jie Liu

Interpreter Training in Context European and Chinese Models Reconsidered

Interpreter Training in Context

Jie Liu

Interpreter Training in Context European and Chinese Models Reconsidered

123

Jie Liu School of Education Central China Normal University Wuhan, China Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures University of Florida Gainesville, FL, USA

ISBN 978-981-15-8593-7 ISBN 978-981-15-8594-4 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8594-4

(eBook)

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd 2020 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

Preface and Acknowledgements

We never think entirely alone: we think in company, in a vast collaboration; we work with the workers of the past and of the present. (Antoine Sertillanges, 1920)

Interpreters play a crucial role in international communication. They help people overcome language and cultural barriers and understand each other better. As a practitioner and instructor of interpreting, I was always intrigued by the mystery of how interpreting as a skill or subject is taught and learned in universities and interpreting schools around the world. Are there any universal laws governing interpreter training? What kind of educational principles and/or pedagogy should apply when it comes to teaching and learning in China’s (undergraduate-level) consecutive interpreting courses? Bearing these questions in mind, I started my research journey from China to Europe, travelling across the vast oceans of literature to search for an answer. This book is the culmination of the research and teaching journey I took over the past decade or so. I started my doctoral research on interpreting studies at Utrecht University in late 2009. When I first arrived in the Netherlands and started as a language specialist at the International Criminal Court (ICC), I had only a rough proposal and an unpredictable future. History has proved once again that it is by no means easy to complete a Ph.D. Four-and-a-half years of painstaking work plus time-testing fluctuations in this preparation process have made me a man of endurance. After earning the Ph.D. in early 2015, I returned to China and took up an associate professorship in translation and interpreting, which also provided me with an opportunity to try out the pedagogic framework and principles I developed or discussed in the dissertation, and it has proved to be conducive to the conclusion of the book under production. This book describes the need to re-assess the applicability of major European interpreter training models in the Chinese interpreting training scene. Indeed, interpreting training as a social practice must be receptive to context. In the light of the specific Chinese context, this thesis also proposes newly developed

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Preface and Acknowledgements

interpreting pedagogies that can empower Chinese interpreting students into well-rounded professionals. This book is not intended to serve as a teaching manual for learners of interpreting and interpreter educators, but is rather a critical inquiry into training models and develops principles and pedagogies that can empower learners of interpreting in China, thus cultivating their competence in interpreting, creative thinking and intercultural communication. For this project, I am grateful to a number of individuals and institutions for their help, trust and encouragement during the entire Ph.D. journey. My thanks go first to the Research Institute for Cultural Inquiry of Utrecht University, for hosting a project outside the institute’s traditional areas of specialization, and for providing a stimulating, friendly and supportive atmosphere for research. Our institute is a fervent and dynamic place for anyone considering doing research here. I am most indebted to my doctoral supervisor Prof. Ton Naaijkens, for his unfailing guidance and academic support, which have helped me go through the trials and tribulations of the research and writing process. My thanks also go to the research coordinator, Dr. José van Aelst, for her continuous support in raising morale, especially in times of crisis. I would also like to extend my gratitude to many colleagues and friends, for their support in various ways. Daniel, Benjamin, Eric and Junting, in particular, are warmly thanked for their encouragement and psychological support in various aspects of social and academic life during the whole Ph.D period. Our exchanges of ideas and day-to-day discussions in the office will always remain a fond memory in my heart. My thanks also go to the Chinese department of Leiden University, for allowing me to offer a one-semester-long consecutive interpreting course in 2012 to apply my teaching principles and pedagogy. My gratitude finally goes to the Forum Journal and the Korean Journal of translation studies, for allowing me to include my published papers (see Liu 2014, 2015) into this monograph. Apart from that, I thank the professional and secretarial staff at Utrecht University’s international office, for their assistance in arranging for accommodation, visa and other practical matters over the Ph.D period. It has been a long journey of inquiry into interpreter training from China to Europe, we have now reached one destination—yet the common aspiration to upgrade interpreting education to a new level will never cease. Finally, I am especially indebted to my parents, for without their support over the years, my monograph would never have come to fruition. Wuhan, China

Jie Liu 刘杰

Contents

1 Introducing Basic Concepts of Interpreting and Interpreter Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 Research Background and Lead-In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 The Etymology and Defining Features of Interpreting . . . . 1.3 Categorization of Interpreting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3.1 Working Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3.2 Institutional Categorization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3.3 Contexts, Settings and Other Criteria . . . . . . . . . . 1.4 A Brief Review of the Interpreting Training Situations in Europe and China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5 Interpreting Versus Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5.1 The ABC of Interpreting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.6 History of Research into Interpreting: Past and Present . . . 1.7 Outline of the Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Interpreting Research and Training Practices in Europe and China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Pre-research Writings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 The Interpretive Theory of Translation (ITT) . . . . . . . 2.3.1 The Concepts of ‘Sense’ and ‘Vouloir Dire’ (Intended Meaning) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3.2 The Triangular Model and De-verbalization . . 2.3.3 The Didactic Principles of the ITT . . . . . . . . . 2.3.4 Criticism of the Paris School and the ITT . . . . 2.4 Experimenting on Cognitive Processing . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5 Fusion and Collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5.1 The ‘Translating Brain’—The Trieste School . 2.6 Dialogic-Based Interaction and Role . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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2.7 Reducing Interpreting into Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.7.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.7.2 The XiaDa Model for Interpreting and Interpreter Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.7.3 The Teaching Progression of the XiaDa Model . . . 2.7.4 Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.8 The Overarching Themes in Interpreting Didactics . . . . . . 2.8.1 Interpreting Skills and Training Methods . . . . . . . . 2.8.2 Linguistic Competence and Interpreting Pedagogy . 2.8.3 Interpreting Practice and Profession . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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3 Acquiring Interpreting Competence Through Training: European and Chinese Training Models Explored . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 Interpreting Competence: Definitions and Expectations . . . . . . . 3.3 The Major European Models of Interpreter Training . . . . . . . . . 3.3.1 Continental Model (Undergraduate Level) . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3.2 Mixed Master-Level Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3.3 ‘Y-Shaped’ Training Model (BA/MA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3.4 European Masters in Conference Interpreting . . . . . . . . 3.4 The ESIT Programme for Conference Interpretation . . . . . . . . . 3.4.1 Entry Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4.2 Curriculum Design and Training Approach . . . . . . . . . . 3.4.3 Faculty and Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4.4 Summary of the ESIT-Associated Training Model (EMCI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5 The Chinese Interpreter Training Reality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5.1 Training Types and Programmes in a Nutshell . . . . . . . 3.5.2 The XiaDa Interpreter Training Course . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5.3 The GDUFS Interpreter Training Programme . . . . . . . . 3.5.4 Course Design: Four Functional Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.6 Comparison of Training Models: Reception and Adaptation . . . 4 Didactic Approaches to Interpreter Training: Contexts, Approaches and Coping Tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 Context for Interpreter Training: The Chinese Case . . . . . . . . . 4.3 Macro-historical Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4 Micro-linguistic Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.5 Assessing the Suitability of the ESIT/AIIC and XiaDa/GDUFS Models for the Chinese Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.6 Evaluating Chinese Models of Interpreter Training . . . . . . . . . .

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4.6.1 Case Study: Intercultural Awareness in Liaison Interpreting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 4.6.2 Strengths and Weaknesses of the Chinese Models . . . . . . . 98 4.7 Conclusion: A Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 5 Optimizing Interpreting Education in the Chinese Context: Principles, Curriculum and Pedagogy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2 Towards a Mentality Change to Interpreting Education: A Holistic Philosophy for the Discipline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3 Empowerment and Recontextualization: The New Curriculum for Consecutive Interpreting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3.1 The ‘Task-Based’ Approach and Its Application in the Interpreting Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3.2 Principles for a ‘Task-Based’ Interpreting Classroom . . 5.3.3 Stage A: Interpreting for Passion (译随心动) . . . . . . . 5.3.4 Stage B: Interpreting for Skills Acquisition (译技飞扬) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3.5 Stage C: Interpreting for Profession (译能实战) . . . . . 5.3.6 Stage D: Interpreting for Social Integration (译韵流芳) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4 Pedagogic Assessment: The Scoring Scheme and Testing Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5 Discussion on the Context of Teaching: Deconstruction and Reconstruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5.1 Linguistic Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5.2 Interactive Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5.3 Situational Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5.4 Cultural Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6 Conclusion: Realizing an Interpreting Education . . . . . . . . . . . 6 General Conclusion: Towards a Contextual Model for Interpreter Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1 Summary and Research Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2 Reshaping an Interpreting Educational Model . . . 6.3 Limitations and Problems of the Research . . . . . 6.4 Afterword—Where Do We Go from Here? . . . .

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Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

List of Figures

Fig. 1.1 Fig. 1.2 Fig. 1.3 Fig. 1.4 Fig. 2.1 Fig. 2.2 Fig. 3.1 Fig. 3.2

Fig. 4.1 Fig. 4.2 Fig. 5.1 Fig. 6.1 Fig. A.1

Cooperation model of interpreter-mediated conversation (adapted from Liu 2004: 63) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Simultaneous interpreters at the UN [Source www.kouyi.org (accessed 10/09/2011).] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seven dimensions of interpreting versus translation . . . . . . . . . Seleskovitch’s triangular model of interpreting (Seleskovitch and Lederer 1984) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gile’s formula of comprehension in interpreting (1995: 179) . . XiaDa model for interpreting and interpreter training (Lin et al. 1999: xxiv) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BA/MA curriculum at the University of Vienna (adapted from Pöchhacker 2010: 29) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Curriculum design of interpreting course series at GDUFS [The English title of each course is translated and added by the author. To get more details, see http://www1.gdufs.edu. cn/jwc/bestcourse/kecheng/2/index1.htm (accessed 12/05/ 2012)] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dimensions of context for interpreter training . . . . . . . . . . . . . Market-based demands for types of interpreter in China (adapted from Liu 2007) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Willis’ framework of task-based learning (1996) . . . . . . . . . . . Contextual model for interpreting education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Updated XiaDa model for interpreter training (2009) . . . .

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List of Tables

Table 2.1 Table 3.1

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Table 3.7

Progression of skills for consecutive interpreting (Lin et al. 1999: xxviii) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vic curriculum of BA in translation and interpreting [Source http://www.uvic.es/en/estudi/traduccio-i-interpretacio (accessed 10/03/2014)] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Curriculum of MA Translation and Interpreting at the University of Westminster [http://www.westminster.ac.uk/ courses/subjects/languages/postgraduate-courses/full-time/ p09fptai-ma-translation-and-interpreting (accessed 10/02/ 2014)] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Core curriculum and contents of the EMCI programme [This chart is adapted from the EMCI website: http://www. emcinterpreting.org/?q=node/13 (accessed 15/03/2014).] . . . . Curriculum of the Masters in Conference Interpreting at ESIT (for 2011–2012) (This table is adapted from a course leaflet provided by Ms. Tasmine Fernando, then head of the Interpreting Section of ESIT.) . . . . . . . . . . . Phases in interpretation training (from a course designer’s view) (Setton 2006: 45) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Skills-led curriculum of the XiaDa interpreting course [This chart is adapted from the website for the interpreting course: http://210.34.12.99/yyky/dagang.htm (accessed 30-03-2012).] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GDUFS course units for contrastive studies of English and Chinese [This chart is adapted from http://www1.gdufs.edu. cn/jwc/bestcourse/kecheng/2/教学内容/英汉汉英口译/课程 教学计划.htm (accessed 11/12/2013).] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Chapter 1

Introducing Basic Concepts of Interpreting and Interpreter Training

Abstract The first chapter begins with the historiographic tradition of interpreting and interpreter training. It sets out a conceptual basis for our pursuit of an educational model in the Chinese case. Interpreting is regarded here as an immediate form of inter-lingual explanatory communication. After discussing the characteristics of interpreting and looking through its professionalization in the 20th century, interpreting is compared to translation in seven dimensions so as to illustrate the distinctive object of study which interpreting brings to light. The build-up of the discipline of interpreting studies over the past 50 to 60 years and an analysis of the oral features of the study object are also provided. Keywords Basic concept · Oral feature · Interpreting vs. translation · Professionalization

1.1 Research Background and Lead-In Interpreter education as a new, prosperous domain has gained increasing attention in Chinese higher education since the late 1990s. A multitude of interpreting courses, often with fanciful titles such as ‘international level’, ‘high standard’ and ‘advanced interpretation’, has appeared in Chinese universities and colleges. Statistics from the Chinese Translators’ Association (TAC) show that by the end of 2016, more than 230 universities and colleges were authorized to offer Bachelor of Translation and Interpreting (BTI) and 215 institutions to offer/or Master of Translation and Interpreting (MTI) degrees nationwide. Many translation/interpreting training institutions think that training international conference interpreters who can master simultaneous interpreting is the ultimate purpose and objective of a training course. Interpreter training seems to have become a real buzzword in China today, which associates itself with shiny words like ‘top-notch’, ‘money’ and ‘status’. Like many new walks of life which have blossomed after the reform and opening up since the 1980s, it is all too natural that people (including those in the interpreting community) turn their eyes to the Western world for ‘the most advanced or influential expertise or

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd 2020 J. Liu, Interpreter Training in Context, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8594-4_1

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1 Introducing Basic Concepts of Interpreting and Interpreter Training

models’ with a view to improving and upgrading Chinese practices in their respective field. Among all the ‘eye-catching’ interpreting labels is the ‘Paris School’ inspired interpreting training, originally developed at the École Supériere d’Interprètes et de Traducteurs (ESIT) based at Université de la Sorbonne, Paris III, and promoted by the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC) across the Western world. Even though this model is still not widely used in China, many interpreter training professionals and schools regard it as universally applicable and one that offers ‘best practices’ and should be adopted and widely promoted (see, e.g. Gao and Chai 2008). Conversely, we must admit that the world today has seen many socio-economic changes: the economic centre of gravity has begun to shift from the ‘old’ developed North America and Western Europe to new centres in South America, the Middle East and East Asia. This has brought up new and diverse market demands for various interpreting services and thus has impacted upon interpreter training practices in these countries. This book zooms in on contextual conditions in China, the biggest developing country or emerging economy in the world today. The past two decades have witnessed an exponential growth of university-level interpreting courses in this country—connected of course with its re-engagement with the rest of the world. China’s size, mysterious-yet-fascinating language and culture and its highly ‘centralized’ educational system make it worthy of our closer attention to track interpreting training development there. In many aspects, China’s highly centralized educational system, demographics and present-day market demands are shaping the interpreting profession differently to the one that grew in Europe half a century ago. Policy issues often play an instructive role in how the process of education (regardless of its type) is performed and organized and what courses or pedagogical principles are adopted in accordance with provisions of the authorities. For that reason, this book aims to assess the applicability of the well-established and widely accepted European model of interpreting suggested by the Paris School (ESIT/AIIC model) to the Chinese interpreting training context. After providing a brief overview of the recent Chinese situation of interpreting training, the book considers whether this particular (mainstream) European model of interpreter training is the most effective or appropriate for contemporary China. It also asks whether context and contextual limitations affect the way in which interpreting is taught or whether there are universal laws applicable to interpreting training models, regardless of time and space. How might such specific contextual limitations be incorporated into pedagogy and curriculum design to better fit the Chinese context? With these questions in mind, we begin with the historiographical tradition of interpreting and interpreter training, as well as an overview of the specific recent Chinese context, in this first chapter. This opening chapter sets out a conceptual basis for our pursuit of an interpreting educational model that can accommodate contextual conditions, for example in the Chinese case. Interpreting is regarded here as an immediate form of interlingual explanatory communication. After discussing the characteristics of interpreting and looking through its professionalization in the twentieth century, interpreting is compared to translation in seven dimensions so as

1.1 Research Background and Lead-In

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to illustrate the distinctive object of study which interpreting brings to light. The building up of the discipline of interpreting studies over the past 50–60 years is then discussed. After analysis of the oral features of interpreting and a brief overview of the state of the art, this chapter ends with an outline of the remaining chapters.

1.2 The Etymology and Defining Features of Interpreting Looking back, it is clear that interpreting has been a necessary skill ever since humans started forming contacts with each other among different language communities. The increasing exchange of goods between different ethnic groups gave rise to new interpreting needs and opportunities—the language barrier was a significant transaction cost. In fact, interpreting predates writing. In many Indo-European languages, the word for a person performing the activity of interpreting can be traced back to Akkadian, the Semitic language of Assyria and Babylonia, around 1900 BCE (Vermeer 1992: 59). In the Low Countries of Western Europe, the word ‘tolken’ commonly used in modern Dutch or Flemish is derived from the Middle Dutch ‘tolic’, which originated further from the Old Russian ‘tulk˘u’ or ‘tolk˘u’, denoting someone who is ‘explaining the meaning’ or ‘making sense of what is obscure’. If we turn to the Far East for its etymological roots, one discovers that even in the classic Confucian work The Book of Rites (li ji), ancient Chinese interpreters were described as ‘象寄 译鞮’ (xiang ji yi di). These four characters refer to interpreters from the south, the east, the north and the west, respectively, whose jobs were to facilitate oral language communication across different tribes. When the northern tribes unified China later on, their term for interpreters ‘译’ (yi) was commonly adopted nationwide. After the introduction of Buddhism to China around the time of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 CE–189 CE), the official term for interpreters gradually evolved under the influence of Sanskrit to become ‘翻译’ (fan yi), which was a general term referring to both interpreters and translators. In modern standard Chinese, a distinction is made between interpreters ‘口译’ (kou yi) and translators ‘笔译’ (bi yi), only to differentiate between mediums (oral vs. written). Ultimately, interpreting or the interpreter is generally associated with mediating live intercultural communication. In many cultures, interpreting is regarded as an immediate form of translational activity, in which the one-time reformulation of the original language into the target language is performed in a dynamic communication scenario. In this book, interpreting is defined as an act with the following three dimensions: (1) Interpreting as an interlingual explanatory act As specified in the etymology of interpreting, the primary function of interpreting is to approach the meaning of a discourse through explaining or decoding the surface expression of language. This notion has two key components: interlingual and explanatory. ‘Interlingual’ entails transferring the linguistic or semantic codes from one language to another, which is equal to information processing and reproduction. ‘Explanatory’ means adapting messages according to different social conventions.

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1 Introducing Basic Concepts of Interpreting and Interpreter Training

Co-

Sa

opera te

CoInterpreter

operat e with

Sb

B

with A

INITIATE COORDINATE AND GUARANTEE

Fig. 1.1 Cooperation model of interpreter-mediated conversation (adapted from Liu 2004: 63)

Therefore, this function has a more pragmatic orientation, especially when interlingual transference must be embedded in intercultural communication to enable proper communication (see more in Chap. 4). (2) Interpreting as interactive communication Interpreting is mediated by a bilingual interpreter, who uses listening comprehension (language A input), analysis (language processing) and speaking (language B output) on a two-way basis to bridge communication between two primary parties (S-a and S-b). Figure 1.1 shows the two-way interaction between (monolingual) speakers and the (bilingual) interpreter, who sits at the centre of communication and monopolizes the ‘means of communication’ to effect the process and outcome of communication. Interpreters do not only act as a ‘language switching station’, but also ‘a more or less active participant in the interaction’ (Pöchhacker 2004: 88). In 1975, American philosopher Paul Grice proposed the cooperative principle (CP) in conversation and argued that speakers and hearers share a cooperative principle in order to carry on a conversation. If it is applied to the interpreter-mediated conversation in the diagram below (Fig. 1.1), we can see that CP in interpreter-mediated conversation is much more complex and involves a dual-cooperative mechanism initiated by the interpreter. In order to attain cooperation between speaker A and B, who are unintelligible to each other due to the linguistic divide, the interpreter has first of all to establish CP with speaker A and with speaker B. The loss of CP between the interpreter and speaker A or B will inevitably lead to the breakdown of communication between the two primary parties. The interpreter’s pivotal position is to initiate, coordinate and guarantee the functioning of CP throughout the whole communication process. The interpreter is the only participant able to initiate what is called ‘cooperative conversation’ (Grice 1998) and is a key figure in keeping the communication going. This chart sheds some light on the training of interpreters working in mediated communication, in that the role of interaction or mediation played by the interpreter and the ability to communicate properly across cultures should be highlighted in training courses.

1.2 The Etymology and Defining Features of Interpreting

5

(3) Interpreting as a special form of translation James Holmes, in his groundbreaking work ‘The Name and Nature of Translation Studies’ from 1972, placed interpreting under the auspices of ‘medium-restricted translation theories’. Accordingly, interpreting was seen as one of the many manifestations of translation: human vs. machine; written vs. oral translation. Otto Kade, a self-taught interpreter and translation scholar in Germany, once defined interpreting as a form of translation in which a first and final rendition in another language is produced on the basis of a one-time presentation of an utterance in a source language (Kade 1968). Therefore, we can identify the defining features of interpreting, as distinct from translation, as follows: 1. The one-off presentation of both source and target language utterances. 2. The instantaneity and synchronicity of the interpreting process, represented by either a consecutive or a simultaneous mode of work. 3. The dynamic and on-the-spot communication for the speaker, interpreter and audience. The three-party communication is constantly based on the same communicative scene. In summary, interpreting as an immediate form of translational activity involves two-way intercultural communication in which the interpreter plays a key role in the live process.

1.3 Categorization of Interpreting In many parts of the world, interpreting or interpretation means oral translation— especially referring to those acts performed in international conferences or local communities. This concept of interpreting requires only the use of spoken language, and this is the focus of the book. Although there has been increasing attention for ‘sign-language interpreting’—popularly known as ‘interpreting for the deaf and hearing-impaired’—in recent years, this is beyond the scope of the work presented here.

1.3.1 Working Mode In general, two methods of interpreting can be distinguished by the modes of work: (a) consecutive interpreting/interpretation (CI) and (b) simultaneous interpreting/interpretation (SI). In consecutive interpreting, the interpreter sits at the table with the participants and takes notes of what is said. When a speaker has finished a segment or part of the speech, the interpreter reproduces it in the target language. The length of a segment of speech can last from a few sentences to 7–10 min. The

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1 Introducing Basic Concepts of Interpreting and Interpreter Training

speaker continues the speech when the interpreter finishes interpreting. In this form of interpreting, both the speaker and the interpreter alternate to deliver their own ‘speech’. In simultaneous interpreting, the interpreters sit in specially built booths overlooking the meeting room. They wear headphones through which the speech is transmitted, and they reproduce what is said by the speaker almost simultaneously (usually several seconds behind), in the target language, by speaking into a microphone. The delegates in the meeting room select the relevant channel to hear the interpretation in the language of their choice. Due to the high intensity of simultaneous interpreting, a working group of two or three interpreters normally sit in the same booth, taking turns to interpret for 20 min each. The following flow chart illustrates the working procedure of simultaneous interpreters (Zhang 1999: vii): Speaker → microphone → headphones → simultaneous interpreter → microphone → headsets → audience Simultaneous interpreting (SI) has become the preferred mode of interpreting for most international conference organizers today, since it does not take up extra time for the conference and can be done in many languages simultaneously. The largest interpreter employer in the world, the European Union, is able to provide interpretations in as many as 23 languages within one conference. The photo in Fig. 1.2 illustrates the working environment and constant pressure faced by simultaneous interpreters.

Fig. 1.2 Simultaneous interpreters at the UN [Source www.kouyi.org (accessed 10/09/2011).]

1.3 Categorization of Interpreting

7

A special type of simultaneous interpreting is known as ‘simultaneous interpreting with text’ or ‘SI with text’. In this special variant, the interpreter has written documents of the original speech or related materials at hand and interprets the speech simultaneously alongside the speaker’s delivery (see Fig. 1.2). In this form of SI, texts often become an impediment as the interpreter has just one more thing to take care of, and frequently the text is half-completed and full of notations or crossings out. Furthermore, working with a text while listening to a speaker is a more complex exercise than eye–ear–voice coordination (Setton 2010). Checking against delivery is a must in this form of interpreting. Experienced interpreters always advise their younger colleagues not to stick to the texts and avoid falling into the fallacy of wordfor-word translation. Therefore, oral renditions of texts on sight, also known as ‘sight translation’, are often regarded as a stepping stone to (true) simultaneous interpreting in training. Special training is needed for sight translation as it is a form combining both interpreting and translation.

1.3.2 Institutional Categorization Another straightforward, popular way of categorization is to name interpreting by the domain in which it occurs. Normally, it is connected with a specialized or institutional field. Thus, we have terms such as ‘medical interpreting’, ‘diplomatic interpreting’, ‘court interpreting’ and ‘business interpreting’. These specialized forms of interpreting are carried out in either consecutive or simultaneous mode. As interpreting penetrates more domains, categorization will generate more sub-entities in the future.

1.3.3 Contexts, Settings and Other Criteria According to Pöchhacker (2004: 13), various interpreting practices can be categorized into either (a) inter-social or international or (b) intra-social or intra-community, based on social context. The concepts of community interpreting vis-à-vis conference interpreting are proposed by Hale (2007: 30) to differentiate interpreting on the grounds of national borders. The former refers to interpreting carried out in language communities within one country, while the latter includes interpreting settings like international conferences, seminars or workshops that have participants or delegates from different countries. There are also other criteria for categorizing interpreting in academia. For example, according to language directionality, interpreting can be divided into oneway interpreting and two-way interpreting. The former refers to interpreting from language A to language B, whereas the latter requires both A → B and B → A interpretation. When providing simultaneous interpreting services, two-way interpreting is placed into two different teams so that the interpreter only works into his/her active language(s).

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1 Introducing Basic Concepts of Interpreting and Interpreter Training

Interpretation can be provided directly and indirectly. Direct interpreting occurs directly between two languages. Indirect interpreting, also known as relay interpreting, is necessary when one of the speaker’s languages is not commonly known to all the other interpreters, who must therefore rely on the rendition of another colleague. For example, when the speaker talks in a rare language such as Lingala, the first interpreter with the English–Lingala combination renders the message into English for every other interpreter in the meeting room, and then they proceed to render it into their target languages. Relay interpreting is not recommended unless it is really unavoidable, since it takes more time, increases the risk of inaccuracy, omissions and additions and invariably leads to a loss of subtleties from the original speech. Having focused on the above classification, it is important to emphasize that none of the different categorizations mentioned above are superior to the others. Each one has its own unique organizational qualities. In this book, most of the discussion focuses on conference interpreting in its broader sense and more specifically on consecutive interpreting applied to various (non-community) settings, such as business and commerce, international or intergovernmental liaison and bilateral or multilateral negotiations and meetings. Given the contextual conditions seen in China (see Sect. 1.4), (conference-oriented) consecutive interpreting training courses, in terms of admission, curriculum, didactic approaches and evaluation are a central focus of later discussions (see Chaps. 2, 3, 4 and 5).

1.4 A Brief Review of the Interpreting Training Situations in Europe and China Although the history of interpreting dates back to ancient times, conference interpreting as a profession is a twentieth-century phenomenon originating from Europe (Mackintosh 2006). The earliest historical record of a ‘modern’ interpreting event was the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, where English–French interpreting took place to allow communication between the French President, the British Prime Minister and the US President. In the days of the League of Nations, English and French consecutive interpretation were provided at meetings of the League. The Nuremburg trials which followed the surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945 marked the first beginnings of simultaneous interpretation, where consecutive was no longer an optimal choice given that four working languages (English, French, Russian and German) were involved and the length of time to reproduce each segment in the three remaining languages would be too long. In 1947, the United Nations formally adopted simultaneous interpretation at all its conferences except the Security Council, which continued with the consecutive mode until 1950. Nowadays, simultaneous interpreting is the most widely used form of interpreting in international conferences. It is against this historical background that a number of Western universities established training programs for interpreters in the 1950s, namely Geneva, Vienna, Paris,

1.4 A Brief Review of the Interpreting Training Situations in Europe and China

9

Heidelberg and Georgetown, which specialized in training conference interpreters to meet increasing institutional demand in the west. In 1953, the International Association of Conference Interpreters (abbreviated as AIIC in French) was founded by a group of far-sighted interpreters in Geneva, aiming to establish professional credentials for this new profession. This marked the start of the professionalization of conference interpreting in the west. Over the past six-and-a-half decades, AIIC has played a pivotal role in setting out professional standards, codes of ethics and defending interpreters’ working conditions. This has created the notion in the Western world that conference interpreter training is the standard form, and thus other types of training such as public service or community interpreting did not receive sufficient attention until the 1990s. Conference interpreting as a modern profession gained universal recognition in the twentieth century with its defining attributes including a code of ethics, a training paradigm, recognizable working practices and professional associations (Mackintosh 2006: 2). These attributes have advanced the cause of interpreter training in many ways: admission, levels of training, faculty, curriculum and pedagogy and evaluation—all of which will be touched upon in later chapters. In the same vein, interpreter training in China also started for institutional reasons. The restoration of the People’s Republic of China’s lawful seat in the United Nations in 1971, and the subsequent establishment of Sino-US diplomatic relations, prompted the first-ever professional interpreter and translator training programme in Beijing, exclusively to provide the UN and its specialized agencies with simultaneous interpreters, translators, terminologists and verbatim reporters. After the UN training programme was discontinued in 1993, China’s interpreting courses gradually shifted towards more (domestic) market-based training. The ever-increasing international exchanges and communication between China and the West have created a booming market for translation and interpreting in this country since the 1990s. To date, most Chinese university-level interpreting training courses have targeted (consecutive-only) conference interpreting, especially after interpreting was listed as a compulsory subject in the National Syllabus Guidelines of 2000 for all undergraduate foreign language majors. Currently, consecutive interpreting is widely taught in both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in mainland China. At present, various interpreting training courses fall into the following four broad categories within Chinese higher education (Wang and Mu 2011: 158–59): (1) Interpreting as an (introductory) elective course This kind of entry-level course is usually offered to non-language majors at the undergraduate level. It aims to increase the vocabulary and useful expressions of L2 English learners by practising ‘short’ or sentence-by-sentence interpreting. The focus of such training is on enhancing students’ bilingual skills through listening comprehension, speaking and some other communicative linguistic methods. These kinds of electives can be seen as an extension of L2 language proficiency training. They do not aim to foster actual interpreting ability.

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1 Introducing Basic Concepts of Interpreting and Interpreter Training

(2) Consecutive Interpreting as a compulsory subject All third- and fourth-year undergraduate students of English or Translation are required to take a one-year interpreting course. This course aims to introduce all essential consecutive interpreting skills and techniques to (advanced) learners of English as a foreign language. The pedagogic objective is to help students lay down a foundation in interpreting/translating and to try to cultivate (initial) consecutive interpreting competence so they are able to handle three-minute-long narrative, argumentative or descriptive speech segments (Liu 2001/2005). It also prepares (talented) students to continue with more systematic professional training at postgraduate level. (3) Interpreting (and/or translation) as a specialization In many foreign studies universities, a specialization in interpreting is offered to (final year) undergraduate and/or postgraduate students of translation and interpreting. This category of training lasts for two years, focusing on both short and ‘classic’ consecutive interpreting (with a systematic use of note-taking) and with an introductory part on simultaneous interpreting. It aims to train professional interpreters to be ready for work in the market, despite the variety of training methods and models used (see more in Chaps. 2 and 3). (4) Interpreting (and translation studies) as an autonomous discipline This new development (as of 2005) has occurred alongside the gradual trend of translation studies (including interpreting studies) breaking away from (applied) linguistics to become an autonomous discipline, thus gaining more autonomy in curriculum and syllabus design in the last decade. Within this new system, Bachelor of Translation and Interpreting (BTI) and Master of Translation and Interpreting (MTI) degrees are conferred (as a pilot) by a handful of universities and colleges (distinct from their previous linguistics or literature degrees) where the total number of translation and/or interpreting skills courses comprise over 40% of total class hours. Apart from more institutional autonomy or ‘freedom’ in this new system, the basic infrastructure for teaching, including admissions, student composition, number of classes, teaching faculty and didactics remains in most cases more or less the same as with types (2) and (3). To sum up, these four categories add up to a relatively complete system of training in mainland China’s translation and interpreting education landscape. Nevertheless, this system is not without problems or challenges. Previous research (e.g. Cai 2007; Liu 2001/2005; 2007; Wang and Mu 2011) and my first-hand experience as both a former student and teacher of interpreting have pointed to some prominent yet common challenges facing Chinese university-level interpreter trainers and educational institutions: (i)

How to differentiate training goals or course objectives in a rapidly growing market; (ii) How to position interpreter training courses under the general framework of foreign language education in the twenty-first century;

1.4 A Brief Review of the Interpreting Training Situations in Europe and China

11

(iii) How to reconcile students’ affective or psychological needs with the demanding skills training in a teaching–learning environment; (iv) The lack of qualified teaching staff and suitable curriculum for the majority of adult L2 learners. These pending questions have taxed the rising Chinese interpreting studies community, in terms of curriculum design, didactic approaches and educational mentality. All of these serve as a timeless reminder to us that in order to properly address these issues, China needs to communicate with the rest of the world to draw from advanced expertise, yet remain aware that a solution cannot be sought by simply copying authoritative ‘models’. Bearing these challenges in mind, this book adopts discourse or content analysis as a research method (Gall et al. 1996) to examine major interpreter training models in Europe and China, in order to show that interpreter training is a contextual matter. Training models, however, influential or theoretical, must be receptive to context. This work seeks to criticize applying models in the abstract. Before we delve into the complexities of how interpreting competence is cultivated, some notes on interpreting as opposed to (written) translation are required in order to emphasize the special skills and qualities that interpreters must possess. We look at this below.

1.5 Interpreting Versus Translation As defined in Sect. 1.2, interpreting is an immediate form of oral translational activity, performed for the benefit of people who want to engage in live communication across linguistic and cultural barriers (Pöchhacker 2004: 25), whereas translation, as defined by Munday (2001), is a form of written transference of meaning from an original or source text into a text in another language. There are without doubt similarities between interpreting and translation. Firstly, both are interlingual reformulation acts that require high levels of linguistic and encyclopaedic knowledge as well as subject matter-related cognitive know-how. Secondly, both translators and interpreters attempt to achieve the maximum equivalent effect between the source and target languages. However, there are also many differences between interpreting and translation, which we highlight below. First of all, the fundamental difference between translation and interpreting can be traced back to their respective etymological roots. The Latin root ‘translatus’ means ‘carry across’: translation is therefore associated with carrying from one text to the other (Liu 2004: 5). In contrast, in English, to interpret something largely means to explain or make something clear. The central focus of interpreting is not transferring a source text into a target one, but explaining the meaning of a spoken discourse. This is an important point for teachers of interpreting to bear in mind, as it guides them to develop pedagogical strategies to let their students learn to ‘explain the meaning’ immediately and concisely, rather than ‘transfer the text’.

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1 Introducing Basic Concepts of Interpreting and Interpreter Training

Secondly, different information processing mechanisms are activated in interpreting compared to translation. The interpreter deals with auditory symbols to decode the utterances, whereas the translator deals with texts through words and other visual signs. In the translating process, the translator can only focus on the original texts, with no involvement in on-the-spot indicators like gestures, kinetics and subtleties in face-to-face communication. Liu Miqin suggests that ‘the working and linguistic environment for interpreters is far more dynamic, complex and volatile than translators’ (2004: 64, translated1 ). Thirdly, interpreters have to deal with live communication in specific settings, which require them to be able to adapt to external variables. As Gile (2004: 13– 14) points out, interpreters often work in exciting, sometimes glamorous environments, including presidential palaces, international festivals and sports events and international convention centres with highly visible, highly topical issues and events, with the possibility of meeting, and sometimes talking face-to-face with wellknown personalities. Unlike translators, interpreters deliver their one-time presentation under this kind of spotlight and normally have no chance to correct their initial output. This physical environment can be stressful. Therefore, interpreters need to possess strong psychological qualities in order to perform the task. This facet should also be taken on board in designing a curriculum for interpreting education (see Chap. 5). Fourthly, an interpreter must be able to ‘fill in the gaps’ in reformulation. Using the term proposed by the Paris School of researchers, interpreters are required to reconstitute the ‘implicit part’ of the original discourse when putting the speech into the target language. An example from my own professional experience is instructive here. In 2006, I interpreted for a female writer at a literature seminar. During the lunch break, a delegate came to me and pointed out that I had not really put across the implicit message or expressed the emotion of the writer in my interpretation when she talked about her daughter’s tragic experience during Mao’s reign. Such emotion is essential to understanding the theme of the seminar, so-called scar literature (伤痕 文学)—which is a term used to address literary works that portray the sufferings of ordinary intellectuals’ lives and destinies in Mao’s China. Let us look at one sentence of the writer’s statement: “…我女儿在1959年结婚后不久就去了北大荒, 并在那里度过余生。” (My translation) “…My daughter headed for Beidahuang shortly after she married in 1959. And she spent the rest of her life there.”

How much information does this sentence give us? Not much, until we look at the date. When we consider that the writer refers to the year 1959, I as the interpreter should have realized that this sentence means a lot in the Chinese context, because a young woman heading for Beidahuang in Northeastern China in 1959 would likely be following her husband on a treacherous journey to get ‘re-educated’ through hard labour under the doctrine of Mao Zedong. The female writer’s implicit tone was to criticize Mao and his policy by way of understatement. She would be quite fearful 1 All translations from non-English sources (notably Chinese) in this book were done by the author.

1.5 Interpreting Versus Translation

13

for her child and know that it would be a very long time before she saw her daughter again, if at all. Such emotions are key for the audience to understand the writer’s intention in this conference. Thus, we must conclude that only by taking stock of the historical and sociopolitical context can the interpreter convey the intention and emotions of a speaker (which I could have done better). The next and perhaps most striking difference in the process of translation as opposed to interpreting is to do with technical constraints. The immediacy of interpreting makes it almost impossible for interpreters to consult any reference tools except glancing at the glossary or a prepared document in the booth (Gile 2004: 12). Consecutive interpreters are required to start interpreting within 5 s of the speaker finishing a segment. Simultaneous interpreters normally lag 4–5 s behind the original speaker. Translators on the other hand have sufficient time (days, weeks or even months) to handle the difficulties involved, be it language related or concerning the subject matter. They can consult various reference materials like dictionaries or turn to experts of relevant fields. Excellent translations are often regarded as the result of a slow-motion process that combines dedication, sweat and inspiration. According to the China Accreditation Test for Translators and Interpreters (CATTI),2 one of the country’s largest testing systems of its kind, the speed required for (non-literary) translators of level 2 (professional level) is around 500 words per hour. It is in the general opinion of translators that their work of art is comparable to that of writers, and they take pride in the graceful presentation of lexical and semantic contents and the refinement of syntactic structures. According to Bassnett, ‘translators are all the time engaging with text in another language first as reader and then as rewriters’ (Bassnett 2006: 174). It could be argued that translators need to be equipped with a set of literary skills that are ‘no way inferior to the skills required to produce that text in the first instance’ (ibid.). For interpreters, however, the time constraints and heavy cognitive load of processing incoming messages leave no space for consultation. Interpreters are more like fighting warriors in the battlefield. Armed to the teeth, the interpreter has to mobilize his/her ears, eyes, brains and mouth to cope with the ever-changing situation. Gile’s Effort Models for consecutive interpreting (CI) (1995: 179) identify different efforts that interpreters have to handle and coordinate in each phase of the interpreting process. The interpreter has to multitask in order to manage this demanding job. Another difference between interpreting and translating is that the former requires good coordination ability and excellent short-term memory. We can see this if we consider the two phases involved in interpreting (ibid.): Phase I: CI (listening) = L + M + N + C Phase II: CI (reformulation) = Rem + Read + P

2 See

more http://www.catti.net.cn/ (accessed 10/09/2010).

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In Phase I, the interpreter takes notes (N) while listening to the speaker (L). While activating the short-term memory (M) in order to memorize most of the content, the interpreter in the meantime has to coordinate (C) all these elements to prepare the reformulation of the source language into the target language. In Phase II, the interpreter then reformulates everything with the help of the reading notes (Read) and his/her short-term memory (Rem) to produce (P), the original speech in the target language. Finally, and particularly for a conference interpreter, interpreting has a far greater element of teamwork than translating. In a typical conference setting, multilingual teams of interpreters work in different booths. Within one booth, two or three interpreters work together as a team. When the ‘online’ interpreter is working, the colleague(s) beside him or her can help find relevant documents or note down figures, names or terms when the speech is quick or information density is too high to cope with.

1.5.1 The ABC of Interpreting Gile’s Effort Models for simultaneous interpreting (1995: 169–172) illustrate that interpreting is a multitasking process and state that each of the ‘efforts’ requires processing capacity, meaning interpreters tend to work close to mental saturation. Interpreters are therefore comparable to tightrope walkers, for the meticulous nature of their work commands full concentration and a small operational error would lead to them falling down. In addition, the art of walking along a thin tightrope requires good balance, which is comparable to an interpreter’s coordination effort in handling listening comprehension and speaking or note-taking at the same time. I propose an ABC of interpreting to characterize the work of conference interpreters, as composed of the following three key concepts: A → attention B → balance C → context Attention. This concept entails two aspects. Firstly, work for (conference) interpreters in today’s information age covers almost any subject under the Sun, from archaeology to zoology. Thus, to prepare well for international conferences, interpreters must constantly pay attention to the latest developments in global affairs to keep themselves up to date. Secondly, interpreting itself commands a constantly high concentration of attention. To get down to the specifics of the Effort Models, the total available capacity of the interpreter’s attention (TA) must be at least equal to the total processing requirement capacity (TR). That is to say, TA ≥ TR is a prerequisite to perform interpreting. On the assumption that the interpreter’s total processing capacity at any time is finite, the capacity available for each effort must be equal to or larger than its requirements for the task at hand (Gile 1995).

1.5 Interpreting Versus Translation

15

The interpreter therefore has to manage the division of attention in each phase of interpreting effectively and efficiently. When the total requirement capacity (TR) gets close to the total available capacity (TA) of an interpreter, any split of his or her attention adding to the total requirement capacity (TR) will lead to an operational breakdown, resulting in omissions or errors in the interpretation. When confronting problem triggers like names, enumeration of numbers or (unfamiliar) specialized terms that require additional processing attention for memorization, such operational failures on the part of the interpreter are more likely to happen. Taking the issue of interpreting numbers as an example, Gile (1995) discovered that even in the best possible physical conditions, experienced interpreters make mistakes interpreting numbers and measurements. Gile attributed such failures to the mismanagement of the interpreter’s attention. He pointed out that: ‘numbers, along with short names, are of short duration and low redundancy—and are thus more ephemeral than other materials in a speech, and become victims to any lapse of attention’ (ibid 1995: 174). Thus, the effective division of attention to handle concurrent tasks in interpreting is a stepping stone to the mastery of interpreting techniques. In other words, interpreting from a cognitive point of view is an attention management task. Balance. Striking a balance between the original speech and the interpreting output is a must in simultaneous interpreting. Simultaneous interpreters need to handle concurrent tasks as illustrated in the Effort Models for simultaneous interpreting (SI), namely SI = L + P + M + C (ibid.: 169–172). The three tasks in the interpreting process—L (listening and analysis), P (production) and M (short-term memory)–are built upon the fourth element C (coordination). That is to say, the interpreter’s ability to coordinate the first three tasks (L + P + M) gets interpreting going. Without proper coordination, the multitasking process of simultaneous interpreting will not proceed. An apt phrase from the senior Chinese UN interpreter Prof. Ruojin Wang,3 which is adopted as a training principle, states that all SI techniques derive from the need to ‘clear the tongue’ (which is equal to L + P) and ‘the mind’ (which is equal to M) by the time the speaker begins his or her next sentence. Techniques such as segmentation, conversion of parts of speech and syntactic linearity can be seen as facilitating techniques to achieve the ‘balance’ between the efforts required to process the source speech and the interpreter’s production (P). This has some implications for training methodology as well, which indicates the importance of component-based skills training, a point I discuss in Chaps. 2 and 4. Context. Following up on the previous note on historical context, this section refers to the ‘micro-context’ of interpreting: words and collocations in a sentence. As Joseph Shipley (1955) pointed out, words are known by the company they keep. To bring out the overall sense of a sentence, collocation appropriateness is particularly important. Generally speaking, collocation refers to ‘the syntagmatic relations into which lexical items habitually enter, and is considered as a part of the meaning of the lexical items 3 This is adapted from a lecture given by Prof. Wang in the Chinese National Library on 21 February

2006.

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concerned’ (Butler 1985: 7). The standard of accuracy in assessing interpreters’ performance consists of not only information reformulation, but also grammatical correctness, which is embodied in the mastery of collocations between words and sentences. The mastery of the way words are used together regularly in one’s foreign language(s) reflects the linguistic competence of an interpreter. Good interpretation consists of saying all that should be said and not all that could be. To sum up, attention, balance and context reveal interpreting as a dynamic mental resources management activity where intercultural and contextual variables come into play. Interpreters utilize their limited attentional resources to process the speech and balance the technical components or efforts of interpreting, thereby maximizing the best possible contextual effect in production. The art of interpreting figures even more prominently when one considers that interpreters have no say in what the speaker wants to convey. The interpreter has to perform with shackles on, operating within the strictures of the original speech and conforming to the established norms and ethics of the profession. The restrictions imposed on the performance of an interpreter are twofold. First, interpreting is a service-oriented profession where the purpose of hiring an interpreter is to provide professional language services to convey the meaning of the original speech. This restriction shows that interpreters’ ‘freedom of expression’ is not in what they can say but how to say it properly. Indeed, one of the most fascinating aspects is the interpreter’s ability to attain immediate reformulation of the original speech faithfully and accurately. The second restriction on the part of the interpreter lies in the need for branding him or herself. Interpreters’ portfolios include conference organizers, company agents and various customers, through which they build up their own reputation in the profession. As a saying in the interpreting circle goes, ‘interpreters are known by word of mouth’. One’s personal history, previous records and recommendations by fellow interpreters are of crucial importance to success in this profession. Branding oneself in an increasingly competitive profession means that one must act according to the rules rather than on impulse. In Sects. 1.1–1.5, we have traced the origins of interpreting and translation and compared them in seven key facets: etymology, process, product, medium, image, Type

Etymology

interpreting/ explanation interpreter

translation/ translator

transfer

Process

Product

Medium

Image

immediate; dynamic; interactive.

spoken utterances; oral delivery parameters

auditory/ phonetic symbol decoding

wire-walker/ physical presence; shackled subject to dancer hardware facilities.

static; one-way;

visual sign writer/ written linguistic decoding editor units; SL-TL correspondance

Fig. 1.3 Seven dimensions of interpreting versus translation

Working Speed Environment

flexible space; physical absence.

180–200 words/minute; ≈10,000 words/hour 500–600 words/hour; 4,000–5,000 words/day

1.5 Interpreting Versus Translation

17

working environment and speed of delivery. Figure 1.3 summarizes this in the form of a chart, comparing the key facets of interpreting and translation across these seven dimensions.

1.6 History of Research into Interpreting: Past and Present Let us now turn our attention to the development of research into interpreting and today’s state of play. Research on interpreting in Europe dates back to the 1950s (Riccardi 2002) and has experienced fast growth as a research domain ever since. It has experienced several methodological breakthroughs from intuitive speculation in the 1950s and 1960s to observational and experimental research since the 1970s. After the ‘empirical and cultural turns’ following two major events (the Trieste Symposium and the Critical Link conferences) in the 1980s and ’90s, interpreting studies have entered into a state that is characterized by the coexistence of different research paradigms and foci (see also Chap. 2). A more detailed overview will be discussed below. In the 1950s and ’60 s, conference interpreters and interpreter trainers were the major force for research. Their pioneering research contribution was mainly reflected in the formulation of the professional characteristics, qualities and skills of practitioners. A significant milestone in this period came in 1952 with the publication of the first interpreting manual, The Interpreter’s Handbook, by Jean Herbert from the Geneva Interpreting School. From the 1960s onwards, thanks to the development of cognitive science including psycholinguistics and cognitive psychology, the research focus of interpreting deepened from general discussion to interpreting processes. Researchers, mostly psychologists and psycholinguists, began to study simultaneous interpreting. They regarded it as a good way of unravelling the mystery of human information processing and tried to decode the ‘mystic’ mental processes of interpreting. Their research attention focused on the cognitive processes of interpreting and proposed some information processing models, such as those proposed by Gerver (1976: 165–207), Moser (1978: 353–368) and Barik (1973; 1975/2002). The first information processing model of simultaneous interpreting was developed by Gerver in his 1971 Ph.D. dissertation. Simultaneous interpreting was regarded as human information processing that consisted of auditory decoding, analysis and transfer, information encoding and oral output. The grammatical or structural differences between the source and target languages were regarded as major processing difficulties. In this period, researchers adopted methods of experimental psychology to formulate models and test hypotheses concerning, among other things: the information transfer between

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the source and target languages; the impact of speech genres on the speed of interpreters’ ‘output’; the intervention of noises and the interaction between the speed of delivery and interpreters’ output (Gerver [1969]/2002; Barik 1973). This period of research on interpreting was dominated by scientists and psychologists with limited or no experience in interpreting. It seemed fascinating to those psychologists that simultaneous interpreting offered an outlet to study the ‘mystic’ language processing of the human brain. However, experiments were simulated and were conducted within laboratories rather than real-time interpreting, which caused much criticism and raised many doubts among professional interpreters. Thus, the validity of such experimental research conducted in decontextualized laboratories was challenged soon afterwards. The early 1970s witnessed the birth of the first systematically developed Interpretive Theory of Translation (ITT) (known as ‘La théorie du sens’ in French), initiated by Seleskovitch and Lederer at ESIT in Paris, who founded the influential Paris School of Interpreting. The ITT was a systematic study developed from a great number of conference interpreting practices. It challenged the traditional view that translation and interpreting processes could be divided into ‘comprehension’ and ‘reformulation’. After in-depth observations and analysis of conference interpreting recordings, Seleskovitch put forward the notion of ‘de-verbalization’ as an essential phase in between the process of ‘comprehension’ and ‘reformulation’ (Seleskovitch 1962). The Paris School regarded interpreting as a process of making sense: ‘To interpret, one must first understand’ (Seleskovitch 1978: 11). ‘Sense’, according to Seleskovitch, was constructed consciously by the interpreter, leaving behind the surface structure of the original language to approach ‘the speaker’s intention for the original act of discourse’ through activating cognitive knowledge (Garcia-Landa 1981). The ITT sought to explain the ideal processes of successful conference interpreting practice. It stated that the interpreter comprehends the source language (Language 1) and grasps the meaning through reducing words to non-verbal sense, which is known as ‘de-verbalization’ and then reformulates ‘sense’ into the target language (Language 2). During the prime of interpretive theory, the University of Paris III was the Mecca for students and researchers from all over the world. It is due to the hard work of the Paris School researchers that the first wave of interpreting research appeared in the mid-1970s. Based on the interpretive theory, ESIT developed a set of teaching principles guiding the training of conference interpreters, many of which later became ‘golden rules’ in the selection, training and assessment of trainee interpreters. Seleskovitch and Lederer (1984) described the mental process of interpreting in a three-stage triangular model (Fig. 1.4), in which they proposed the concept of ‘units of meaning’, constituting the mental basis for de-verbalization in the process of interpreting. A central pillar supporting Seleskovitch’s theory is that de-verbalization

1.6 History of Research into Interpreting: Past and Present

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Sense (de-verbalization)

Fig. 1.4 Seleskovitch’s triangular model of interpreting (Seleskovitch and Lederer 1984)

Inter-

Language 1

-Preting

Transcoding

Language 2

should aim to approach the equivalent expressions of the speaker’s idea(s), rather than ‘the repetition of the all-too-static linguistic equivalents of the original utterances’ (Wadensjö 1998: 33). We consider this triangular model in more detail in Sect. 2.3.2. ‘La théorie du sens’ was very influential from the 1970s until the early 1980s, after which it was criticized by a new wave of interpreting researchers who proposed a more scientific approach to interpreting research. Many of these new-generation researchers adopted quantitative approaches to test the ITT, which they believed lacked empirical support. The 1986 Trieste Symposium on interpreting organized by Trieste University of Italy ushered in a new era in interpreting studies, which was characterized by interdisciplinary collaboration and empirical research. Some authoritative theories and models were questioned and challenged at the Trieste Symposium (Gile 1995). The new generation of researchers aimed to further develop the interpretive theory. A typical representative of this period of research is Gile’s aforementioned Effort Models (EMs) ([1997]/2002: 165). The EMs were built upon the assumption that ‘there is an intrinsic difficulty in interpreting, which lies in the cognitive tasks involved’ (ibid.: 164). They are developed to account for the processing capacity of the (conference) interpreter. Gile used these models to explain processing difficulties and failures with the assumption that there are limited attentional resources available on the part of the interpreter. The EMs were designed with the ‘simplest possible architecture’ with a view to yielding the ‘required explanatory power’ (ibid.: 197). As discussed earlier in this chapter, the Effort Models were interdisciplinary products insomuch as they consider psycholinguistic and cognitive psychology theories to account for operational constraints in interpreting. The EMs called on limited attentional resources and studied this specific aspect in relative depth. They did not attempt to explain the cognitive processes of interpreting, but tried to account for the difficulties encountered in the different phases of interpreting, and offered coping tactics for training. The EMs formulated each processing effort and the complementary role of the components in each phase of interpreting.

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Contrary to the idealistic conception of successful conference interpreting as represented by the Paris School, Gile’s EMs drew on the failures encountered by professional interpreters and related such failures to attention management difficulties in the interpreting process. Gile’s model of attention distribution stressed the cognitive load of CI and SI, which had significant implications for interpreter training. From the late 1980s, research-minded conference interpreters dissatisfied with the long-standing misperceptions surrounding their profession started to explore new interdisciplinary lines of inquiry to explain the working mechanisms of interpreting. Having realized the importance of working together across disciplines to account for the cognitive nature of interpreting and test the prevailing pedagogical paradigms, quantitative and empirical methods gradually took an upper hand over descriptive and qualitative methods in the field. Cooperation and exchange of views between different schools of researchers have dramatically increased, as is shown in the number of interpreting periodicals, journals and academic conferences in recent years. The publications of specialized journals including Interpreting, The Interpreters’ Newsletter, Forum, The Interpreter and Translator Trainers and Meta have helped reinforce the common aspiration to advance training practices in more academic directions. In 1995, a special issue of Target was solely devoted to ‘Interpreting Research’, in which a number of approaches were covered in order to show that research on interpreting is no less an ‘interdiscipline’ than translation studies (Wadensjö 1998: 32). As interpreting studies have covered an ever-expanding territory since the 1990s, it has entered into a period of diversification. There is no longer a main centre or hub for the discipline as a whole (Pöchhacker 2004: 42–43). Researchers no longer follow only one single paradigm but try to combine or borrow methodologies from sibling disciplines such as cognitive sciences or sociology to deepen the understanding of interpreting. A growing field of research is in ‘community interpreting’. This is public service interpreting provided in response to the growing number of immigrants or people seeking asylum outside their countries of origin over the past few decades. During the 1980s, community interpreting agencies were set up in Europe, notably in Scandinavia, Britain and the Netherlands. Community interpreting requires not only linguistic proficiency and interpreting techniques, but also a good mastery of sociocultural and psychological skills. More and more research has turned to this formerly peripheral field. In 1995, the first international conference on community interpreting, ‘The Critical Link: Interpreting in Legal, Health and Social Services Settings’, was held in Canada, marking the official debut of community interpreting as a prominent area for research and training. The critical link conferences have been held every three years since 1995 and have become a networking platform between practitioners and researchers in this field, working towards promoting the recognition of community interpreting in academia at large. The social factors involved in community interpreting opened up a ‘sociocultural’ dimension for interpreting research, as it is closely related to institutional settings— usually less formal than traditional settings, but more sensitive, private and individualistic, involving a higher degree of interpersonal factors. Typical community

1.6 History of Research into Interpreting: Past and Present

21

interpreting covers social services in asylum and medical settings such as psychiatric hospitals, psychological clinics or legal settings including police stations, prisons and courtrooms. Thus, research perspectives on community-based interpreting vary greatly from traditional conference interpreting. Wadensjö (1998) focused on interpreting in medical, legal and social services. She investigated Russian–Swedish immigration and medical interviews by applying techniques of discourse analysis and concluded that the interpreter-mediated communication was a joint venture involving the common participation of both the primary parties and the interpreter. She showed how the community interpreter played a special role in coordinating the primary parties’ utterances to help deliver both linguistic and social services from one party to the other. Cynthia B. Roy, in Interpreting as a Discourse Process (2000), carried out an empirical case study of sign-language interpreting between a deaf student and her professor. With special regard to the sign interpreters’ turn-taking process, Roy (2000) showed, in an elaborate example, the active involvement of the interpreter in communication and demonstrated that a qualified interpreter should also be a discourse analyst. From interviews with therapists, interpreters and patients, Bot (2005) developed a concept map of key factors involved in managing a ‘three-person psychology’ model for interpreter-mediated psychotherapeutic dialogue. Such research focuses mainly on the non-linguistic but sociological aspects of interpreting, including the role of the interpreter as a cultural mediator/agent/messenger, the visibility/invisibility of the interpreter and the sociological and philosophical thoughts in liaison interpreting. Such previously marginal or underdeveloped interpreting domains have now come into closer contact with the mainstream conference interpreting research circle and have gained recognition in the research field. As stated in the introduction of Selected papers from The 1st Forlì Conference on Interpreting Studies held in Italy in 2000, there is ‘…recognition that interpreting is not only conference interpreting, although this has been the traditional focus of the discipline from the outset, and that other modes have neither lesser importance nor lesser dignity’ (Garzone and Viezzi 2002: 5). Although not a focus for discussion in this book, community interpreting research has highlighted the ‘role’ issue in many aspects (see Sect. 2.6). The interpreter’s qualifications have been extended to cover not only linguistic proficiency and information processing, but also communication in sociological, cultural and interpersonal qualities. This is particularly true for training Chinese interpreters, given the specific (inter)cultural context. This point is worth considering when designing a curriculum and its associated pedagogy for training Chinese interpreters in cross-cultural settings.

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1.7 Outline of the Book With the questions discussed in Sect. 1.1 in mind, the rest of the book proceeds as follows. Chapter 2 provides a panoramic review of five major research paradigms developed so far: the sense-based approach, cognitive processing, neuro-linguistic processing, dialogic-based interaction and the component-based, skills-led approach. Furthermore, two research paradigm-guided models of interpreter training, the ESIT and XiaDa, are looked at. Special attention is directed to the didactic principles and teaching methodology of each model. The interaction, shifts and developments of these paradigms are also touched upon. In Chap. 3, I look further into some other representative European and Chinese interpreter training models/programmes, namely the ‘Continental model’ represented by the complete undergraduate translation and interpreting programme in Spain; the mixed model of translation and interpreting at MA level, epitomized by the Westminster course; the Y-shaped model represented by the Vienna course; and the highly recommended European Masters in Conference Interpreting (EMCI), a benchmark for European conference interpreter training. The focus of the discussion is on the key strands in interpreting pedagogy: curriculum, admission, faculty and evaluation. Chaps. 4 and 5 are perhaps the most essential parts of the book. In Chap. 4, the notion of ‘context’ which was introduced in this first chapter is extended into three dimensions and serves as the ‘cutting point’ or point of departure to examine the applicability of the widely accepted European model of interpreter training (ESIT/AIIC) and ‘home-grown’ XiaDa/GDUFS models in the Chinese context. There is a special focus on approaches and coping tactics in each one. The strengths and weaknesses of each type of model are thus illustrated and elaborated upon. The findings suggest that the traditional or ‘classic’ ESIT/AIIC model needs to be adapted to a ‘sub-optimal’ context, in order to achieve better socio-ecological results. In that sense, a new model or framework for the interpreting training landscape in China is necessary, given its specific contextual conditions. In the light of the specific contextual limitations, institutions face in contemporary China, Chap. 5 tries to offer some solutions to this issue by constructing a new curriculum and its associated pedagogy for interpreting education in the Chinese context. The concluding Chap. 6 is a theoretical statement on how theoretical modelling in interpreting should be receptive to context. It provides a contextual model for interpreter education, which aims to stimulate more discussions on the realization of interpreting education in specific contexts in the future. The book ends by proposing some issues derived from this work for further research.

Chapter 2

Interpreting Research and Training Practices in Europe and China

Abstract This chapter presents a panoramic overview of major interpreting theories and pedagogical models developed in the West and in China. The emergence of theoretical research into interpreting was closely related to the development of the interpreting profession that came into existence between the two World Wars and flourished in the 1950s and ’60s in Western Europe. Along the lines of different research traditions both in the West and China, six major paradigms have emerged to date. Five of these have been developed in the West, with specific foci on making sense, cognitive information processing, neurolinguistic processing, text production and mediation, as well as discourse production and communication (Pöchhacker 2004: 67–84). Over the course of the 1990s, Chinese interpreting scholars opened up a new research tradition, deriving from their applied research on training practices. It features a component-based, skills-led approach to interpreting and interpreter training. In this chapter, five paradigms are reviewed in depth, making reference to the works of Pöchhacker and others: (1) the interpretive approach; (2) cognitive processing; (3) the neurophysiological or neurolinguistic approach; (4) dialogicbased interaction; and (5) the component-based, skills-led approach. Keywords Research and training · Europe vs. China · Paradigms · Themes

2.1 Introduction This chapter presents a panoramic overview of major interpreting theories and pedagogical models developed in the West and in China. The emergence of theoretical research into interpreting was closely related to the development of the interpreting profession that came into existence between the two World Wars and flourished in the 1950s and ’60s in Western Europe. Along the lines of different research traditions both in the West and China, six major paradigms have emerged to date. Five of these have been developed in the West, with specific foci on making sense, cognitive information processing, neurolinguistic processing, text production and mediation, as well as discourse production and communication (Pöchhacker 2004: 67–84). Over the course of the 1990s, Chinese interpreting scholars opened up a new research © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd 2020 J. Liu, Interpreter Training in Context, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8594-4_2

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tradition, deriving from their applied research on training practices. It features a component-based, skills-led approach to interpreting and interpreter training. In this chapter, I will review the following five paradigms in depth, using the works of Pöchhacker and others: (1) the interpretive approach; (2) cognitive processing; (3) the neurophysiological or neurolinguistic approach; (4) dialogic-based interaction; and (5) the component-based, skills-led approach. It should be noted that the text production and mediation paradigm based on the Skopos theory or translational norms is not discussed, because it is much less influential and not really relevant to the research focus of this book. The first research paradigm appeared in the late 1960s, championed by the Paris School of researchers. It aimed to explain the ideal process of conference interpreting based on observation and intuitive reasoning. Relying on a triangular model of the interpreting process, this interpretive theory of translation or the IT paradigm became the first systematic theory of interpreting and held sway in Europe until the early 1980s. Challenged by a new generation of research-minded interpreters, the IT paradigm gave way to the second paradigm, which was more scientifically oriented towards cognitive processing. Known as the CP paradigm (Pöchhacker 2004: 73), it adopted experimental approaches to test the cognitive process of interpreting against more stringent scientific standards. From the mid-1980s, researchers began to understand the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration for deepening the study of the neurolinguistic mechanism inside the interpreter’s brain. A series of experimental methods were devised from neurophysiology or neuropsychology to decode the ‘translating brain’. Neurophysiologists together with interpreter trainers in Italy pioneered the research on the organization of languages in the interpreter’s brain, which ushered in the third and the most scientifically oriented paradigm known as the neurolinguistic (NL) paradigm. Following two major events in the 1980s and ’90s—the Trieste Symposium and the Critical Link conferences—interpreting studies entered into a diversification period where the long-neglected community-based dialogue interpreting became a focus of research, wherein the role of the interpreter was reshaped in sociological and cultural contexts. This development led to the fourth paradigm: the dialogic discourse-based interaction, or the DI paradigm. This paradigm emphasized interpreting as mediation and discourse production, signalling a ‘social and cultural turn’ in interpreting studies in the twenty-first century. As globalization continues, the increasing economic and cultural exchanges between the West and the East have given rise to international collaboration for interpreter training and research. Midway through the 1990s, Chinese scholars began a joint research project with their British counterparts, which led to the emergence of the fifth paradigm composed of a component-based, skills-led methodology and a new training model known as the XiaDa model. Having examined the major research themes in the ever-expanding territory of interpreting studies, this chapter will conclude with an analysis of the driving forces behind the emergence, shifts and developments of these paradigms.

2.2 Pre-research Writings

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2.2 Pre-research Writings In the 1950s and early 1960s, conference interpreters working in international organizations published several monographs on professional skills. Some exemplars are the aforementioned The Interpreter’s Handbook by Herbert (1952) and a booklet devoted to note-taking skills in consecutive interpreting by Rozan (1956). These early authors were active conference interpreters and naturally wrote about the qualifications, tasks and the working conditions of conference interpreters. Interpreting as a new subject for research did not attract much attention in the beginning as many people then still believed that interpreting was a language game played by ears. Nevertheless, the first master’s thesis on conference interpreting entitled ‘An Investigation into Conference Interpreting’ was completed by Eva Paneth in 1957 at the University of London, in which observational data both on interpreting in practice and on training methods at several interpreter schools in Europe was presented (Pöchhacker and Shlesinger 2002: 30). Paneth dealt with language directionality for training, illustrating different patterns of the timing of simultaneous interpretation in relation to the original speech. She compared five techniques used in simultaneous interpretation and discovered that: ‘[…] pauses made by speakers between groups of words are, on average, of considerable length and that interpreters made the maximum use of them by speeding up their own delivery’ (Paneth [1957]/2002: 33). In this way, the interpreter could reduce the time lag between listening comprehension and interpreting. She discovered that conference interpreting was a demanding and even ‘nerve-racking’ job and claimed that: ‘the nerves (of the interpreters) are in the kind of state in which any additional strain would prove unbearable’ (Paneth 1957: 146). Paneth’s research was based on authentic data, including original notes from an experienced interpreter of English and French. Her effort to link empirical research with hands-on professional experience was much applauded as she was among the first to point out the importance of scientific methodology such as pilot studies and data collection to interpreting research. The 1950s and early 1960s is generally regarded as a pre-scientific research period, where these early authors wrote about their personal experience and introspection based on intuitive speculation. Real theoretical work did not bear fruit. However, as Gile (2000: 1) pointed out, ‘One very important point which seemed to have been clear from the start […] was the need to understand the source speech beyond the words and to reach comprehension through analysis, rather than based on linguistic correspondence’. At the time when contrastive linguistic methods were prevalent in translation research, such a consensus among the early interpreting authors was already a primitive manifestation of the essence of the interpretive theory, which was later developed in Paris and became the first and most influential theory of interpreting in the world.

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2.3 The Interpretive Theory of Translation (ITT) The increasing number of interpreter training programmes since the late 1960s paved the way for the emergence of a research paradigm which is very much based on its teaching and practice. By drawing its essence from Analytic Philosophy, the interpretive theory of translation (ITT) (La théorie du sens) was the first systematically built interpreting theory in Europe, based at ESIT in Paris. The theory is underpinned by the meme of knowledge-based process of making sense (Pöchhacker 2004: 83). It was first formulated by Seleskovitch (1968) in her doctoral monograph on language and memory through a study of note-taking in consecutive interpreting. Right from the start, Seleskovitch refused to adopt the structural linguistic methods to study interpreting, which only focused on the static comparison of words and sentence structures between the two languages and failed to deal with ‘language in action’. Her professional experience as an interpreter convinced her that the cognitive process of interpreting rather than the contrastive study of linguistic units should be given priority in research. She believed that the processing of utterances is never equal to putting together the meaning of separate words or sentences (Seleskovitch 1962). Seleskovitch drew inspirations from developmental psychology, especially the thoughts of Piaget (1964), to concentrate on language and mind. Psychological advancement in the 1960s revealed that the meaning of a discourse was always composed of an explicit part (the words) and an underlying implicit part (Lederer 2008a). The Paris School researchers went into relative depth in exploring the ‘implicit part’ of cognitive processing. In her research into memory and the mind, Seleskovitch (1978) categorized working memory in simultaneous interpreting into two types: acoustic and semantic. While emphasizing the importance of semantic memory in interpreting, she pointed out that semantic memory was not linked with sensory organs. Through deciphering the phonetic units of the original speech, the interpreter classifies them into these two memory types and stores most of the content-based phonetic information into their semantic memory. By doing so, they are able to approach the sense of the original speech. Seleskovitch’s early writings on memory laid a foundation for the formation of the interpretive theory. She found that the more the interpreter is able to process the speech, the less identical the source and output will be with regard to the form of the speech. This was later explained in her theorizing on de-verbalization, a key concept in the ITT. The ITT or the Paris School pioneered the study of the cognitive process of interpreting. Although they used authentic data collected from international conferences, they did not incorporate scientific experimentation as a necessary means to conduct interpreting research. Actually, the Paris School of researchers rejected any form of laboratory experiments in interpreting research, which Lederer explained by saying that: ‘interpreting is first and foremost a human performance, where the connection between thinking and speaking can be observed through interpreters’ output, which is embodied in each segment of speech production’ ([1978]/2002: 131).

2.3 The Interpretive Theory of Translation (ITT)

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It is clear that researchers of the Paris School did not regard experimentation as a valid way of doing interpreting research. The ITT was generated from successful practices, with its focus on the ideal process of interpreting, trying to provide prescriptive answers to how and why conference interpreters are able to perform such a highly complex and demanding activity.

2.3.1 The Concepts of ‘Sense’ and ‘Vouloir Dire’ (Intended Meaning) The interpretive theory claims that interpreting is not a process of word-for-word translation but rather a meaning-based reformulation of ‘sense’. According to Seleskovitch (1968, 1978: 336), sense is ‘non-verbal’ and ‘made up of the linguistic meaning aroused by speech sounds and of a conscious cognitive addition to it’. The ‘cognitive addition’ is generated on the part of the interpreter by combining the ‘deverbalized’ meaning of the original discourse with their extra-linguistic knowledge. Sense is not the sum of words but their organic whole, retained in association with extra-linguistic knowledge (Lederer 2003: 14). To further elaborate on this concept, Seleskovitch made reference to language and discourse. She explained: Sense is a speaker’s meaning beyond language. It precedes what is expressed by the speaker; it follows reception of the discourse by the addressee […]. For sense to be produced there must be an association between a non-verbal idea and a semiotic sign (it could be a word or a gesture) […]. The reception of sense requires a deliberate action on the part of the addressee. In this light, a string of words become a set of pointers drawn by the speaker from […] language and recognized […] by the addressee but serving the former only as the stepping-stones of thought and the latter as a spring-board to the construction of sense. (Seleskovitch 1976: 64)

Lederer (2003) believed that grasping sense is not the product of various successive stages but of a single mental process at the level of discourse. The transmission of sense is not only to reconstitute the explicit attributes of a discourse but also to help listeners reconstruct the implicit part of a speech on the basis of the explicit part they get. The emphasis on the ‘implicit part’ of a discourse laid the ground for the subsequent argument for de-verbalization, a central concept in this theory and an intermediate phase in the interpreting process. The interpretive theory of translation reflects upon successful conference interpreting practices. The process of interpreting is divided into perceiving sense, separating it from the forms that conveyed it (known as ‘de-verbalization’) and expressing this sense idiomatically in the target language (Lederer 2008a). In contrast to the static linguistic concept of ‘transcoding’ or linguistic translation, Seleskovitch argued that interpreting is an act of communication in a particular situational context, in which the primary task for the interpreter is to put across the message for communication. Contextual meaning rather than lexical meaning is what interpreters should grasp. Thus, interpreting is to achieve the ‘equivalence of sense’ rather than the ‘correspondence of words’, except items with fixed correspondences

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like proper names, numbers and specialized terms. The translating process itself involves the interpreter’s cognitive complement of extra-linguistic knowledge to adapt the message to the ‘cultural frames of reference’ (Seleskovitch 1978a: 100) of the target audience so as to ensure: ‘the verbal form best suited to understanding by the audience’ (Seleskovitch 1976: 109).

2.3.2 The Triangular Model and De-verbalization The interpretive theory of translation claims that the process of interpreting (and translation) consists of three steps: comprehension, de-verbalization and reformulation. Comprehension refers to the acquisition of ‘sense’ in the source language. As explained by Slama-Carr (1998: 113), ‘comprehension requires decoding the source-text linguistic signs with reference to the language system and defining the conceptual content of an utterance by drawing on the referential context in which it is embedded. Two operations are performed simultaneously’. The Paris School researchers put forward the notion of ‘de-verbalization’ as an essential phase in between ‘comprehension’ and ‘reformulation’ (Seleskovitch 1962). In fact, Seleskovitch built this theory upon her studies of the common features of language and memory. In her 1968 monograph, Seleskovitch stated that only by combining the cognitive, general and theme-specific knowledge could the interpreter really convey what the speaker intended. In their coauthored book, Interpréter pour Traduire, Seleskovitch and Lederer (1984) described the mental process of interpreting in a three-stage triangular model (see Chap. 1, Fig. 1.4), at the top of which was the conceptual crystallization of sense. They put forward the notion of ‘units of sense/meaning’, which constitutes the driving force for interpreters to proceed in the process of interpreting (Lederer 2003). ‘Units of sense’ is generated at regular intervals when there is a sort of ‘trigger’ of understanding which occurs in the course of a speech—marking the results from the fusion of ‘the semanticisms of words and cognitive inputs’ (ibid.: 18). As explained by Lederer (ibid.: 18–19), Units of sense only exist in discourse; they do not coincide with words, syntagms, collocations or set expressions. As a mental representation […] a unit of sense corresponds to a brief state of consciousness. […] It is produced by linguistic knowledge fusing with extra-linguistic knowledge, deverbalized many years ago or just a few minutes before. It is neither the word (the graphic unit) nor the utterance (the grammatical unit) which elicits a unit of sense. It is a string of sounds, long enough for this fusion to occur.

Lederer (1981: 144) further explained that the synthesis of units of sense from parsing information combined with other knowledge occurred suddenly. The exact moment of ‘dawning’ depends on knowledge and is therefore predicted to vary between different interpreters working on the same string. As the discourse advances, the synthesis of units of sense rests increasingly on information from prior discourse (ibid.: 139). Lederer also suggested three categories of a total of eight mental operations in comprehension in simultaneous interpretation (Lederer 1981: 50; Setton 1999: 41):

2.3 The Interpretive Theory of Translation (ITT)

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(1) Successive and continuously overlapping operations: (a) hearing; (b) language comprehension; (c) conceptualization: the construction of a cognitive memory by the integration of successive fragments of the speech string with the previous knowledge; (2) Processes which are constantly operating but not always visible: (a) awareness of situation; (b) self-monitoring. (3) Occasional operations: (a) transcoding of the few technical or proper terms which display one-to-one correspondence across language, or of opening strings where a unit of sense has not yet crystallized; (b) retrieval of specific terminology from the mental lexical base.

2.3.3 The Didactic Principles of the ITT The interpretive theory of translation (ITT) gained immediate success after its birth in the late 1960s. It was well received in the conference interpreting community and soon became the predominant theory guiding pedagogy in Europe. Many interpreting schools regarded the triangular model of the Paris School as a useful tool to train students to grasp the meaning instead of words. Throughout the 1970s and ’80s, foreign ministries of various countries across Europe sent their junior staff interpreters to receive training at ESIT. Up until today, many graduates of ESIT are still actively engaged in interpreting practice and research around the globe. Early researchers in the Paris School were mostly practitioners themselves. Their research focus was largely practice-based or closely related to field practice. The IT paradigm regards interpreting as a communicative act. In order to achieve its communicative purpose, the interpreter has to get away from the surface structure of language to grasp the ‘sense’ of the discourse. Interpreting students must have sufficient intellectual maturity and background knowledge to grasp speeches on a wide variety of subjects (Donovan 2006). The Paris School of scholars thus believe that the ‘cognitive complements’ required for conference interpreting match up to a general university degree (Seleskovitch and Lederer 1995). Based on such assumptions, Seleskovitch and her colleagues in their Paris base put forward a set of rules and principles for interpreter training programmes/schools, including student selection, levels of training, language directionality, teaching faculties and training materials. One of the most recognizable contributions of the interpretive theory to date is that it clearly distinguished two different but easily mixed concepts: linguistic translation versus interpretive translation. When applied to teaching, a distinction is made between foreign language teaching through translation and professional translator/interpreter training. The former belongs to language acquisition, which centres around linguistic issues with practice drills mostly conducted in de-contextualized situations and requiring much less aptitude and commitment than the latter. The interpretive translation emphasizes the critical role of the interpreter’s ‘cognitive complement’. Hence, a conference interpreter is required to possess a high level of cognitive aptitude, which suggests that the

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selection of trainee interpreters should be from university graduates, regardless of their disciplines: that is to say, interpreting training is open to any degree holders (Seleskovitch and Lederer 1995). However, this rule or principle is difficult to apply in various regions and contexts, given the fact that the bilingual competence required for entering a conference interpreting programme is so high that it is rare for nonlinguistic majors to make it, especially in more monolingual societies where a thorough command of foreign language(s) is almost a monopoly of language majors.1 Some other important ‘golden rules’ of the ESIT interpreting didactics guided by the ITT are summarized below and are further explored in Chap. 3: Proficiency and Skill: Conference interpreting courses must be set at postgraduate level. Admission to the course is subject to success in an aptitude test, which is designed to assess candidates’ suitability for conference interpreting. The entrance examination should include both oral and written tests. Only those who pass both competitive tests can proceed to a conference interpreting course. The Faculty: Teachers/trainers must be practicing conference interpreters; translation researchers or theorists should not be included; interpreting courses do not deal with language enhancement; the mastery of interpreting techniques is the central focus; and trainee interpreters must already be proficient in their working languages before enrolment. Progression and Language directionality: Consecutive interpreting must be taught and mastered by the trainee before simultaneous training begins; simultaneous interpreting should only be taught from one’s passive language(s) into their active language (A language). All trainers teach in the direction of their A language, not the other way round. Evaluation: All trainee interpreters have to undergo a mid-point streaming test and a final graduation exam. Only those who successfully pass these exams will be awarded the certified diploma for entry into conference interpreting markets. These were the principles of the Paris School-guided interpreter training programmes in Europe throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It was so influential that the then European Community set its interpreter training programmes within the framework of the IT paradigm. Even the current European Masters in Conference Interpreting( EMCI) programme, which was developed in 1997 with a number of partner universities, pursues a common policy on student recruitment and assessment based on the didactic principles of the IT paradigm.

1 According

to AIIC, conference interpreters must have a perfect command of their B language(s) into which they work from one or more of their other languages.

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2.3.4 Criticism of the Paris School and the ITT Despite the substantial success this school of researchers achieved in the 1970s and 1980s, especially in recognition of its special contribution to interpreter training and pedagogy, criticism surrounding the ITT and its research methods began to appear in the 1980s. For instance, critics commented that neither Seleskovitch nor Lederer came up with a detailed illustration of how messages are constructed through their linguistic structure and are stored and retrieved by the interpreter, i.e. what the carriers of deverbalized messages are and how linguistic information is turned into deverbalized sense. These questions posed by the new generation of researchers began to undermine the authority of the IT paradigm (e.g. Gile 1984; Mackintosh 1983). Many criticized that the Paris School only focused on how to attain successful conference interpreting in prescriptive terms, but seldom analysed the reasons for failure in scientific terms. Actually, besides knowledge of the language, extralinguistic knowledge, theme-specific or contextual variables, there are other important reasons behind an interpreter’s success or failure, such as the proper coordination of their working memory, the width and size of their cognitive and attentional resources and the application of coping tactics (Gile 1995). At the landmark Trieste Symposium in 1986, many researchers openly proclaimed that they rejected the prescriptive approach of the Paris School and started empirical and quantitative research, regarding experimentation as a necessary means to achieve reliable results. Having realized the need to go beyond the limits of the Paris School, Mackintosh claimed at the 1986 Trieste Symposium: ‘I believe in the importance of finding a less subjective and individualistic way of analysing our profession’ (Gran and Dodds 1989: 266). Henceforth, the new generation of researchers began to conduct quantitative research, aspiring to attain scientific standards. One of their research focuses was an interpreter’s management of attentional resources and information processing, an area long-neglected by the Paris School.

2.4 Experimenting on Cognitive Processing The rising scientific school of researchers since the mid-1970s, which consisted of experimental psychologists, psycholinguists, practicing interpreters and interpreter trainers, started the ‘real research’ to justify their inspirations or some long-standing sayings surrounding interpreting, such as decoding the mysterious mental structures and procedures of interpreting. They shifted their research attention to the description of cognitive processes of interpreting and forged some information processing models, represented by Gerver (1976: 165–207), Moser (1978: 353–368) and Barik ([1975]/2002). The first information processing model of simultaneous interpreting was developed by Gerver in his 1971 Ph.D. dissertation, entitled Aspects of Simultaneous

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Interpretation and Human Information Processing. It marked the emergence of a new research paradigm—cognitive processing (CP). Under this conceptual framework, Gerver (1971: viii) described interpreting as: ‘a fairly complex form of human information processing involving the reception, storage, transformation, and transmission of verbal information’. As he discovered, the relationship between language and cognition has to do with a multitude of factors, ‘linguistic, motivational, situational, and a host of other factors [which] cannot be ignored’ (Gerver 1976: 167). Following in Gerver’s footsteps was Henri Barik, a psychologist, who designed experimental research (1973) on simultaneous interpretation, in which he applied statistical methods to discuss the incidence of ‘translation departures’ (errors)— which were subdivided into ‘omissions’, ‘additions’, ‘substitutions and errors’ and ‘translation disruptions’—and their relationship with various kinds of input materials. Barik ([1975]/2002) also presented some other linguistic findings on the speaker’s pauses, and syntactic and lexical difficulties in relation to the ‘flaws’ of interpreters’ delivery. Apart from Gerver’s Ph.D. work, some other scholars like Lambert (1988) and Ingram (1992) and Moser (1978) also worked on cognitive processing skills. Drawing on a psycholinguistic model of speech comprehension, Moser-Mercer (1978) presented in her model of simultaneous interpreting a memory structure and processing operations that are divided into structural components from pre-perceptual auditory storage to the production of meaningful phrases and sentences. She also discovered that bottom-up processes (immediate input processing) and top-down processes (knowledge of the world interacting with new information) occurred at every stage (cited from Pöchhacker and Shlesinger 2002: 151). Gile’s Effort Models (1995) touched upon the long-standing issue of the division of attention in the interpreting process, which was built on the psycholinguistic and cognitive psychology theories to account for operational constraints in interpreting. Gile acknowledged the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, especially by incorporating cognitive science in looking into the process of interpreting. He stated that: ‘the best results require the contribution of experts in scientific disciplines such as cognitive psychology, psycholinguistics and applied linguistics’ (Gile 1988: 363). This new generation of researchers was receptive towards research methods and findings from cognitive sciences and other disciplines. They developed some methodological preference from cognitive psychologists for interdisciplinary experimental hypothesis testing. As stated by Moser-Mercer (1994: 17), the exploration of the CP researchers required precision of logical processes and input from natural sciences and quantification. Hence, this initiated an interdisciplinary approach in a way that was distinct from the then prevailing IT paradigm. Shlesinger’s Ph.D dissertation (2000), which addressed the issue of the allocation of working memory and other attentional resources, and Kurz’s work (1996), are two examples of the CP paradigm featuring interdisciplinary input. Moser-Mercer (1994: 20) once described this new school of research as ‘all qualify[ing] under the same natural science paradigm’. The rising CP paradigm can be seen as an evolutionary development from the IT paradigm for it deepened our understanding of the ‘mystic’ cognitive process of interpreting, for which the IT scholars only gave prescriptive answers. By extending

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into the domain of cognitive science, the CP paradigm may be regarded as a ‘scienceoriented extension of the largely profession-based IT paradigm’ (Pöchhacker 2004: 80).

2.5 Fusion and Collaboration Following the rise of empirical research in interpreting, where stringent scientific standards are the norm, more and more scientists and interpreter trainers realized the importance of joining hands to upgrade interpreting research to become ‘measurable’ and ‘descriptive’. In the meantime, quantitative and empirical studies gradually took an upper hand over other types of research. Cooperation and exchange of views between different schools of researchers have dramatically increased. In 1986, the first specialized journal on interpreting studies, The Interpreters’ Newsletter, was published at Trieste University, Italy. It provided a good platform for the exchange of views and ideas among different schools of researchers and helped enhance the communication between different schools of thought. Almost in the same period, the AIIC Research Committee was set up to regularly update the bibliography of interpreting studies around the globe. Interpreting studies had entered into the ‘renewal period’ (Gile 1994). One of the striking features in this period is that the number of interpreting periodicals, journals, academic conferences and forums increased substantially. More and more scientists, psychologists together with practitioners joined the research field. For instance, the CIRIN Bulletin, an international information network on research into conference interpreting, was set up by Daniel Gile in 1990. It created a network through which interpreting researchers could inform each other of the publications and activities by way of a bulletin. In 1989, an annual doctoral summer school for translation studies (including the participation of academics from interpreting studies) was initiated by Lambert at the Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven) in Belgium, which provided a platform for doctoral students to receive methodological training in TS and academic exchanges across different branches of this growing discipline. In 1996, another specialized journal, Interpreting: International Journal of Research and Practice in Interpreting, was initiated by the John Benjamins publishing company. All these efforts gave a huge boost to the recognition and development of interpreting studies worldwide.

2.5.1 The ‘Translating Brain’—The Trieste School Since the late 1980s, researchers have realized the importance of working together across disciplines to open up new paths to studying the physiological mechanism

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inside the interpreters’ brain. The increasing application of neuroscience methodologies gave rise to the emergence of the neurophysiological (NL) paradigm, represented by the Trieste School of researchers. Although this school of research is not a focus in this book, I briefly review it in order to map out the complete historical development of interpreting studies to becoming an academic domain on its own and to see how important interdisciplinary collaboration is to the development of new and fledgling academic disciplines. Interpreters’ near-native level of proficiency in at least two languages provides an excellent outlet to investigate the brain lateralization of language functions. The Trieste researchers tried to test whether bilinguals in general and interpreters in particular, exhibit a characteristic pattern of cerebral lateralization (Pöchhacker 2004: 114), from a neurophysiological point of view. A major focus for this strand of research surrounds the notion of the ‘translating brain’. Drawing on other disciplinary approaches of neuropsychology and physiology to carry out empirical research on the mechanism and organization of linguistic functions in interpreters’ brains, Fabbro and his colleagues designed experiments such as dichotic listening and verbalmanual interference to study the characteristics of cerebral lateralization of interpreters (Pöchhacker 2004: 74–75). It is generally known that the language function of a majority of right-handed monolinguals lies in the left hemisphere of the brain. However, Fabbro and Gran (1994) discovered that there was more bilateral cerebral involvement during verbal processing in simultaneous interpreting, which indicated that: ‘simultaneous interpreters may develop a different, less asymmetrical pattern of cerebral lateralization’ (ibid., 114). A similar conclusion was drawn by Green et al. (1994), whose study on hemispheric involvement in shadowing versus interpretation showed that simultaneous interpretation involved both hemispheres. It attributed this to the complexity of the linguistic and cognitive processes involved. This view was further validated by Proverbio and Adorni (2011), who designed experiments to compare the patterns of hemispheric asymmetry between monolingual Italian university students and professional Italian-English simultaneous interpreters in processing L1 (native) words. Their research findings revealed the symmetrical cerebral involvement for simultaneous interpreters, a left-lateralization of linguistic functions in right-handed monolinguals and reduced lateralization in simultaneous interpreters. Proverbio and Adorni (2011: 12) argued that: […] reduced lateralization in interpreters can be attributed either to their polyglottism or to their prolonged practice of simultaneous interpreting strategies. (e.g. dealing with two input channels; right ear/LH for listening to themselves interpret and left ear/RH for listening to the source language)

The landmark Trieste international symposium marked the beginning of ‘The Trieste Era’ in interpretation studies (Gran and Dodds 1989: 268), which involved conducting experiments on the neurolinguistic functions of the interpreter’s brain and its influence on listening and speaking. In this symposium, Sylvie Lambert’s paper showed that when the interpreter used his left ear (corresponding to the right hemisphere) to interpret from the non-native

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or second language (L2) to the mother tongue or first language (L1), his performance was significantly better than the other way round. She suggested that: […]in this condition, the right ear (the left hemisphere) was prevailing involved in the interpretation process and in the monitoring of the outgoing speech, while the left ear (right hemisphere) was more specialized in the reception of the incoming information. (Proverbio and Adorni 2011: 12)

Gran (1989) studied the neurophysiological characteristics of the human brain and compared simultaneous interpreters’ multitasking ability to the ‘fly-wheel effect’. She pointed out that the consistent back and forth between the source and target languages makes the brain operate like a fly-wheel. Coordinated simultaneous listening and speaking ability can be acquired through intensive interpreting practices. Despite the efforts of this school of scholars to decode the ‘mystical’ brain operations of the interpreter, the NL paradigm is heavily dependent on the advancement of neuroscience and the sustained interests of such scientists on interpreting. It proved to be a long and arduous process before any substantial findings could be obtained from experiments. Furthermore, instead of collecting data from authentic interpreting scenes, these experiments have been mostly conducted in laboratories, which have huge environmental differences from authentic interpreting. This has caused much doubt among professional interpreters. Given these restrictions, it is predicted that the NL paradigm will not become a widely shared research paradigm in the foreseeable future (Pöchhacker 2004: 75). To the present day, breakthroughs in the NL paradigm are progressing slowly and seemingly have lost much of their momentum in Europe. There have been few publications on the findings of this paradigm in recent years. For example, one cannot find any relevant article in the Interpreting Studies Reader (2002) edited by Pöchhacker and Shlesinger (Wu 2006). Nevertheless, the efforts of those researchers to link up across disciplinary boundaries have certainly remained a significant hallmark of interpreting research today. To sum up, the Trieste School represented the most scientific and specialized endeavours to research interpreting processes in relation to the human brain. Compared to other humanistic approaches, the NL paradigm highlighted the unique role of natural science(s), especially neuroscience, in the study of interpreting processes—a laudable move towards interdisciplinary fertilization.

2.6 Dialogic-Based Interaction and Role Almost in the same period of the 1990s, community-based dialogue interpreting gained recognition and started to attract more attention, particularly from researchers who showed an interest in the role(s) of the interpreter in mediated communications. The traditional view of the interpreter’s role as being ‘neutral’ or ‘impartial’ showed only limited vision. Scholars like Cecilia Wadensjö and Cynthia Roy investigated

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interpreter-mediated settings and paid special attention to the role(s) of the interpreter in this process. After going over different metaphors and descriptions of the role of the interpreter, Roy (2000: 101) argued that: ‘metaphors describing the performance of the interpreter as a machine, a window, a bridge, and a telephone line among other metaphors are trying to compress the complexity of the role to a simple, singular analogy’. Indeed, such a stereotyped notion of the role of the interpreter as a conduit, mechanically performing language switching, reflects the limited understanding of interpreting in the minds of the general public. It was Roy’s Ph.D. dissertation (1989), A Sociolinguistic Analysis of the Interpreter’s Role in Turn-Taking in Interpreted Events, which ushered in a new conceptual and methodological shift to raise awareness of the complexity of the interpreter’s role in mediated communication. Through analysing the problems of traditional definitions and descriptions of interpreting and the roles of interpreters in particular, Roy ([1993]/2002: 345) argued that: ‘these definitions and descriptions have limited the profession’s own ability to understand the interpreting event itself and the role of the interpreter within the event’. In her monograph Interpreting as a Discourse Process, Roy (2000) redefined the roles of the community interpreter as helpers/communication facilitators/bilingual and bicultural specialists. Her analysis on the turn-taking processes and the dynamics of interactive discourse of a videotaped meeting between a professor and her deaf student proved that an interpreter’s role is more than to ‘just translate’ or ‘just interpret’ and highlighted the (sign-language) interpreter’s active involvement in the interaction through the use of linguistic and discourse strategies such as creation of turns, asking and interruption. Roy’s research (1993, 1996, 2000) has proved that the (signlanguage) interpreter is an active, third participant who can exert influence on both the direction and the outcome of conversation, and that the interpreting event is an ‘intercultural and interpersonal’ process of discourse production. Meanwhile, in the late 1980s, Wadensjö started her discourse-based study of interpreting in community settings at the University of Linköping. Her field research focused on interpreter-mediated encounters such as immigration hearings and medical interviews. Wadensjö (1998: 105) claimed that in dialogue interpreting, the community interpreter performs a dual role wherein ‘the translating and coordinating aspects are simultaneously present, and the one does not exclude the other’. Her analysis on dialogic discourses showed that meaning in dialogue is constructed through three-party collaboration, thus highlighting the dual nature of ‘interpreting as an interactivity’ to supplement ‘interpreting as text’. It was largely Cecilia Wadensjö’s consistent efforts in her field study of interpreter-mediated dialogue discourses that ushered in a distinctive major line of research in interpreting studies known as dialogic discourse-based interaction (DI) (Pöchhacker 2004: 79). Another major work in this paradigm was Wen’s Ph.D. dissertation (2010) on the liaison interpreter’s subjectivity consciousness. By drawing on deconstructionism, feminism and sociology, especially the theoretical framework of Foucault’s power theory and Bakhtin’s dialogism, Ren touched upon a range of key issues facing liaison interpreters, including power relations, ethics, position and stance, etc., in order to show that far from being a marginal figure, the liaison interpreter is not only

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an active participant in communication but also an authoritative coordinator of the entire communication events (Mason 2010: viii). Through a thorough examination of liaison interpreters’ power, especially by discussing the visibility of the liaison interpreter as a ‘gate-keeper’/co-interlocutor/coordinator of the communication, Ren’s work (2010) demonstrated that: ‘liaison interpreters, as sole possessors of the bilingual and bicultural resources required for the interaction, become managers of the interaction and instigators of coordinated action towards the goals or outcomes of the exchanges’ (Mason 2010: ix). At this point, one can begin to introduce the dialogic discourse-based interaction as the DI paradigm. This paradigm emphasized concepts like ‘interaction’ and ‘mediation’ under the meme of ‘talk as interactivity’ (Wadensjö 1998: 21)—which suggested that besides relaying messages, the interpreter sometimes acts as a third party to actively mediate between the two primary parties in conversation. This paradigm is mainly applied to the study of interpreting in community-based settings. It views interpreting as an act under certain social and institutional contexts. By applying the techniques of discourse analysis, the DI paradigm aims to discover the sociological, cultural and institutional factors behind discourse production. This new paradigm emerging from the 1990s gained increasing momentum after community interpreting was recognized as a fruitful area of research in academia (Pöchhacker 2004: 79). A special issue of The Translator (5: 2, 1999) and the companion volume on Dialogue Interpreting were devoted to this paradigm in 2001. The three decades since the 1986 Trieste Symposium have seen a transitional period in interpreting studies: it has become increasingly diversified, spanning from conference interpreting to the varied field of liaison or dialogue interpreting in community settings (ibid.: 42–43). There is no longer ‘a main centre or hub for the discipline as a whole’ (ibid.). Researchers no longer follow just one single paradigm but try to combine models and methodologies from various disciplines such as cognitive psychology and sociology to account for what can be termed ‘interpreting research with interdisciplinary input’ (Xiao 2002: 73, my translation).

2.7 Reducing Interpreting into Components 2.7.1 Introduction One of the main highlights in this ‘diversification period’ was the rise of Asian scholars and their contribution to the research field. Chinese scholars in particular have rigorously pushed forward their interpreter training courses after China opened more widely to the outside world and made their voice heard in international academia. In the mid-1990s, collaboration was established between the British Council and China’s Xiamen University (shortened to ‘XiaDa’ in Chinese) on interpreter training and curriculum development (1994–1998). This marked a new phase

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C=KL+ELK+A (C: Comprehension; KL: Knowledge of the language; ELK: Extra-linguistic knowledge; A: Analysis)

Fig. 2.1 Gile’s formula of comprehension in interpreting (1995: 179)

in China’s interpreting teaching and research, and the joint project gave birth to a new research paradigm featuring a component-based methodology and a skills-led syllabus for training. The Sino-British research project aimed at establishing a new training model for interpreting courses at China’s tertiary institutions. Before the 1990s, interpreting courses rarely existed in China’s higher education system.2 There was almost no distinction between translation and interpreting courses. Many regarded interpreting as an extension of translation courses. The traditional emphasis in foreign language departments at university was on the literature or linguistics, which failed to produce qualified interpreters catering to market demands. Under such circumstances, a new training model was called for. Special working requirements of interpretation call for a different listening processing and comprehension strategy on the part of the interpreter. An investigation on the nature and extent of comprehension in interpretation was done by Gile (1995), who described the relationship between the knowledge of language (KL), extra-linguistic or encyclopaedic knowledge (ELK) and analysis (A) in the following formula (Fig. 2.1): There exists a complementary relationship in the formula between the knowledge of the language (KL), extra-linguistic knowledge (ELK) and discourse analysis (A). ELK is the knowledge that the interpreter has before the assignment, and it can be acquired through various means such as the context and the communication situation. Analysis (A) refers to the interpreter’s analysis or cognitive complement of the source language discourse based on the communication scenario. Comprehension of the original discourse is the result of interaction between KL, ELK and A, sometimes to different extents. For example, Gile himself suggested that: ‘if one component in the formula is weak, then another may compensate’ (1995: 102). This implies that it may be possible to obtain a certain level of comprehension (C) even with a relatively low level of extra-linguistic knowledge (ELK) if the level of knowledge of the language (KL) is high and sufficient analysis (A) is applied, and vice versa. 2 The

only professional interpreter training course in China during the 1980s was the UN Training Programme for Interpreters and Translators (1979–1993) established in Beijing.

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This complementarity is particularly important for interpreters to understand as the general level of extra-linguistic knowledge of the interpreter is on the whole lower than that of the speaker in a specialist field. Knowledge acquisition of the subject matter beforehand is therefore very important and useful (Lin et al. 1999).

2.7.2 The XiaDa Model for Interpreting and Interpreter Training3 The XiaDa model (Fig. 2.2) drew inspiration from the comprehension formula of Daniel Gile. As claimed by the XiaDa scholars (1999: xxi), comprehension alone cannot enable interpretation. The interpreter needs to reproduce the message in the target language by applying skills and techniques (S) to a professional standard (P) for performing a successful act of interpreting. An extension of this formula was therefore developed: I = S + C + P. In other words, the act of successful interpreting I can be attributed to the synthesis and interaction of components S, C and P where: S stands for the skills and techniques involved in interpreting…C stands for comprehension as described by Gile; P stands for the whole (process) is carried out in a professional standard. (Lin et al. 1999: xxii)

However, the interpreting process requires not only comprehension of the source language, but also reconstruction of the message into the target language. Thus, there is also need to consider R for reconstruction in the target language (TL), which again is informed by extra-linguistic or encyclopaedic knowledge (K). As discussed earlier, Gile’s comprehension formula emphasized the importance of analysis (A) in comprehension. When applied to interpreting between two languages/cultures, the

A (D+CC)

I

S+P C (SL+K)

R (TL+K)

Fig. 2.2 XiaDa model for interpreting and interpreter training (Lin et al. 1999: xxiv) 3A

more updated description of this Chinese model and its curriculum is included in Appendix, based on the author’s journal article entitled Chinese Interpreter Training in Context: textbook compilation as a didactic tool (Liu 2015).

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analysis (A) must be supported by two components, discourse analysis (D) and crosscultural understanding (CC), to illustrate that the interpreter’s analysis applies to two dimensions: (1) the message at discourse level; and (2) the value of the discourse act in a (inter)cultural context (ibid.: xxiii). Professional skills and standards are the defining attributes of any profession. Interpreters must be equipped with skills and techniques (S) in order to perform to a professional standard (P). In the XiaDa model (Fig. 2.2), S + P, which means a mastery of interpreting skills (S) and applying them to a professional standard (P), is represented by a triangle. It is superimposed on all the circles to show that: ‘the special skills of an interpreter, and the professional standards required, differentiate what is achieved from other types of bilingual activity’ (ibid.: xxiv). The training of an interpreter consists of cultivating skills and techniques like memory, note-taking, voice projection, eye contact and information restructuring. Indeed, the importance of professional skills to an interpreter is just like a boxer’s range of punches and blocks that enables him or her to fight in the ring. This particular set of skills differentiates the interpreter from other bilingual professionals such as translators, foreign language teachers or terminologists. By reducing interpreting into various interrelated components, the XiaDa scholars tried to show the reality of professional interpreting, and they devised a curriculum on this basis (see more in Chap. 3). All these components are illustrated in Fig. 2.2. Below is the key provided by the XiaDa authors (ibid.) to explain this model: (1) A (D + CC) means that analysis (A) is the result of interaction between discourse analysis (D) and cross-cultural understanding (CC); the two downward arrows indicate that A (D + CC) applies to both of the other circles, i.e. to both comprehension and reconstruction. (2) C (SL + K) refers to comprehension (C) of the source language (SL), achieved by the synthesis and interaction between SL (source language) and K (extralinguistic or encyclopaedia knowledge); (3) R (TL + K) represents reconstruction (R) in the target language (TL), which is the manifestation of interpreting output. It is also a process which must be aided by extra-linguistic knowledge (K). The C circle overlaps the R circle because the reconstruction of the TL message begins with comprehension of the SL message, as indicated by the horizontal arrow. (4) S + P represents skills and techniques (S) which an interpreter uses in a professional way to attain professional standards (P). (5) I stands for (successful) interpreting. The arrow shows that the combined interaction of the three circles with interpreting skills and professionalism at the core leads to successful interpreting. It is worth pointing out that in the XiaDa model, an arrow is used to point to the result, the + sign shows an interaction rather than arithmetic addition, and the = sign is used to point to a result.

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2.7.3 The Teaching Progression of the XiaDa Model The XiaDa model mentioned above has served as a theoretical underpinning for its training course since 1999. It follows a nonlinear approach to demonstrate each and every component skill required for professional interpreting. Guided by the chart of progression of skills (see Table 2.1), skills and techniques for consecutive interpreting are subdivided into various components including memory training, public speaking, note-taking, figure switching, paraphrasing, coping tactics and sight translation. These skills are introduced to students in a step-by-step manner throughout the training course, and revision and integration of skills are provided at the end of each unit. Course materials for each unit are carefully chosen to match up to the skills practiced. Furthermore, new materials prepared either by the trainer or students themselves should be concerned with the current affairs or contemporary issues. This approach to the teaching of interpreting calls for constant update of interpreters’ skills. The XiaDa model for interpreter training has offered some tentative solutions to the long-standing question regarding interpreting pedagogy: should an interpreting course be content-based or skills-led? The traditional educational approach follows the teaching methods of (written) translation, whereby trainers simply teach students Table 2.1 Progression of skills for consecutive interpreting (Lin et al. 1999: xxviii)

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to translate from one language to another; while at the same time students enhance their translating ability through working intensively on translation materials. Such a content-based approach perpetuates a repetitive cycle, i.e. a consistent cycle of class practice to teachers’ comments and so on. It is a methodology which revolves around content, that is ‘what to teach’, but neglects the reasoning, that is ‘the how and why’. The traditional approach lacks a basic understanding of the skills trainee interpreters acquire progressively as a step-by-step process through their training course, whereby the teaching materials must be suited to these different stages. Having realized the shortcomings of the traditional method, the XiaDa scholars offered a new skills-led model, which was quickly absorbed by other universities and training institutions. The XiaDa model turned out to be a success for universitylevel interpreter training in China. Over the past decade, some other scholars have further developed this model. Zhong (2003), for instance, proposed his Knowledge Requirements Formula for interpreters based on the XiaDa model: KI = KL + EK + S(P + AP). In this formula, KI = knowledge required for an interpreter; KL = knowledge of languages, EK = encyclopaedic knowledge; and S(P + AP) = professional interpreting skills and artistic presentation skills. In Zhong’s view, interpreting is a scientific skill as well as an art. It is often heard among conference delegates that the interpreters’ synchronized reformulation of speech content is ‘an ingenious art’. Such ‘artistic performance’ cannot go without training on the artistic presentation skills, reflected in the Knowledge Requirement formula. More and more professional interpreting courses in China started to cover at least four interrelated modules, namely courses or seminars on the improvement of language proficiency and language skills, on encyclopaedic knowledge, on interpreting skills and on professional standards (ibid.).

2.7.4 Remarks The component-based, skills-led research paradigm or CS paradigm appeared in the course of the 1990s in the emerging interpreting market of China. The reasons are twofold: external environment and institutional breakthrough. Let us look at each in turn. (1) External environment First of all, the 1990s and the beginning of the twenty-first century have witnessed the deepening of globalization worldwide. The unprecedented economic and cultural exchanges between the West and China have brought the world politically, economically and culturally closer. China’s participation in broader world economic and cultural cooperation was further pushed forward by its entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) and hosting of the 2008 Olympics. The once mysterious ‘Middle Kingdom’ has undergone a remarkable transition from a planned economy

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to a market-oriented one. Since the mid-1990s, more and more international conferences have been held in Beijing, Shanghai and other Chinese cities. As international exchanges multiply, growing demand for high-quality interpretation has created the conditions for theoretical research on interpreter training. Training qualified interpreters to meet market demand has become an essential topic for research. As I have outlined, it is in this period that the XiaDa model has emerged. The development of interpreting courses at undergraduate level has led to the establishment of Master of Translation and Interpreting (MTI) programmes in recent years (see Sect. 2.8.2). In other words, it was China’s economic reform and opening up to the outside world that has actually led to the professionalization of its interpreter training, leading towards the concept of ‘context’ and its role in interpreting education, which we would further elaborate upon in later chapters. (2) Institutional breakthrough As international exchanges and communication in China have witnessed exponential growth, since the 1990s, institutions of higher education realized the pressing need to add a component of interpreting into the curriculum of their foreign language majors, which were traditionally focused on language acquisition and literature. Experiments of opening a translation and interpreting specialization in a college degree course emerged in coastal cities such as Guangzhou and Xiamen in 1993. Collaboration was established between a few Chinese universities and the British Council to develop market-based interpreting courses. The British Council played a pivotal role in bringing in advanced expertise in curriculum design and didactics. At this stage, interpreting courses were incorporated into university degree programmes and substantive scientific research also took off in China. Thanks to the success of those experiments, the Chinese Ministry of Education stipulated in 2000 that interpreting courses be added to the curriculum of English majors, and hence, it became a compulsory subject in foreign language education nationwide. It was an institutional breakthrough for interpreting to gain recognition in China’s higher education system. In sum, the emergence of this research training paradigm has demonstrated the important role both internal and external context plays in interpreter training. This point is further explored in Chaps. 4 and 5.

2.8 The Overarching Themes in Interpreting Didactics The territory of interpreting studies has greatly expanded and diversified through more than 60 years of development. Out of the numerous publications that have appeared in this time period, three key themes surrounding interpreter training issues are most prominent. The following Sects. (2.8.1–2.8.3) briefly summarize the major features and representatives of each.

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2.8.1 Interpreting Skills and Training Methods Training has been one of the most popular topics and indeed a cornerstone for conference interpreting studies since the 1950s. Relevant literature on this topic mostly focuses on training principles and methods, syllabus design and discussions on various teaching methods or techniques. Founding members of AIIC, such as Moser-Mercer (1984), Mackintosh (1995, 1999), Seleskovitch (1968, 1999) and Gile (1995), have, since their formative careers, published extensively on various aspects of training issues: selection, aptitude testing, approaches and curriculum, etc. Conversely, some techniques-related writings are more focused on practical issues. For example, The Interpreter’s Handbook, the earliest training manual that was written by Jean Herbert in 1952, has an essentially pedagogical orientation/function; Herbert writes in prescriptive terms about what skills an interpreter ought to possess and how these skills function in the process of inter-lingual transfer. Herbert’s early writings became one of the ‘must-read’ books for interpreters and interpreting trainers from the 1960s, despite the fact that he never addressed the issue of how interpreting skills should be trained. Note-taking techniques in consecutive interpreting, for instance, have been written about by many authors, including Herbert (1952), Rozan (1956), Lin et al. (1999). Having reviewed different research paradigms, we can see that both Europe and China have produced didactic principles or models for interpreter training. The ‘golden rules’ of the Paris School guided by the interpretive theory of translation (ITT) were the presiding methodology for conference interpreter training in Europe for decades. The ITT-guided approach to interpreter training, represented by the teaching manual ‘A systematic approach to teaching interpretation’ which was originally published in 1989 and reprinted at least four times, has been widely adopted and practiced in Europe. The book covers the progression of skills training in various forms of interpreting, including consecutive, simultaneous, relay and video conferencing in the high-tech age. A more detailed exploration into the ESIT programme is offered in Chap. 3. The XiaDa model, developed by Chinese interpreter trainers, concentrates mainly on consecutive interpreting through offering a component-based, skills-led syllabus for interpreting courses in the Chinese context. In the following chapter, we will look into some concrete training programmes in more detail.

2.8.2 Linguistic Competence and Interpreting Pedagogy It is widely accepted that interpreters ought to possess high-level bilingual excellence. Thus, linguistic competence is a major concern in candidate selection for training. The importance of the interpreters’ mastery of all their working languages (A and B, and where applicable, C language) cannot be overestimated. An influential acquisitionrelated hypothesis that has been applied to bilingualism and interpreter selection

2.8 The Overarching Themes in Interpreting Didactics

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since the 1950s is the distinction between compound and coordinate bilinguals. The former refers to those who learned their foreign language(s) in a single context of acquisition and have two sets of linguistic signs derived from a single set of representational meanings, whereas the latter have separate sets of linguistic signs as well as somewhat different sets of representational meanings, as a result of different sociocultural contexts of language acquisition, and probably occurring before the end of puberty (Pochhacker 2004: 114; Bao 2005: 61). Many believed that only coordinate bilinguals can be considered ‘true bilinguals’ who are able to bridge two cultures and are hence preferred candidates for conference interpreting training, as prescribed in the works of ESIT scholars (see Seleskovitch and Lederer 1989/2002; Lederer 2003). Unfortunately, however, this idealist conception is hardly applicable outside the ‘optimum’ European context, For example, in China, almost 98% of Chinese trainee interpreters are Chinese native speakers brought up in a culturally monolingual environment (Setton and Guo 2009). What can interpreting teachers do? This has invariably brought up new and interesting questions regarding language enhancement, directionality, curriculum and pedagogy in view of this sub-optimal context. Take the issue of interpreting into B language or passive language for example. The mainstream interpreting methodology in Europe discourages any attempt to teach simultaneous interpreting into B simply because it is believed that one’s comprehension ability is much higher than one’s expression ability. However, interpreting into B language is largely practised in Asia. Not only because there is a big shortage of qualified interpreters in the West who can manage interpreting from less widely diffused languages (e.g. Chinese/Arabic) into European languages, but also due to institutional reasons. Interpreting training courses are traditionally offered only for foreign language majors in Asian countries whereby the purpose of teaching is to enhance students’ ability to use foreign language for communication. Hence, many teachers and students believe that anyone proficient in foreign language(s) is able to interpret into that language as they are mostly foreign language majors. Such an awkward situation has started to change in recent years as the professionalization of interpreting has proceeded. T&I training programmes at postgraduate level have become orientated towards anyone with a Bachelor’s degree, regardless of their educational background. The Master of Translation and Interpreting (MTI) in China is a case in point. China has a strong cultural tradition of using foreign language majors as interpreters. It was not until recent years that many clients or educational authorities realized that linguistic competence is not equal to interpreting ability as the latter requires much more that (merely) language proficiency. In other words, the establishment of the MTI programmes in China corresponds with the ITT’s differentiation between linguistic translation and professional interpreter/translator training.

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2.8.3 Interpreting Practice and Profession Interpreting as a nascent profession has a short history in many countries. Recent decades have seen a drastic increase in papers exploring the professionalization of interpreting. AIIC (2002), for instance, conducted a survey on the workload of conference interpreters with a view to investigating the working environment and types of stress faced by simultaneous interpreters. The workload study report (2002) examined four aspects that affect conference interpreters’ work—psychological, physiological, physical and performance factors—as well as the relationships between them. The report concluded that simultaneous interpretation is a high-stress occupation. Textual complexity, insufficient preparation possibilities and poor delivery are considered the main sources of stress when interpreting. The workload report (2002) also suggested that interpreters should undergo regular blood pressure tests to ensure early detection of hypertension. Based on the findings concerning physical parameters of the interpreting booths like CO2 levels, relative humidity and temperature, a series of recommendations was formulated to conference organizers for improving the physical conditions of interpreters’ booths. As the demand for quality interpreting increases, more and more research projects are hinged upon professional practice and the social recognition of the profession. A landmark event was the international symposium entitled Professionalization in Interpreting: International Experience and Developments in China held in November 2004 in Shanghai. During this conference, scholars from around the world gathered to discuss topics concerning certification of interpreters, norms and regulations of market access in emerging East Asia and in particular China, where proper regulations for the interpreting market were not yet in existence. Mackintosh (2006: 2–14) reviewed the role of AIIC in defining and developing conference interpreting into a profession over the second half of the twentieth century. She discussed the attributes that defined a profession and looked into the challenges facing conference interpreting ahead. Donovan (2006: 72–86) touched upon the role of training in professional interpreting, in which she highlighted the critical role of training institutions as ‘gatekeepers’ for this profession and the importance of obtaining professional training diplomas before entering the interpreting market. It is worth noting that issues related to working conditions for interpreters such as interpreting equipment, relationships with clients as well as the management and dispatch of interpreters in (inter)national organizations are becoming heated topics for research. A social-professional model of the professionalization process of conference interpreting was developed by Tseng (1992), who described four phases in the process of professionalization, from ‘market disorder’ to ‘professional autonomy’ in Taiwan (Pöchhacker 2004: 87).

2.9 Conclusion

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2.9 Conclusion Having reviewed different paradigms and themes of interpreting studies, we now clearly see that interpreting studies (IS) has developed into a remarkably heterogeneous domain, composed of diverse, loosely connected yet complementary building blocks—paradigms and models to form what is described as a state of ‘unity in diversity’ (Pöchhacker 2004: 80). As for the paradigm status of interpreting studies, Shlesinger (1995: 9) once stated that ‘we do not have—nor do we necessarily desire—a unifying paradigm’. Although there have been methodological and conceptual conflicts between the IT and CP scholars, represented by the debate between the Paris School and the new-generation researchers (see Sect. 2.3.4), we have not seen any revolutionary replacement between various paradigms. Interestingly, however, one can find two major research turns—the ‘sociological turn’ in community-based interpreting research and the ‘empirical turn’ after the Trieste Symposium held in 1986—which reflect an evolutionary development in interpreting studies, as new paradigms emerged while the old ones remained relevant. Different paradigms have shown a state of coexistence and have sometimes been complementary to each other. The NL paradigm, which reaches well beyond interpreting per se, constitutes the most specialized scientific paradigm, sharing with the CP paradigm a common ground of cognitive sciences. The DI paradigm is receptive to translational norms in the discourse process, emphasizing the sociological and cultural contexts in target text production and mediation. The CP paradigm, as suggested by Pöchhacker (2004: 80), may be perceived as a science-oriented extension of the largely profession-based IT paradigm. The CS paradigm, which also revolves around professional training, may be regarded as the Chinese counterpart of the Europe-based IT paradigm. Thus, this forms a collegial platform for interpreter training under different contexts. In Chap. 4, I assess the suitability of the above-mentioned models in light of the Chinese context in order to further illustrate that interpreter training is a contextual matter. First, however, in Chap. 3, I continue my investigation into major training programmes and models in both Europe and China.

Chapter 3

Acquiring Interpreting Competence Through Training: European and Chinese Training Models Explored

Abstract This chapter looks into the major interpreter training models and their representative courses in Europe and China, in order to illustrate how interpreting competence is developed through training. It starts with a general description of the four major types of interpreter training courses in Europe: the Continental model, the Y-shaped and ‘mixed’ models and the European Masters in Conference Interpreting (EMCI), a model endorsed by the International Association of Conference Interpreters and the European Commission. The ESIT programme, as a representative of the EMCI consortium, is explored in more detail. Five key strands in training— admission, curriculum, teaching progression, faculty and evaluation—are discussed, with a focus on curriculum. The intensive curriculum of conference interpretation at ESIT is designed to cover three main pillars of interpreting competencies: skills and techniques, extra-linguistic or encyclopedic knowledge acquisition and professional ethics. Keywords Interpreting competence · Training models · Comparison

3.1 Introduction This chapter looks into the major interpreter training models and their representative courses in Europe and China, in order to illustrate how interpreting competence is developed through training. It starts with a general description of the four major types of interpreter training courses in Europe: the Continental model, the Y-shaped and ‘mixed’ models and the European Masters in Conference Interpreting (EMCI), a model endorsed by the International Association of Conference Interpreters and the European Commission. The ESIT programme, as a representative of the EMCI consortium, is explored in more detail. Five key strands in training— admission, curriculum, teaching progression, faculty and evaluation—are discussed, with a focus on curriculum. The intensive curriculum of conference interpretation at ESIT is designed to cover three main pillars of interpreting competencies: skills and techniques, extra-linguistic or encyclopaedic knowledge acquisition and professional ethics. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd 2020 J. Liu, Interpreter Training in Context, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8594-4_3

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One major point of note of the ESIT programme is its ‘elitist’ mentality and high eliminatory rates in training and evaluation. We look at how each phase of training is carried out in consecutive interpreting according to the Interpretive Theory of Translation (ITT). The ESIT course only focuses on long or classic consecutive and simultaneous interpreting in (international) conference settings, which requires the candidate to acquire high standards of cognitive and extra-linguistic skills—a point which is also reflected in its curriculum design. The discussion then goes to the new emerging interpreting market of China. Several representative training models, such as the XiaDa and GDUFS, have been forged since the late 1990s, which though influenced by the ESIT/AIIC model do not adhere to the principles of their European predecessors. The Chinese models are mostly developed from the component-based, skills-led research paradigm (see Sect. 2.7), which addresses interpreting competence as individual component skills acquisition. Following the discussion on the CS paradigm in Chap. 2, I further look into another representative course of interpreter training—the curriculum of the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS). The GDUFS model centres around four functional lines to integrate interpreting skills into a two-year training programme. Some specific issues which need to be taken into account in the training of Chinese interpreters include the increased importance of interpreting into the ‘B’ language, the linguistic specificity of Chinese and the specific focus on two-way consecutive interpreting—all of which have been touched upon in the curriculum design and didactic approaches of the XiaDa and GDUFS models of training. Chinese training models attach importance to basic/short consecutive training in developing (undergraduate) students’ bilingual transfer or intercultural skills and the consolidation of language-pair-specific techniques. It also proves that language enhancement and interpreting skills training can go hand in hand within an interpreting programme—a point that has further developed or adapted the ESIT model of training. Liu Heping’s deductive pedagogy for Chinese (undergraduate level) consecutive interpreting courses (2001/2005) is used to further illustrate how B language enhancement can be integrated into an interpreting programme through coping tactics. The chapter ends with some discussion on the impact of the Paris School and the ITT on China’s development in interpreting studies. Some common features and problems confronted by interpreter trainers in both Europe and China are also pointed out and elaborated upon.

3.2 Interpreting Competence: Definitions and Expectations Earlier in Chap. 1, I explored the defining features of interpreting and compared interpreting to translation across seven dimensions (see Fig. 1.3). Similarly, interpreting competence, as a sub-category of translation competence, has its unique features. Various scholars have tried to define it from different perspectives.

3.2 Interpreting Competence: Definitions and Expectations

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In previous chapters, I highlighted some of the implications of training or operational models for consecutive and simultaneous interpreting, in particular Seleskovitch’s triangular model (see Sect. 1.6), the XiaDa model (see Sect. 2.7) and the Effort Models (see Sects. 1.6 and 2.8.3). Thus, a much clearer picture has been forged about the various qualifications and competencies for a good (conference) interpreter. The widely accepted triangular model of interpreting proposed by the Paris School has shown the importance of de-verbalizing, as opposed to linguistic trans-coding, as an essential skill for a successful interpreting performance. To that end, the interpreter needs to possess a high level of linguistic, cognitive and subject knowledge to approach the ‘sense’ of a spoken discourse. This school of thought also suggests that the process of acquiring translation/interpreting competence cannot go hand in hand with linguistic skill acquisition and enhancement. The XiaDa interpreting model has illustrated several core competencies for interpreters: linguistic competence, general and subject-specific knowledge, discourse synthesis, cross-cultural awareness and mastery of interpreting skills and techniques (Lin et al. 1999). It also states that interpreter training courses should focus on cultivating skills and techniques which are applicable to various interpreting themes and settings. Under this model, language skill enhancement is not explicitly excluded from interpreting teaching. Gile’s Effort Models have shown that interpreting is a cognitive management task and has demonstrated that the interpreter must possess the ability to manage multitasking, in both consecutive and simultaneous modes, in terms of listening and analysis, short-term memory, note-taking and the ability of coordination. The split of attention and the proper coordination of each ‘effort’ is the key to a successful interpreting performance. Wadensjö’s seminal monograph (1998) broke the stereotyped perception of seeing a community interpreter’s job as ‘just translating and translate everything’ and highlighted the dialogical feature facing a dialogue/community interpreter at work—the evaluation of an interpreter’s performance should not only involve linguistic aspects, but also take into account the coordinating/mediating factors in the three-party interaction. As Wadensjö has argued (1998: 287–8), (community) interpreters’ professional portfolio should include at least three key competencies: (1) the ability to coordinate or mediate conversation; (2) acting upon social interactional conventions, including the ability to manage the turn-taking processes and perform communicative tasks in accordance with situational parameters and different activity types and (3) acquiring emphatic skills in handling ‘delicate’ situations to avoid communication breakdown such as those involving embarrassment. Setton (2006: 41) defined interpreting competence as entailing ‘operational techniques and strategies in both consecutive and simultaneous for capturing meaning while at the same time formulating its expression’. Furthermore, Setton distinguished three levels of competence: (1) potential competence: linguistic and cognitive prerequisites for a novice to start training; (2) competence: the level achieved by a new graduate after training and (3) all-around professional expertise: a level that only a few can achieve after years of professional practices.

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From these definitions, we find that interpreting is regarded as both a skill and cognitive undertaking that can be developed in a stage-by-stage manner. This leads us onto the question: what one can expect from a professional interpreter training course? What goals should a training programme work towards? There has been a long debate in the professional community as to whether interpreters and translators are born or made. Can translation and interpreting be taught? While Nida (1981) claims that ‘translators are born, not made’, other scholars such as Healey (1978), Mackintosh (1999) have argued in favour of the learning process. Undoubtedly, some ‘natural’ aptitudes are prerequisites to interpreting or translation, especially in high-level conference interpretation where quick reflexes and the ability to multitask are indispensable for success. When commenting on the role of professional training for interpreters and translators, Gile (1995: 20) said: ‘formal I/T training is not an absolute necessity, but it can help beginning interpreters and translators improve their performance and/or improve it faster’. That is to say, formal training can help those who possess basic aptitudes to develop their potential to become professional interpreters or translators in a systematic manner, helping them to develop translation and interpreting skills more rapidly and to form good professional ‘habits’. Thus, I have reason to believe that a systematic and formalized introduction to translation and interpreting skills and some reflection on theoretical readings can improve the overall quality of performance among the trainees so as to ‘make’ qualified interpreters. In the following section, I start to examine major interpreter training models and programmes in both Europe and China.

3.3 The Major European Models of Interpreter Training University-based interpreter training has been in existence for more than 50 years in Europe. Conference interpreting training has been a cornerstone for university (postgraduate) level interpreting programmes across Europe, while community interpreting has also seen a robust increase over the past two decades. A great deal of expertise has been accumulated with regard to student admission, teaching faculties, curriculum design and graduation and evaluation standards. According to a survey conducted by Niska (2005), there are more than 100 tertiary institutions across Europe offering interpreting and translation degree courses, covering community, liaison and conference interpreting at both BA and MA level. Essentially, European interpreting training courses can be divided into four major types or models: (1) (2) (3) (4)

Bachelor-level programmes/courses in translation and interpreting; Mixed MA-level courses in translation and interpreting; ‘Y-shaped’ BA and/or MA programmes in translation or interpreting; Postgraduate-level European Masters in Conference Interpreting.

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In the following discussion, I investigate each type or model by choosing one or two representative training courses. The focus for discussion is the curriculum design of each model. It is worth pointing out that it is futile or unnecessary to include all training course information, since many courses within the same type follow rather similar schooling principles and training objectives.

3.3.1 Continental Model (Undergraduate Level) The first model/type of interpreting programme is the ‘Continental model’. This type of training mainly exists in Scandinavia, Spain, Italy and several other European countries. This model has the following features. It usually takes the form of a complete four to five year undergraduate programme. No formal entrance exam is required. Language acquisition in students’ working languages A/B/C is part of the curriculum (a C language is usually required in most European T&I programmes). In the first three years, students are required to study languages and translation in tandem with other general and liberal arts courses such as linguistics, literature and academic writing. This aims to lay down a broad base before proceeding to interpreting, which takes place in the fourth or fifth year, lasting for an additional one or two years. This often leads to a general degree in ‘Translation and Interpreting’. In my view, the Spanish and Swedish undergraduate programmes in translation and interpreting embody the typical features of the ‘Continental model’. With this in mind, let us first take a look at the curriculum design of the BA in Translation and Interpreting at the University of Vic in Spain (Table 3.1). From Table 3.1, we can see that this undergraduate training scheme follows the sequence from language acquisition to translation and then interpreting. In the first two years, the BA curriculum focuses on language acquisition and proficiency enhancement, including: mother tongue enhancement (A language); acquisition of two foreign languages (B and C languages); general translation (B-A); foundation courses such as world history; computing skills and introductory theories of translation and interpreting. The third and fourth year curriculum (so-called advanced level) covers more specialized subjects, such as audio-visual translation, technical translation, legal and economic translation, consecutive interpreting (B-A) and simultaneous interpreting techniques (B-A). Training on C-A translation is also included. It is worth noting that interpreting training within this category of undergraduate programme is neither intensive nor specific. As shown above, only two third year courses (each worth three credits for each) deal with introducing consecutive and simultaneous interpreting techniques from B to A. No interpreting training into B is offered in the curriculum. Overall, the complete undergraduate translation curriculum follows a sequence from language acquisition to written translation to interpreting (into active languages). This curricular arrangement is comparable to traditional (foreign) language courses, where language acquisition and translation/interpreting coexist

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Table 3.1 Vic curriculum of BA in translation and interpreting [Source http:// www.uvic.es/en/estudi/traduc cio-i-interpretacio (accessed 10/03/2014)]

First year First semester

Type

Complementary Language I

Basic training

Computing I

Basic training

Language A I

Basic training

Language B I

Basic training

Language C I

Basic training

Second semester

Type

Complementary Language II

Basic training

Language A II

Basic training

Language B II

Basic training

Language C II

Basic training

Language D II

Basic training

Theory and Practice of Translation B-A

Compulsory

Second year First semester

Type

General Translation B-A I

Compulsory

Language A III

Basic training

Language and Translation A-A Catalan-Spanish

Basic training

Language B III

Basic training

Language C III

Basic training

Second semester

Type

General Translation B-A II

Compulsory

History. The World since World War II

Basic training

Introduction to Interpreting B-A

Compulsory

Language A IV

Basic training

Language and Translation A-A Spanish-Catalan

Basic training

Language B IV

Basic training

Language C IV

Basic training

Third year First semester

Type

Audio-visual Translation B-A

Compulsory

Computing II

Compulsory

Consecutive Interpreting Techniques B-A

Compulsory

Documentation and Translation

Compulsory

Language C V

Compulsory (continued)

3.3 The Major European Models of Interpreter Training Table 3.1 (continued)

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First year Legal and Economic Translation B-A I

Compulsory

Techniques of Written Expression A

Compulsory

Writing Techniques. Language A

Compulsory

Second semester

Type

Legal and Economic Translation B-A II

Compulsory

Simultaneous Interpreting Techniques B-A

Compulsory

Terminology

Compulsory

Translation C-A I

Compulsory

Translation of Scientific and Technical Texts B-A I

Compulsory

Workshop on Language in Use A

Compulsory

Workshop on Language in Use. Language A

Compulsory

Fourth year First semester

Type

Translate’ > Electives

Optional

Preparation for Internships and Job Opportunities

External practicum

Translation C-A II

Compulsory

Second semester

Type

Final-year Project

Final-year project

Electives

Optional

Translation C-A III

Compulsory

within one curriculum, although the former precedes the latter. The predominant part of this curriculum is still on translation rather than interpreting. The Spanish undergraduate translation programmes aim to lay down a foundation for all students, preparing them for any later specialization. Therefore, their educational purposes are more broad and fundamental to the overall competence improvement of the students. It also reflects the changing educational philosophy of many governments in the twenty-first century, not least in Spain, from ‘higher education for the elite’ to ‘mass education for the youth’. According to Davies (2004: 74), the translation programmes set the foundations and lay emphasis on the cultivation of four key strands of translation competence: (1) making use of resources and tools available, including new (online) technologies for translation; (2) developing a solid basis for later specialization; (3) cultivating transferable skills such as strategy choice, decision-making, awareness of translational norms and (4) forming reflective habits in translating, moving away from the mechanical approach to translation to more rule-guided reflective professional practices.

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We now consider the ‘Scandinavian model’ for (community) interpreter training— a special ‘variant’ of organizing training, epitomized by the Institute for Interpreting and Translation (TÖI) at the University of Stockholm. This type of training follows a flexible approach: (non-academic) vocational training classes are provided by four ‘folk high schools’ and three adult education associations, usually in the form of distance (online) studies over two years or evening classes over one year. Similar to the Spanish model, no formal entrance exam is required to enter such a course. Training is offered in a number of languages combined with Swedish. The flexible curriculum, which is supervised or recommended by TÖI, covers relevant field knowledge in social and medical services, legal matters as well as interpreting techniques and ethics (Norström 2010). The emphasis on training community interpreters in Sweden, especially those who work for immigrants and ethnic minorities, demonstrates the underlying philosophy of ‘human rights for all’. The objective of such training is not to complete an academic degree but to prepare students to pass the government accreditation tests in order to become certified (community) interpreters. As Niska pointed out (2005: 60–61), the interpreting training objectives in Swedish adult education centres and ‘folk high schools’ are (1) developing linguistic proficiency and terminological knowledge of trainee interpreters in Swedish and their other working languages; (2) helping trainees acquire interpreting techniques, as well as knowledge of working ethics and psychological skills; (3) providing community-setting-specific factual and background knowledge in social, political, cultural and employment matters. It is also worth noting that in this traditional centre for community interpreter training, a conference interpreting programme (at master’s level) was newly added in recent years, which follows the EU-guided training principles and methods (see more in Sect. 3.4 below). This reflects Sweden’s broader participation and more active role in EU-related international affairs—a point relating to the role context plays in modelling interpreter training (see Chaps. 4 and 6).

3.3.2 Mixed Master-Level Model A second type of training is the ‘mixed’ master-level course, comprising a oneyear MA in Translation and Interpreting. This model is widely practiced in Britain where (short) one-year masters have become more and more popular over the past decade—a reflection of the economic and social demands for ‘quick solutions or results’. ‘Mixed’ master’s training prepares students to acquire both translation and interpreting skills in a mixed study track. Such an arrangement is based on the assumption that (written) translation skills can go hand in hand with interpreting training—the former does not exclude the latter. More importantly, it is grounded upon market realities where there is a huge local market demand for both skills in Britain. According to Yang’s survey on both Taiwanese and British translation markets (2005: 158), new T/I graduates in these two regions often need to use both translation and interpreting skills to earn a living on the market. This is probably

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Table 3.2 Curriculum of MA Translation and Interpreting at the University of Westminster [http:// www.westminster.ac.uk/courses/subjects/languages/postgraduate-courses/full-time/p09fptai-matranslation-and-interpreting (accessed 10/02/2014)] Core courses

Optional modules

Consecutive Interpreting (B-A/A-B)

Advanced English for Interpreters (Non-native speakers)

Institutional Translation (into your first language)

Computer-assisted Translation (CAT)

Technical Translation (into your first language) Developing Professionalism MA Interpreting Project

Editing: Principles and Practice

MA Translation Project

Second Language Technical Translation

MA Thesis

Socio-linguistics

Public Service Interpreting

United Nations and European Union for Linguists

Second Language Institutional Translation (for Translation Studies non-native English speakers) Simultaneous Interpreting Written Discourse Analysis

the most practical reason for designing a ‘mixed’ programme and also shows the importance of context in modelling interpreter training. Let us now look at the ‘mixed’ translation and interpreting curriculum of the MA programme run by the University of Westminster in London, which is a typical example of the model (see Table 3.2). From Table 3.2, we find that within the ‘mixed’ MA programme, interpreting competence development only targets ‘consecutive interpreting’ in the core curriculum, while simultaneous interpreting is given as an optional course targeting some basic skills in a booth. Public service interpreting, mainly in the fields of health and law, has also earned its place on the curriculum as a new and prosperous domain in the UK. One introductory module consisting of a series of background lectures on health and legal settings is compulsory for all MA students. As far as directionality is concerned, translating into one’s first language (A language) is the mainstay of the curriculum, although consecutive interpreting teaches both ways. As regards interpreting didactics, this programme follows the Paris-based training paradigm as demonstrated in Pédagogie raisonnée de l’interprétation published in 1989 for consecutive interpreting—one of the key reference books for syllabus design and teaching methodology at Westminster.1 A more detailed elaboration of this training approach to consecutive interpreting can be found in Sect. 3.4.2. In light of market changes over the past decade, the Westminster MA curriculum has gradually shifted its emphasis from conference-only simultaneous interpreting to (two-way) consecutive interpreting—a notable move that is more receptive to (local) market demand for various interpreting services in the UK. 1 This

information is obtained from my email correspondence and enquiries (dated 10/02/2011) with the (former) MA course coordinator/leader Ms. Adams at Westminster.

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The changing landscape of the interpreting world in Britain has given rise to many new job opportunities in the broader domain of what can be termed ‘business interpreting’, where interpreters are mostly required to perform consecutive and/or ‘chuchotage’ interpreting in settings ranging from business negotiations to healthcare services for (new) immigrants—all of which requires more than just ‘sitting in a booth or a meeting room’. Two courses (socio-linguistics and advanced English for interpreters) are new additions to the curriculum since 2003. These aim to make student interpreters aware of the different settings, social conventions and terminology that public service interpreters in Britain may encounter in their professional life. Interestingly, however, no liaison or escort interpreting modules are included in the MA course. This is mainly because the average level of English among the general public in non-English speaking EU countries is usually sufficient enough to deal with liaison needs, in contrast to China (see more in Chap. 4). Another core module of this programme is an Interpreting or Translation Project or MA Thesis. One distinctive feature of this project is that students are required to write a reflective report analysing the errors and rhetorical features of their interpreted speeches by applying theoretical interpreting models. Alternatively, students can choose to do an MA thesis (12,000–15,000 words) exploring a certain topic or aspect of interpreting/translation studies. The main languages offered at Westminster University are French, Chinese, Italian, Polish and Spanish, combined with English (the pivotal language).

3.3.3 ‘Y-Shaped’ Training Model (BA/MA) A third model of interpreting programme is the so-called Y-shaped training, offered at BA or MA level. A traditional centre offering this model of training is the University of Vienna, whose interpreter training tradition dates back to the 1970s. Enrolment usually requires three working languages for each candidate—similar to the classification of an A, B and C language by AIIC. According to Pöchhacker (2010: 24–33), within the system of the Y-shaped curriculum, courses last for seven to eight semesters (four years) and are divided into two phases. In the first phase, students follow the same curriculum material in language acquisition and (introductory) translation, though more practice-based than theoretical. At the end of the first phase (the third year), students are divided into two streams based on test results and their own desire to follow either interpreting or (technical/literary) translation into the second phase. This second phase usually takes the form of another two-year master’s programme, leading to either a Master in Translation or Master in Interpreting. This scheme is fairly similar to the complete undergraduate-level ‘Continental’ model discussed above, except that its admission is based on test results instead of an open admission system. Taking language replacement/orientation tests in candidates’ foreign languages (known as SPOT in German) is required before enrolment. Failure to pass this exam stops the candidate from

3.3 The Major European Models of Interpreter Training

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Fig. 3.1 BA/MA curriculum at the University of Vienna (adapted from Pöchhacker 2010: 29)

enrolling into the BA programme. As far as interpreting didactics is concerned, Pöchhacker (ibid.) pointed out that language enhancement is not considered as belonging to the core curriculum of translation and interpreting at Vienna. It indicates that advanced language skills are a prerequisite to (second-phase) translator/interpreter training in Vienna. As of 2007, this model of training has an updated, simplified BA/MA curriculum (see Fig. 3.1), where a three-year BA under the name ‘Transcultural Communication’ is offered in 13 language pairs (by preserving most of the original BA contents), followed by a two-year MA in Translation or Interpreting. In each MA programme, students have a choice of two specializations: translation students may opt for either literary or technical translation, while interpreting students can follow either dialogue interpreting or conference interpreting. While emphasizing the traditional mode of conference interpreting, a specialization in dialogue interpreting was recently created to cater to the increasing need for interpreting services in local courts, police and asylum settings in Austria (Pöchhacke 2010: 32). Although not a focus in this book, the inclusion of dialogue interpreting into the curriculum again reflects the contextual nature of interpreter training, and that must be informed by the organization of economy and market—a point I further explore in Chap. 4.

3.3.4 European Masters in Conference Interpreting The final type of programme is the Professional Postgraduate Courses in Conference Interpreting. This kind of intensive course (one to two years in duration) is

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open to all university graduates and is aimed at training graduates to be ready to work on the conference interpreting market as qualified professionals. Under this scheme, a series of strict quality criteria set by professional associations (notably AIIC) are applied. Teaching and examinations are regulated by predefined standards with the participation of external examiners. The European Masters in Conference Interpreting (EMCI), a consortium currently composed of 11 leading interpreter training institutions, offers this type of training.2 The EMCI programme in conference interpreting was rated three stars (the highest rank) by the AIIC in 2005.3 The European Union, the world’s biggest consumer of interpreting services, regards this type of training as the optimal method to train conference interpreters. This high-standard model is a major focus of the discussion in this chapter, since it is not only highly respected, but also represents the mainstream European method in the training of (conference) interpreters. More importantly, their Chinese counterparts mostly base their training practices on it, so it is deserving of in-depth investigation (see also Sect. 3.5). The core components of the EMCI include the theory of interpretation, practice of interpretation (both consecutive and simultaneous) and lectures on the EU and other international organizations. This is shown in Table 3.3. This type of training follows a common policy regarding student admission, curriculum design, faculty and evaluation. The DG Interpretation of the European Commission provides pedagogical assistance and collaborates closely with these training institutions throughout the entire training and evaluation process. The ESIT of Paris and FTI of Geneva University, two leading interpreting schools, are founding members of the EMCI consortium. In the following section, I use the ESIT programme in conference interpretation as an exemplar to further explore this model of training.

3.4 The ESIT Programme for Conference Interpretation The establishment of the École supérieure d’interprètes et de traducteurs (ESIT) in Paris in 1957 was the first step towards academic university-based interpreter training in Europe. Over the years, AIIC has published its recognized courses on a regular basis and recommends the training principles and the approach developed by ESIT in various academic conferences and publications worldwide. Thanks to the promotional efforts of AIIC, conference interpreter training has become increasingly harmonized and standardized in the top schools in the Western world, with most courses implementing the same basic principles developed in the 1960s and ’70s. The ESIT has played a key role in this process (Setton 2006: 43), so the ESIT model of conference interpreter training is considered the standard model of conference interpreter training in Europe. 2 Source 3 See

http://www.emcinterpreting.org (accessed 11-07-2013). http://www.aiic.net/ViewPage.cfm/page_id=372 (accessed 10-02-2011).

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Table 3.3 Core curriculum and contents of the EMCI programme [This chart is adapted from the EMCI website: http://www.emcinterpreting.org/?q=node/13 (accessed 15/03/2014).] Modules

Contents

Theory of interpretation

This course covers the distinction between interpreting and translation, introducing theoretical aspects of interpretation and research findings related to interpreting from other disciplines such as linguistics and cognitive sciences

Practice of interpretation

This course prepares students for their future professional careers. The specific course modules include communication skills, e.g. voice coaching, public speaking; conference preparation techniques such as terminology, information retrieval and other uses of information technology; professional ethics; conference procedures and working practices and conditions. Study visits to the European Commission, the European Parliament and/or international organizations are also organized in order to familiarize students with the working environment of conference interpreters

Consecutive interpretation

The objective of this course is to cultivate ‘classic’ consecutive interpreting competence. At the end of this course, students are expected to be capable of giving a fluent and effective consecutive interpretation of a speech lasting at 7–10 min, accurately reproducing the content of the original and using appropriate terminology and register. Core skills and techniques include content analysis, memory exercises, consecutive interpretation without notes, summarization, sight translation and note-taking techniques. Speeches used confront the students with a diversity of subject areas, styles and registers, and their length, information density and degree of technicality and specificity increase as the training progresses

Simultaneous interpretation

Building upon consecutive interpreting training, the SI training module aims to cultivate more sophisticated simultaneous interpretation skills. At the end of this training course, students are expected to provide a fluent and effective simultaneous interpretation of speeches of at least 20 min, accurately reproducing the content of the original and using appropriate terminology and register. Additional exercises specifically designed to establish and consolidate the SI skills are required. Students are trained in booth techniques and team interaction. The speeches used confront the students with a diversity of subject areas, styles and registers, and their length, information density and degree of technicality and specificity increase as the training proceeds. SI with text is also taught and practiced in the second half of this course

EU and International Organizations This module focuses on how the European Union and other international organizations operate in order to familiarize students with institutional processes and procedures

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Building upon the theoretical foundations of the Interpretive Theory of Translation (see Sect. 2.3), ESIT set out a series of rules and principles regarding the admission, faculty, curriculum and graduation standards of conference interpreting programmes. Let us look at each in turn.

3.4.1 Entry Requirements The level of training is always set at postgraduate. As discussed earlier, a professional interpreter’s competence portfolio consists of linguistic, extra-linguistic and cognitive skills, as well as certain personality traits. For high-level conference interpreting such as ESIT, the basic tenet is that language acquisition must precede training in interpreting per se (Seleskovitch and Lederer 1989/2002). Under this doctrine, the conference interpreting programme in ESIT is highly selective in all aspects, including student admission, trainer qualification and curriculum design and graduation standards. Rigorous selection throughout the course is crucial in order to maintain the quality of training and the reputation of individual graduates and the profession as a whole (Donovan 2006). The Paris School of scholars believes that the ‘cognitive complements’ required for conference interpreting match up to a general university degree (see Sect. 2.3.3), emphasizing candidates’ intellectual maturity and the range of background knowledge. Thus, courses set at postgraduate level are open to candidates holding a recognized university degree or equivalent in any subject, not necessarily a language.4 ESIT believe that other types of study may provide better qualifications for learning interpreting (ibid.). Following the ‘golden rules’ of the IT paradigm developed in the 1970s (see Sect. 2.3.3), the European model of conference interpreter training has gradually reached a consensus for admission. Special attention is paid to assess the candidate’s language skills and aptitudes required by conference interpreting. The assessment in the aptitude test includes (A) A three-minute impromptu speech on a given topic in the B and/or C language. Candidates are specifically assessed on their command of their active languages (A and B languages) over a wide range of topics and registers, and furthermore, they must have a full understanding of their passive (C) language across the full range of registers. (B) An oral reproduction of short and structured speech (two to three minutes) from the candidate’s C and B languages into A and where appropriate A into B languages. (C) A general knowledge test. (D) An interview with the candidate. 4 According

to Donovan (2006), students enrolled in ESIT’s Conference Interpreting programme come from a very wide range of backgrounds in terms of the degree of study, work experience and time spent abroad.

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The aptitude test aims to ascertain candidates’ analytical and communicative ability. It specifically aims to test if the candidate is able to follow the logic and grasp the gist of speeches immediately and sufficiently, as well as their communicative awareness in this process. Additionally, the candidate’s range of background knowledge is also a focus for testing. The admission in ESIT (and indeed in every EMCI participating institution) is very demanding and highly selective. It is often mistakenly understood that good linguistic skills make a good interpreter. Not everyone who possesses good bilingual skills can be trained as a conference interpreter. According to Donovan (2006: 81), the ESIT interpreting section accepts only about 20% of applicants each year, and only about half of those are accepted onto the second year.

3.4.2 Curriculum Design and Training Approach In ESIT, the Masters in Conference Interpreting (CI) is a two-year intensive curriculum offering a number of language combinations (although all candidates must have French and English). The courses cover four areas of training: (i) understanding the working mechanism of interpreting and interpreters; (ii) interpreting skills and techniques; (iii) codes of ethics and guidelines to market access and (iv) background knowledge acquisition in economics, law, international affairs and the European Union. This is shown (in French) in Table 3.4. Essentially, the ESIT course is structured into the following three modules or parts: Module 1: Relevant theory: understanding the working mechanism of interpreting and interpreters As agreed among the EMCI members in the late 1990s, a theoretical course was introduced into the curriculum. In ESIT, this module includes the latest theoretical developments in interpreting studies and relevant disciplines such as psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics and discourse analysis. There is generally high flexibility regarding which theory or theories are chosen as the foundation for teaching. In ESIT, the interpretive theory is the foundation on which a curriculum and pedagogy are built. As pointed out in Chap. 2, the sense-based approach is the presiding theory to be imparted to trainee interpreters. The content of this component varies a lot, ranging from linguistics and communication studies to translation theory, depending on the expertise available in the department. Lederer (2008b: 110) stated that: ‘one theory—and only one, irrespective of which—should be chosen as a basis for translation teaching in a given context’. This is mainly because the EMCI courses aim to offer trainees shortcuts to competence in the training process and tries to avoid divergence. More importantly, this scheme of training does not aim to create translation scholars but competent professionals ready for the conference interpreting market.

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Table 3.4 Curriculum of the Masters in Conference Interpreting at ESIT (for 2011–2012) (This table is adapted from a course leaflet provided by Ms. Tasmine Fernando, then head of the Interpreting Section of ESIT.) Master 1: Acquisition d’une methode Cours magistraux

Master 2: Professionnalisation de I’interprete Cours magistraux

• Théorie de I’interpretation

2 ECTS

• L’interprétation 13 ECTS professionnelle—Preparation aux conférences, vie international, interprétation diplomatique

• Économie et vie des affaires

4 ECTS

• Escape européen

• Droit

2 ECTS

• Sociolinguistique/analyse du discours

6 ECTS

Ateliers

2 ECTS

Ateliers

• Interprétation scientifique

2 ECTS

• Méthodologie de I’interprétation

3 ECTS

• Perfectionnement linguistique (en français et anglais)

4 ECTS

• Pratique de I’interprétation consécutive

33 ECTS

• Traduction à vue

4 ECTS

• Pratique de I’interprétation consécutive • Pratique de I’interprétation simultanée • Atelier sur la voix

37 ECTS

2 ECTS

Stage

6 ECTS

Module 2: Interpreting skills and techniques As revealed in Table 3.3, this module offers courses on interpreting skills training and practice, consisting of consecutive and simultaneous interpreting skills, sight translation and mock conferences. This skill training (module two) occupies 75% of the curriculum. Modules one, three and four make up no more than a quarter of the total class hours. According to the teaching manual ‘La pédagogie raisonnée de l’interprétation’, or ‘A systematic approach to teaching interpretation’ as its English edition is called (Seleskovitch and Lederer 1989/2002), consecutive interpreting skills and techniques are introduced systematically for one year until students fully master the techniques for rendering a speech (segment) lasting up to five to seven minutes. The progression of skills teaching in consecutive interpreting is thus (shortterm) memory exercises → principles of CI understanding → consecutive without notes → note-taking skills → discourse analysis and identification → note-reading and reconstruction skills → ‘full’ consecutive with notes → coping tactics and professional standards. According to Setton (2006: 45), three phases can be identified in developing interpreting competence, as shown in Table 3.5.

Intermediate (Wider scanning, noting) 1 Basic mechanism (Listening + formulating)

Sight translation Mechanisms (Scanning + capturing)

SI

2 Personal online strategy (Accuracy and completeness)

Communicativity (Momentum, fluency, audience contact)

1 Basic mechanisms (Capturing 2 Consolidating personal note 3 Communicativity + noting) system (Accuracy and (Momentum, fluency, audience completeness) contact)

III

Consecutive

II

I

Semester

Table 3.5 Phases in interpretation training (from a course designer’s view) (Setton 2006: 45)

3 Communicativity (Packaging, fluency, style)

IV

3.4 The ESIT Programme for Conference Interpretation 65

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The training progression is monitored by output objectives in the process. Setton (2006: 44) of ESIT identified three stages in developing the competence of a conference interpreter illustrated in Table 3.4, where he argued: ‘[…] first, the students must acquire basic mechanisms to capture and faithfully render oral speech input; S/he will then try out these skills on various kinds of material and develop personal strategies for implementing them, aiming for accuracy and completeness of content. Finally, as his/her personal technique stabilizes, s/he should turn his/her attention to momentum, fluency, style and making contact with the audience, in other words to making his/her output as communicative as possible without loss of fidelity’. Essentially, the basic progression follows: (1) understanding the discourse through the acquisition of ‘de-verbalizing’—essentially grasping speakers’ meaning over literal transposition from B-A and then A-B in both consecutive and simultaneous form; (2) moving onto core interpreting techniques acquisition such as note-taking, paraphrasing, multitasking and gisting exercises and finally (3) turning attention to output parameters such as accuracy, completeness, fluency and communicability. This skills module is the most essential part of the CI curriculum. Out of the 60 ECTS5 requirements every year, interpreting practice sessions occupy the majority of the curriculum. Thirty-three ECTS are required for consecutive interpreting practice, four ECTS for sight translation in the first year and 37 ECTS for both consecutive and simultaneous interpreting in the second year. The CI teaching sequence follows the ‘golden rules’ of the ITT: first year students are offered courses on consecutive interpreting: B/C → A and A → B/C, respectively. Only when students master the skills and techniques of consecutive interpreting can they proceed to simultaneous interpreting in the second-year curriculum. In principle, ESIT only offers simultaneous interpreting training from B/C to A, and not vice versa. Some ancillary skills such as voice projection (2 ECTS), conference preparation and glossary are also provided in ESIT. Furthermore, there is intensive coaching of interpreting skills in small groups of two to seven students. This small-size coaching guarantees that each student has the opportunity to perform in class, and both the trainer and fellow students have the opportunity to critique them. Module 3: Ethics and market access: links to the profession This module is not specifically highlighted in the curriculum (Table 3.3). It is taught by external professional interpreters, most of whom are former graduates of ESIT who are successful practitioners in the market. Since conference interpreting is a recognized profession, it involves a set of formalized professional ethics and codified working practices. The ESIT sees it as their responsibility to produce the next generation of high-level professional conference interpreters, who observe commonly understood professional ethics such as the obligation of total confidentiality, avoidance of conflicts of interest, professional solidarity and the commitment to only accept work which they feel competent to do and for which they are capable of sufficiently preparing (Mackintosh 2006). 5 ECTS

stands for European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System, a standard devised to compare student study attainment and performance within the EU.

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Module 4: Background knowledge enhancement: target-orientation Extra-linguistic knowledge on the subject matter is important for a successful interpreting performance. ESIT provides first-year students with courses related to subject matters that frequently come up in international conferences. A series of master classes and workshops in economics, law, science and international relations are offered to enhance students’ background knowledge (four ECTS). A course on European studies (Espace européen) (two ECTS) was added to the second-year curriculum in 1997, so students of the European Masters in Conference Interpreting (EMCI)— set up under European Commission’s directives—are familiarized with the operations and institutional processes of the EU. This course is also an opportunity for trainees to observe EU conferences first hand. According to ESIT instructors, secondyear students are given the opportunity to sit in a ‘dummy booth’ with trainers in the EU headquarters to listen to or practice simultaneous interpreting for a conference (though the microphone is never turned on). Exposure to authentic interpreting practice helps the students prepare for their internship. Unlike theoretical courses in an academic master’s programme, which normally aim to prepare students to write their graduate thesis, the master’s programme in Conference Interpreting at ESIT does not have a compulsory component for thesis writing. Instead, students are required to complete an internship report (six ECTS) based on their experience in a regional or international organization in the semester preceding the final professional exams. This reflects the strong profession-based training paradigm at the heart of the Paris School’s teaching didactics.

3.4.3 Faculty and Evaluation The key to successfully implementing a training methodology lies in two factors: (1) the teaching faculty and (2) an effective system of assessments and examinations. Under the agreed EMCI framework, all interpretation training sessions are taught by practicing conference interpreters with teaching qualifications. Thanks to their location in Paris and a sound reputation in training, ESIT has been able to attract practicing (freelance) interpreters who come in once a week to give classes and to provide guidance to recent graduates on market access and employment possibilities.6 Through exercising this kind of flexibility in trainer recruitment, the ESIT course maintains close links with the profession and guarantees diversity of experience and approach (Donovan 2006). The ESIT model of training is very selective throughout the course in its admission, interim streaming and graduation. All trainee interpreters must undergo interim streaming tests at the end of their first year. According to Donovan (ibid.: 81), ‘[…] almost half those admitted into the first year do not go on to graduate. There are a number of reasons for this. Standards at interim exams are deliberately set very high, 6 According

to Lederer (2008a), there are 11 full-time teachers/researchers at ESIT, compared to about one hundred part-time translator/interpreter trainers who give one or two courses a week.

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in keeping with an analysis of the profession as being extremely demanding. Skills, especially language skills, may prove not to be sufficiently robust to withstand the considerable constraints exerted by interpreting’. In general, two types of assessments, formative and summative, are used in evaluating students’ progression. The purpose of evaluation is two-fold. First, it is a way of measuring the study outcome up to certain points and determining whether students are allowed to continue. Second, it stimulates the learning strategy by giving feedback to students so that they become aware of their strengths and weaknesses. It is a good way to record and monitor the progression of training. Each type of assessment has functions to follow. (a) Formative Assessments These types of assessment aim to monitor the learning process, including class performance assessments using comments and feedback from teachers to students and peer reviewers. In essence, this is qualitative feedback. In the CI programme of ESIT, for example, each trainer keeps a record of students’ progress and problems in class and submits them to the course superintendent regularly to monitor and give feedback after the conclusion of a section of training. With the advances in modern technology, students nowadays are encouraged to write training diaries on their blogs to share personal thoughts and problems encountered in the course. In this way, fellow students can review and work together to discuss solutions and coping tactics. (b) Summative Assessments This kind of assessment is used to determine the level of performance at the end of a certain period of training. It is widely used in admission, interim and graduation examinations. In ESIT, students are assessed in both interim and final examinations held at the end of their first and second years. As agreed among participating EMCI institutions, these exams are highly selective. The students are assessed at the interim in consecutive interpretation (B/C → A and A → B) and possibly sight translation (A → B). Only those who pass the interim exam can continue second-year training. The final professional examination (in the last semester) consists of both consecutive and simultaneous interpreting into students’ A language(s) from all the other languages in their combination, and where possible, a two-way sight translation test (A → B and B → A). Simultaneous interpreting with text (SI with text) should also be included as one component of the final examination. Within the EMCI consortium, the panel of examiners is normally chaired by a staff interpreter at the EC and composed of experienced conference interpreters covering all of the languages represented in the exams. The final decision on the candidates’ performance is made by consensus.7

7 The

information on examinations is adapted from the EMCI webpage: http://www.emcinterpret ing.org/examinations (Accessed 16-04-2012).

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3.4.4 Summary of the ESIT-Associated Training Model (EMCI) From the above discussion, we can summarize that a number of common features can be identified in this type of training scheme: (i) high-performance, high-standard training and strict process control, with the entire training process regulated as a standardized procedure according to professional rules and ethics; (ii) the training approach focuses on cognitive processing and interpreting skills instead of language and cultural mediation, which means that good bilingual or multilingual skills are a prerequisite for enrolment in such schools and (iii) institutional-affiliated ‘exclusive’ consortiums. Under this scheme, conference interpreting is regarded as an ‘elitist’ profession whose status is on a par with lawyers and medical practitioners. To be more specific, the basic tenets of the ESIT-associated training include (i) the level of admission must be at the postgraduate level, (ii) aptitude tests are required prior to admission, (iii) a curriculum covering both consecutive and simultaneous interpretation, (iv) courses on professional ethics and practice and (v) a final examination requiring passes in both the consecutive and simultaneous forms (Mackintosh 2006: 9). According to Gile (2006: 19–20), this model of interpreter training and its associated training institutions has a number of distinctive features: (1) They tend to place conference interpreting programmes at graduate level (though this is not possible in all countries). (2) They tend to be very selective, both at admission and at graduation. (3) They focus on interpreting skills and tend to consider that language acquisition is upstream of interpreter training and is not their concern. This has been changing a bit in recent years with respect to language enhancement, but the boundaries between language acquisition and language enhancement can be fuzzy (see Lederer 2008a). (4) They tend to hire instructors as members of AIIC whenever they can. (5) Such instructors strongly recommend that graduating students join AIIC and dissuade students who fail at graduation examinations from working as interpreters. (6) They tend to hire teaching staff among practicing conference interpreters, not among academics or language teachers who, they consider, are not qualified to teach interpreting. These schools maintain close ties with AIIC and with chief interpreters at international organizations which hire interpreters. In particular, they invite representatives of these organizations to participate in mid-point and graduation examinations and send them a list of recent graduates. Thanks to the consistent efforts of its forerunners such as Seleskovitch and Lederer, conference interpreter training in the West (notably Europe) has become systematic and institutionalized formally. The establishment of the EMCI consortium in 1997 with its unified core curriculum and a common policy based on this

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model for student recruitment and assessment is a milestone marking the fact that CI training has entered into a mature stage in Europe. In emerging markets such as China, however, interpreting (and translation) as a recognized profession is closely related to the country’s (re-)engagement with the rest of the world. Such a contextual condition has created new and diverse interpreting services in these countries. In the following section, attention is turned to China, where interpreting training programmes have seen exponential growth over the past 10–20 years.

3.5 The Chinese Interpreter Training Reality When talking about the overall situation of interpreting training in contemporary China, some important concepts should first be put into context. First and foremost, we need to discuss the definition of interpreting and interpreters. As an interpreting practitioner and researcher who have working experience in both China and Europe, I feel it necessary to put interpreting into context: conference or community? In contrast to (Western) Europe, China is not at all an immigrant destination—even small-scale migrant communities rarely exist in this big developing country. Thus, community-based interpreting training such as work in health care, legal or immigration settings is not a separate domain for training. According to the results of the 2010 census conducted by the China Central Bureau of Statistics,8 91.51% of the Chinese population (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) are ethnic Han, with Mandarin as their common language. As regional integration and the level of education in ethnic autonomous regions increase, it is rare if the 8.49% ethnic minorities cannot communicate properly with other people in Mandarin. Thus, the concept of interpreter training in China to date does not include community interpreting and so is not a focus of discussion here. Conversely, conference interpreting in its broader sense, including not only the simultaneous mode, but also ‘short’ and classic consecutive interpreting in the domain of government liaison, international business negotiations and (high-level) bilateral meetings, offers a common ground for further study in this discussion. A second point to note is the level of training in conference interpreting. In leading European interpreting schools such as the 11 EMCI members, one-year consecutive interpreting training is regarded as the stepping stone to fully fledged simultaneous interpreting in the second year, although more and more CI curriculums are reducing the training hours of consecutive, as most international conferences in Europe today only use simultaneous interpreting. In China, most interpreting courses at undergraduate level focus only on consecutive interpreting (both ‘short’ and classic), while simultaneous interpreting is sometimes introduced as an optional extension at undergraduate level. At postgraduate level, however, it is still debatable as to whether ‘full’ simultaneous interpreting should be incorporated into the Masters of

8 http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/375655411.html

(accessed 10/03/2014).

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Translation and Interpreting (MTI) curriculum nationwide, given the contextual limitations faced in China (see Chap. 4). As far as I have been able to trace, only four or five Chinese graduate schools of translation and interpretation offer full simultaneous interpreting training to date.9 For the other tertiary institutions (BA/MA level), consecutive interpreting is the norm and a realistic choice (see Sect. 3.4.1). Therefore, it is clear that consecutive interpreting training at the broader conference level (instead of community level) constitutes a shared or common ground for our further study in the next chapter. Since this book also aims to optimize training practices in the Chinese context, it is necessary for us to have an overall picture of the interpreting training situation in China before any further proposals are given.

3.5.1 Training Types and Programmes in a Nutshell As noted in the previous chapter, consecutive interpreting is now a compulsory subject for all BA English or Translation majors nationwide. Based on a survey on interpreter training developments conducted in 2008–2009, Wang and Mu (2011: 158) discovered that consecutive interpreting as a two-semester course is now offered in the third or fourth year of most Chinese (undergraduate) foreign language curriculums. By early 2013, 106 universities and colleges had been authorized to offer the Bachelor of Translation and Interpreting (BTI) degree courses, with an annual intake of 20–50 students per programme. Across China, the number of Masters of Translation and Interpreting (MTI) programmes had exceeded 200 by 2016. The most popular language pairs offered in Chinese institutions (to date) are Chinese–English, Chinese–Japanese and Chinese–French. As mentioned earlier, the various interpreting training courses in China fall into four broad categories: (i)

Interpreting as an (introductory) elective course, which is mostly offered to non-language majors at undergraduate level and aims to enhance their linguistic and cultural knowledge for intercultural communication. (ii) Consecutive interpreting as a compulsory subject for BA English and/or Translation students. (iii) MA-level interpreting (and/or translation) as a specialization, covering ‘full’ consecutive and an introductory part of simultaneous interpreting. (iv) Conference interpreting, covering both ‘full’ consecutive and simultaneous training for international conferences, as an autonomous subject/discipline. In this book, my focus is on professional-level interpreting training, so type (i) is excluded from the discussion. Most of my attention is instead focused on the didactic 9 Full

simultaneous interpreting training courses (B-A/A-B) are offered at postgraduate level at Beijing Foreign Studies University, Shanghai International Studies University, University of International Business and Economics, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and Xiamen University.

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approaches to cultivating ‘true’ consecutive interpreting competence in conference settings—a pedagogical objective for the majority of Chinese university-level training institutions (see also Chap. 4 ‘middle-layer’ interpreters). Wang and Mu’s (2011) survey report also generalized the training methods and curricula of five leading interpreting (and translation) training institutions in mainland China: Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS), Xiamen University (XiaDa), the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) and Shanghai International Studies University (SISU). Common features in these interpreter training programmes include skillsbased components, subject knowledge-based components, language enhancement and professional practice components. In the following section, I look further into the XiaDa and the GDUFS programmes10 as representatives to explore the curriculum and approaches to interpreter training in China.

3.5.2 The XiaDa Interpreter Training Course In the previous chapter, I explored the XiaDa model for interpreting and interpreter training. Here, I further examine the following aspects in training: (i) curriculum/syllabus, (ii) faculty and evaluation. XiaDa advocates a skills-led approach to interpreter training. This emergence of this training model marks a paradigmatic shift in interpreting pedagogy in China from a language/content-based to a skills-led approach. Under the XiaDa model, component skills for (consecutive) interpreting are introduced to students in a step-by-step manner where emphasis is placed on skill-material correspondence, meaning course materials for each unit should be carefully chosen to match the skill(s) practiced— though some deficiencies in didactic approaches are discussed in the next chapter (Sect. 4.6.2). (i) Curriculum and syllabus Essentially, the XiaDa course features a component-based, skills-led approach to interpreter training. A skills-led syllabus was formulated to guide the one-year consecutive interpreting course at undergraduate level (35–36 weeks in total), as shown in Table 3.6. This curriculum covers 128 class hours (35–36 weeks in total), divided into two parts: consecutive interpreting as the mainstay and an introductory part on simultaneous interpreting. Within each unit/module, lessons are structured along the same sequence: relevant theory → skills to be mastered → texts for practising skills being discussed → 10 These two curricula have both been awarded provincial-level quality prizes, in 2005 and 2009, respectively. In 2007, the GDUFS interpreting curriculum was designated a ‘national quality curriculum’ by the Chinese Ministry of Education.

3.5 The Chinese Interpreter Training Reality Table 3.6 Skills-led curriculum of the XiaDa interpreting course [This chart is adapted from the website for the interpreting course: http://210.34.12.99/ yyky/dagang.htm (accessed 30-03-2012).]

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教学单元 (Modules)

时间安排 (Week)

Semester one

Skill acquisition (per week)

Introduction to professional interpreting

1周

Logical analysis

2–3 周

Active listening comprehension

4–5 周

Memory in interpreting

6–7 周

Note-taking skills

8–10 周

Mid-term exam

11 周

Coping tactics for comprehension

12 周

Reconstruction skills

13–14 周

Liaison interpreting and Intercultural communication

15 周

Sight translation

16 周

Integrated exercises

17 周

Semester two

Theme-based skills training

Figure interpreting (Theme: commerce and trade)

1–4 周

Public speaking (Theme: politics and diplomacy)

5–6 周

The principle of fidelity (Theme: science and technology)

7–8 周

Mid-term exam

9周

Coping tactics (Theme: environmental protection)

10–11 周

Knowledge acquisition for interpreters

12–13 周

Introduction to simultaneous interpreting

14–16 周

Final exam (Face-to-face format)

17–18 周

language issues and additional texts for self-study (Chen 2011: 176). This curriculum clearly points out what skills an interpreter needs and tries to structure them in a progressive manner. The course in the first semester is mainly focused on introducing basic interpreting skills: active listening, logical analysis, memory training, public speaking, note-taking skills, information reconstruction and sight translation.

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The course in the second semester is designed to consolidate the skills of interpreting using specific themes and topics, making it closer in content and difficulty to authentic interpreting faced by students after graduation. Four modules in the second semester are themed under the headings of commerce and trade, politics and diplomacy, science and technology and environmental protection. The rationale for this arrangement is clear: on the basis of acquiring skills, trying to expand students’ extra-linguistic knowledge, which is repeatedly emphasized in the XiaDa model for interpreting and interpreter training (see Sect. 2.7). Unlike the ESIT course, the interpreting course in Xiamen University is open to both undergraduate and postgraduate students of English/Translation, and undergraduates in foreign language faculties are the main target. It is worth pointing out that a specific situational condition is that large classes are a fact of life for almost all undergraduate programmes in China with frequently 25–30 students in one room. This has brought up some new challenges for didactic approaches in training, which I discuss in Chap. 4. (ii) Faculty and evaluation According to the course Website11 and the preface of Interpreting for tomorrow: A course book of interpreting skills between English and Chinese (1999), the XiaDa interpreting team has six members, including English language teachers-turned interpreting instructors, translation and interpreting professors, second language teaching experts and professionally trained conference interpreters. As far as I can discern, the course has no interim streaming test or final professional exams involving external examiners from professional interpreting employers. Graduation is granted on the basis of completing all required credits and a graduation thesis for both BA and MA students. At MA level, passing an oral defence is also required to obtain the degree.

3.5.3 The GDUFS Interpreter Training Programme Over the past decade, the XiaDa model of interpreter training has served as a useful tool to guide interpreter training courses in China. The skills-led operational curriculum is firmly grounded in Chinese training realities. It is also a good starting point for full professional training. As discussed in the previous chapter, Zhong (2003) together with his colleagues at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS) further refined and redeveloped the XiaDa model. Based on the requirements for interpreters suggested by the XiaDa model, Zhong proposed a Knowledge Requirements Formula for interpreters: [KI = KL + EK + S (P + AP)] (see Sect. 2.8.2). This formula states that professional interpreters should cover at least four interrelated modules: (i) the improvement of language proficiency and language 11 Source:

http://210.34.12.99/yyky/dagang.htm (accessed 04/09/2013).

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skills; (ii) courses or seminars on encyclopaedic knowledge; (iii) interpreting skills training and (iv) an elucidation of professional standards. This model approaches interpreter training through four key strands: (i) skills-led interpreting modules; (ii) theme-based interpreting courses; (iii) interlingual transfer skills and comparative/contrastive linguistic studies and (iv) practical interpreting workshops and internships (see Fig. 3.2).

Interpreting Course Series

Interpreting Fundamentals

Consecutive Interpreting

Introduction to Simultaneous Interpreting Techniques

Interpreting Workshop

Theme-based Interpreting

Mock Conference

Political-diplomatic Interpreting

Comparative Interpreting Skills (Chinese-English)

Interpreting Performance Critique

Business Liaison Interpreting

Court Interpreting

Fig. 3.2 Curriculum design of interpreting course series at GDUFS [The English title of each course is translated and added by the author. To get more details, see http://www1.gdufs.edu.cn/ jwc/bestcourse/kecheng/2/index1.htm (accessed 12/05/2012)]

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The GDUFS interpreter training programme was initially designed in 2003 for junior and senior undergraduate students majoring in English Language and Literature (BA 3/4), who are required to take (consecutive) interpreting courses for two years (four semesters) at this university. With the approval of the new Bachelor of Translation and Interpreting (BTI) and Master of Translation and Interpreting (MTI) programmes in 2006 in mainland China, this course series is now targeted mainly at BTI programme students, although the MTI courses are also drawn from this curriculum (see Appendix II). In the new BTI (and MTI) programmes, translation and interpreting are taught as an autonomous subject/discipline, which gives more leeway to course designers to define and arrange pedagogy and curriculum than in an English programme. The detailed course chart is shown below:

3.5.4 Course Design: Four Functional Lines The GDUFS teaching doctrine demonstrates that the optimal course design for interpreter training should combine two approaches: skills-led training as the main line and topic-based courses to supplement or consolidate skills acquired (in line with the XiaDa approach). From the course chart (Fig. 3.2), we see that interpreting has developed from a single course to a series of complementary courses, organized into four functional lines under the GDUFS model: (1) Skills-based component. This line follows the (well-established) skills-led training, which features a component-based approach to teaching interpreting. Here, consecutive interpreting, for example, is subdivided into various modules similar to the XiaDa model. The different emphasis though is on a preparatory course, Interpreting Fundamentals, which is introduced before consecutive interpreting. Many English majors have selective listening habits—an undesirable habit formed during the language acquisition phase, in order to cope with various standardized English tests in China—and the course aims to sculpt these habits into more comprehension-oriented, meaning-based listening for interpreting. The detailed arrangement for each course in this component is as follows: Interpreting Fundamentals (semester 4); Consecutive Interpreting (semesters 5, 6 and 7) and Introduction to Simultaneous Interpreting Techniques (semester 7 or 8). (2) Subject knowledge-based component. The second line offers theme-based interpreting courses organized around subjects, such as business interpreting, political–diplomatic interpreting and court interpreting. Such courses are designed according to different themes or topics frequently met in interpreting—education, business, diplomacy, international relations and environmental protection. This is a rather antiquated method of teaching, seldom applied to interpreting courses in Europe today. Many Western scholars or training schools (e.g. Seleskovitch and Lederer 1989/2002) reject this approach outright, claiming that it is a rudimentary way of teaching, mixing language teaching with interpreter

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training. The reason why GDUFS still adopts this approach is that they believe that a good interpreter should know something about everything. Good interpreters should be able to efficiently and effectively manage subject-oriented knowledge acquisition before any interpreting assignment. In other words, one special purpose of this course is to teach the student interpreters the skills and technical know-how of preparation. As pointed out on the course Website,12 this component is designed to familiarize the students with words, expressions and sentence patterns related to a variety of subject matters such as cultural exchanges, science and technology, political and diplomatic issues and also to provide them with a better understanding of China’s basic policies and sociocultural knowledge of Western countries. According to Wang and Zhong (2010), pre-class preparation is one of the crucial components of this course. Students are required to prepare well before class. Students need to conduct topic-related reading and searching (via the Internet and other media) to familiarize themselves with the terminology and jargon and to gain a working knowledge of the subject matter. Each unit starts with student presentations on a theme, followed by critique by fellow student interpreters. Here, oral presentation on a subject matter under each unit is integrated into and considered part of an interpreting course. For that purpose, this one-semester-long module/component comprises a series of talks, workshops and practical sessions, based on twenty subject areas covering tourism, farming, sports, population, aviation and the space industry, economic development, special economic zones, environmental protection, traditional Chinese culture, education, speeches and toasts, ethnic groups, foreign trade, international relations, the WTO, the banking system, insurance, science and technology and new economy. It is worth noting that theme-based interpreting is a supplementary part of the skills-led consecutive interpreting or simultaneous interpreting. This component is offered in the second semester of the third year of BTI, alongside the skills-led component. (3) Professional practice-oriented component. The main feature of this third line is to offer students simulated field practice after the skills acquisition phase, based around courses such as mock international conferences and internships, and workshops on observation and critique of interpreting performance. The purpose of these courses is to provide students with a platform to apply what they have learned in practice. This is common in both Europe and China. In leading European schools such as ESIT, students are given the opportunity to conduct an internship at a language services section in an international organization for one or two months. In countries where the chances of an internship at an international organization seem remote and unrealistic, field observation at a conference guided by the teacher is recommended. For instance, one feature of Interpreting Performance Critique at GDUFS is to organize a special session on the observation and appraisal of the interpreters’ performance at various press conferences hosted by the State Council or Ministry of Foreign Affairs every month, which are broadcast live on television. 12 Source: http://www1.gdufs.edu.cn/jwc/bestcourse/kecheng/2/index5-2.htm (accessed 20/05/2012).

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Table 3.7 GDUFS course units for contrastive studies of English and Chinese [This chart is adapted from http:// www1.gdufs.edu.cn/jwc/bes tcourse/kecheng/2/教学内容/ 英汉汉英口译/课程教学计 划.htm (accessed 11/12/2013).]

Week

Contents (C–E/E–C language rendition)

1

Introduction 导论/口译的流程, 译员的挑战

2

Pronunciation and intonation in interpreting 语音与选 词

3

Public speaking skills 口译中的演讲

4

Hypotaxis versus parataxis 形合与意合

5

Preparation for interpreting 译前准备

6

Theme versus subject 主题与主语

7

Predicate in English and Chinese 谓语对比

8

Syntax of English and Chinese 句子结构

9

Note-taking skills 笔记技巧

10

Dynamic and static expressions 动态与静态

11

Active versus passive expressions 主动与被动

12

Patterns of comparison and negation 两种特殊句式

13

Textual cohesion 语篇衔接

14

Logical coherence 逻辑连贯

15

Style and register 语体与语域

16

Mock conference 模拟会议

17

Fuzzy information 模糊信息

18

Culturally loaded expressions 文化词与文化含义词

(4) Language-pair-specific component. Comparative interpreting skills are the most controversial course in the curriculum. It is drawn from written translation, centring on the syntactical and structural differences between English and Chinese. Bilingual discussion constitutes an essential part of this course (see Table 3.7), with a view to figuring out the possible difficulties in the process of interlingual transfer. This approach has been severely criticized or even rejected by the Paris School. As discussed in Chap. 2, the ITT believes that ‘units of sense’ do not coincide with words, syntagms or set expressions. Sense is derived from the linguistic meaning aroused by speech sounds and of a conscious cognitive addition to it: the fusing of linguistic knowledge and extra-linguistic knowledge, which transcends any language combination. It is true that approaching the ‘sense’ at the level of discourse is an essential part of interpreting methodology. Yet the way to it can be varied in light of the linguistic context facing Chinese students, and so GDUFS scholars treat it differently. They believe that asserting the syntactical or structural differences between two vastly different languages like English and Chinese can help cultivate or stimulate students’ awareness of ‘transfer’ in the translating process. This is best done at the beginning stage. Under this assumption, the interlingual transfer skills component (from Chinese into English) is offered at an early training stage (see Table 3.7).

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This one-semester course covers a range of topics of contrastive studies of English and Chinese, including discourse analysis, text, style, register, fuzzy information, figure of speech, syntax of English and Chinese, subject and predicate and hypotaxis and parataxis. Its purpose is to help beginners to acquire some common interlingual transfer skills through a comparative study of micro-linguistic structures of English and Chinese: conjunctions, the conversion of parts of speech and the handling of front-loading Chinese sentences. This course aims to cultivate structural flexibility, centring on translating from Chinese into English. In my view, the language-specific approach devised at GDUFS reflects some common contextual limitations Chinese institutions face at the moment. Firstly, there is a lack of bilingual excellence among the students, especially a lower level of B language compared to Europe. Secondly, there is a (strong) necessity to interpret into B (in most cases, English): Chinese interpreters are mostly required to interpret both ways (A-B/B-A) in all forms of interpretation. Thirdly, there is the influence of second language teaching traditions on interpreter training. In applied linguistics, structural/syntactical differences are often perceived as stumbling blocks in translation (see e.g. Catford 1965). Thus, such perceived differences between Chinese and Western languages are believed by interpreter trainers in China (notably at GDUFS) to justify a curriculum component targeting language-pair-specific problems (Wang and Mu 2011). As shown in Fig. 3.2 and Table 3.7, systematic curriculum design is a characteristic feature of the interpreting programme at GDUFS. Four different functional lines are designed to train different aspects of interpreting competence, with a distinct focus on interpreting skills, interpreting topics and extra-linguistic knowledge, languagepair-specific transference and professional practice (ibid.). Another pillar supporting effective implementation of the curriculum is the teaching faculty. High-quality teaching cannot occur without a team of qualified trainers. As far as I can tell, the interpreter trainers at GDUFS are a mix of language teachers-turned interpreters, professors of interpreting and translation and professional conference interpreters (with one AIIC member to date). The master-level programmes in conference interpreting (including MA and MTI) take about 15–20 students a year, and the pass rate is high—all trainees complete the course, and the graduate thesis leads to the MA degree. There are no external examiners taking part in the graduation exam.

3.6 Comparison of Training Models: Reception and Adaptation So, we have now looked at the mainstream Western and Chinese approaches to interpreter training. It is not difficult to find some similarities. Both emphasize the importance of a skills-led rather than language-based approach, although Chinese

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interpreter trainers seem to have attached more importance to bilingual discussion. Consecutive interpreting is seen as a stepping stone to simultaneous interpreting, and the teaching sequence goes from consecutive to simultaneous. Furthermore, the trainers are preferably practicing (conference) interpreters with teaching qualifications. It is curious how these similarities were formed. In fact, the Paris-based ITT has exerted considerable influence on the development of China’s interpreting research and training since the 1980s. Seleskovitch and Lederer also visited China several times in the 1980s and ’90s to give lectures and take part in teacher training. The ITT opened new windows for the Chinese interpreting community, in particular its guidance of pedagogy and practice. Before that, many in China believed that interpreting had no theory, and that it did not need supporting theoretical frameworks. It is justifiable and not excessive to say that the arrival of this theory filled up a theoretical ‘vacuum’ for interpreter training in China. Nonetheless, despite some similarities highlighting the emulative influence of ITT in China, the differences outweigh the similarities in many respects. Chinese protégés of the ITT have applied this theory in their teaching practices and adapted this framework of training in order to achieve better training and ‘socio-ecological’ results. For a long period of time, the ESIT model has claimed that interpretation skills acquisition is distinct from language training. The former excludes the latter, indicating that language issues are not the concern of an interpreter training programme. These ‘optimal’ situations are often only wishful thinking in China, so much so that the importance of B language enhancement has long been highlighted for interpreter trainers. Based on years of teaching practice in consecutive interpreting courses, Liu Heping (2001/2005) proposed a deductive interpreting pedagogy where she described four processes in developing students’ interpreting competence, even if their command of a B language is not yet considered up to the standard stipulated by ESIT. In her monograph, Liu (2001/2005: 133–59) elaborated on how language enhancement can be carried out before and during the skills-training phase, as well as various methods or techniques for language enhancement in the Chinese context. One can also refer to the XiaDa teaching methodology to see how language enhancement is blended into interpreter training. The GDUFS model highlights the importance of mastering interlingual transfer skills for interpreters, as shown in the foundation course, Comparative Interpreting Skills—serving as language enhancement tools to raise awareness in translating. In recent years, Lederer (2008a: 26) has started to recognize that it is imperative that a conference interpreting course should offer a component of language enhancement. As she asserts, ‘…language enhancement is required for most interpreting students but should be separated from simultaneous (interpreting) instruction, although the two must clearly be coordinated. If there is a class in language enhancement, so much the better’. Another controversial issue for course designers and interpreter educators in both Europe and China is the balance between ‘theory’ and ‘practice’ in the curriculum. Take the thesis component for example. The EMCI programme has no compulsory

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credits for thesis writing (see Table 3.3). Instead, an internship report in the final semester is required for completing the degree course. In Vienna, however, thesis writing is compulsory for all translation and interpreting students. In China, all graduate students (both Masters and Ph.D.s) have to write a thesis in order to be awarded a degree. In practice, however, thesis writing is often given short-shrift among interpreting students. In fact, master’s students on China’s interpreter training programmes are often heard complaining about the thesis requirement. This often reminds us of the need to reconcile ‘education through research’ (such as critical reading, thesis writing, and seminars) with profession training. For conference interpreting students in Europe at MA level, their practice hours (tape hours) are set above a minimum level of 100013 in order to fulfil the demanding quality standards of this profession. If a research component is necessary, what is the weight of this component in such a programme? How do we make this component beneficial to both students and trainers and reconcile with the demanding hours of practice? To conclude, professional training courses have proved to be an effective way to help trainees acquire interpreting competence and equip them with all the necessary skills and techniques for the real world. Different approaches have made their presence felt in academia. In the emerging Chinese market, for example, what strengths and/or weaknesses do these model(s) have in light of the Chinese reality? In the next chapter, I start to examine the applicability and feasibility of both the mainstream European and ‘home-grown’ training models in the Chinese interpreting training scene.

13 Source:

http://www.emcinterpreting.org/ (accessed 10/12/2011). The EMCI programme is based on the expectation that the number of class contact hours, group practice hours and self-directed study may total no less than 1000 h.

Chapter 4

Didactic Approaches to Interpreter Training: Contexts, Approaches and Coping Tactics

Abstract Following previous discussions on major European and Chinese training models, we find that the AIIC/ESIT model for the training of conference interpreters has been highly influential in the Western world. The European Masters in Conference Interpreting (EMCI), a consortium of leading European interpreting schools, has these frameworks to thank for their success. In face of new and diverse market demands for interpreting services in emerging countries and thus has impacted upon interpreter training practices in these countries. Rather than assuming the validity of a one-size-fits-all framework, it may be that interpreting models influenced by the likes of the Paris School require reconsideration or a more nuanced reappraisal of context. The reappraisal is performed in this chapter by honing in on contextual conditions in China—one of the biggest developing economies in the world. The major argument put forward here is that good interpreter training practices are shaped by both demand for skills (in turn informed by the organization of the economy and the opportunities it provides) and the supply of skills available at the local level. Keywords Context · Didactic approaches · Model assessment

4.1 Introduction Following previous discussions on major European and Chinese training models, we find that the AIIC/ESIT model for the training of conference interpreters has been highly influential in the Western world. The European Masters in Conference Interpreting (EMCI), a consortium of leading European interpreting schools, has these frameworks to thank for their success. Yet within the past 20–30 years, the world has undergone many economic, social and cultural changes: the economic centre of gravity has begun to shift from the ‘old’, developed Western Europe and North America to new centres in East Asia, the Middle East and South America.

An expanded version of this chapter has been published in 2014 at FORUM vol. 12 (1), an international journal of interpretation and translation.

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd 2020 J. Liu, Interpreter Training in Context, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8594-4_4

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This has brought up new and diverse market demands for interpreting services and thus has impacted upon interpreter training practices in these countries. Few studies have considered whether the ESIT/AIIC model of training is an optimal choice or still relevant for environments outside America and Western Europe, in countries with different social and economic arrangements. Rather than assuming the validity of a one-size-fits-all framework, it may be that interpreting models influenced by the likes of the Paris School require reconsideration or a more nuanced reappraisal of context. The reappraisal is performed in this chapter by honing in on contextual conditions in China—one of the biggest developing economies in the world. The major argument put forward here is that good interpreter training practices are shaped by both demand for skills (in turn informed by the organization of the economy and the opportunities it provides) and the supply of skills available at the local level. Indeed, interpreter training should be receptive to context-specific external conditions. This point is put forward by recourse to a more explicit focus on China, where the diversified interpreting market, different institutional backgrounds for interpreting and generally lower standards in students’ ‘B’ languages suggest that an alternative model for interpreting should be followed. This chapter goes through a number of logical steps to create this argument. First, the notion of ‘context’ is introduced and explained for interpreting, divided into three parts: ‘micro-linguistic’, ‘teaching–learning processes’ and a ‘macrohistorical’ context. Then, the situation in China is considered with respect to these three contextual dimensions. Thirdly, the principles and application of the ESIT/AIIC and the XiaDa/GDUFS models of interpreting training are assessed in the light of the specific conditions present in modern-day China. It is shown that while these interpreting models have their undoubted strengths, they are also problematic when applied to ‘alien’ environments or contexts. The strengths and weaknesses of these didactic approaches are considered. In fact, the specific conditions in China call for a different approach. A general conclusion is then given, criticizing the application of theoretical models in the abstract and suggesting that all models, however theoretical or influential, must be flexible and fluid enough to account for divergent social, economic and cultural contexts. In that respect, the dominance of the Paris School-inspired training models is brought into question.

4.2 Context for Interpreter Training: The Chinese Case Context was a trendy concept in linguistics and translation studies in the twentieth century. Numerous studies were carried out to define ‘context’ from various perspectives in the linguistic circle, including Malinowski (1923), Firth (1951), Hymes (1977), Kramsch (1993), Halliday and Hasan (1993). In traditional linguistics, where the approach usually focuses on the micro-units of language properties such as preceding or following words, sentence groups or speech acts within a discourse, context may refer to as ‘verbal context’ or ‘co-text’. Most of the scholars’

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Context for interpreter training

Micro-linguistic context: collocation, sentence groups, speech acts.

Training/teaching process context: psychological, interactional, situational and cultural contexts

Macro-historical context: Social, cultural, institutional, background matrix

Fig. 4.1 Dimensions of context for interpreter training

focus is on the relationship between context and language learning—what I call ‘micro-linguistic’ context, as shown in Fig. 4.1. In non-technical fields, however, ‘context’ often means the geographical, historical and political ‘situation’, ‘background’ or ‘environment’ (Van Dijk 2009). That is to say, a bigger or more general dimension of context also deserves our attention when studying interpreting and interpreter training, which not only has a linguistic dimension but also a socio-historical one (also see discussion in Sect. 2.7.4). In other words, a synthesis of different definitions of context is desirable for our investigation below. Therefore, I have drawn up a new definition of ‘context’ when applied to the study of interpreting and interpreter training—explained in Fig. 4.1. As discussed in previous chapters, interpreting is an interactive form of communication, bound by many ‘contextual’ variables (see also Sect. 1.5): collocations, sentence groups and discourse structure to name just a few. However, these so-called micro-linguistic contexts do not represent the whole picture of interpreting and interpreter training. In order to better examine the effectiveness of an interpreter training programme, we must also place interpreter training in a larger or macro-historical context. In fact, interpreter training is a social undertaking occurring in a given historical period, which suggests that we must study both macro-historical and microlinguistic contexts. Meanwhile, interpreting teaching or training entails processrelated context: interaction between teachers and students, the psychological and cognitive context for learning on the part of the students, as well as the (inter)cultural context in which teaching is carried out (Kramsch 1993). Therefore, the definition of context extends along three dimensions, as illustrated in Fig. 4.1. As we can see, the three dimensions of context in Fig. 4.1 synthesize the merits of previous definitions. We now have a more panoramic and inclusive definition of context, from which my investigation continues. This kind of scheme can be applied to the interpreting context in China. I will now address each of these dimensions in turn.

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4.3 Macro-historical Context In contrast to Western Europe, China possesses far fewer favourable contextual conditions for foreign language acquisition. Even after three decades of opening up to the outside world, China remains largely a monolingual society (notwithstanding the many variants of Chinese), where most students’ only attempt to take on board a foreign language is at school. Mandarin Chinese is the only official national language, and thus use of English outside the classroom is limited. Culturally ingrained and institutional reasons have perpetuated this problem over the years. As Setton (2011: 2–3) has observed, ‘What appears to Western eyes as a closed, self-referential society is proudly defended from within as a culture of self-sufficiency, refinement, and self-empowerment through selective integration’. Much can be connected to the clear-cut mentality distinguishing the concepts ‘nei’ and ‘wai’: the inner and the outer. Historically, ‘nei’ refers to the Chinese Han ethnic group, which held the Central Plains and dominion over most of China throughout the pre-industrial period. In contrast, ‘wai’ refers to people from the other side of the Great Wall, who are frequently nomads. Such a boundary between the two is portrayed as a story of the ‘civilized’ versus the ‘barbaric’. The nei–wai distinction in effect has shaped much of China’s contact with the outside world and, more particularly, the nation’s curious but critical attitudes towards foreign doctrines and models. Indeed, foreign language learning and research did not receive much attention in the long period after the formation of the People’s Republic. Mao’s doctrine calling for self-reliance and class struggle further embedded this notion of selective integration among the Chinese people with anything foreign considered to be ‘Western’ or even ‘bourgeois’. Until the late 1970s, China had almost no contact with the Western world for interpreter training and certainly nothing like a private market for interpreting and translation. Given this sort of background, plus economic reasons, it is of little surprise that very few Chinese college students live or study for a considerable time period (one year minimum) in a country of their strongest foreign language (B language), which is an absolute requirement for admission to the ESIT programme. As Lederer (2008b: 22) has noted, ‘For Chinese would-be interpreters, going abroad to improve their foreign language is probably often wishful thinking, in view of the distance and costs involved’. Unlike the early European interpreters who were well-travelled bior trilinguals with fairly even exposure to the cultures of their other languages, or today’s EU multilinguals, almost 98% of Chinese trainee interpreters are Chinese native speakers brought up in a culturally monolingual environment (Setton and Guo 2009). The lack of foreign language use in an authentic environment does much to hinder mastery of the subtleties and nuances needed. It is an undeniably cold reality that for the majority of foreign language students in a Chinese university, their command of their B language would hardly fulfil the requirements needed for admission into a professional training programme like the ESIT. In that sense, one of the things emphasized here for China in contrast to the West is the lack of a thorough command of B language, a cold yet common fact in this country.

4.3 Macro-historical Context

500

87

1: Professional conference int.

Several thousand

2: Professional interpreters

‘Middle Layer’ Interpreters

3: Consecutive interpreters

Tens of thousands

4: Other types of language and liaison assistants (secretaries, escort interpreters)

Fig. 4.2 Market-based demands for types of interpreter in China (adapted from Liu 2007)

However, it must be conceded that as China has opened its doors to the outside world more and more since the 1980s, interpreting markets have seen a substantial growth—connected of course with much more general trends towards rapid economic growth and integration with global market demand. Indeed, according to the Translators Association of China (TAC), the annual market value output of China’s translation and interpreting market exceeded 50 billion RMB (around eight billion US dollars) in 2010.1 The popularity in interpreting and translation courses has risen dramatically, moving from an optional to a compulsory subject in China’s foreign language curriculum at undergraduate level in 2000. To date, five graduate schools for translating and interpreting in China offer MA and MTI courses, mostly combining English and Chinese, but some also combining Chinese with French, Japanese, German and Russian. The rapid growth of the Chinese interpreting market is another interesting contextual condition then and poses further questions about how to position interpreting training towards the different market demands. Conference interpreting is dominant in the Western context and forms an integral part of the ESIT/AIIC approach—but does it hold the largest market share in China? According to Liu Heping (2007), the interpreting market in China can be divided into four levels: (i) professional conference interpreting; (ii) professional interpreting; (iii) consecutive interpreting; and (iv) interpreting for tourism and liaison. This is depicted in a hierarchical pyramid in Fig. 4.2. Liu’s classification for interpreters in China is based on both market requirements and the level of professionalism involved. Interestingly, demand at the very 1 Source:

www.tac-online.org.cn (accessed 12/09/2011).

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top for professional conference interpreters is quite low—no more than 500 for the whole country. The biggest shortage of supply is in the so-called middle-layer interpreters, something pointed out by Liu Heping herself (2007: 145–6) where she notes, ‘Statistics show that approximately 80% of the interpreting market in China still uses consecutive interpreting for international exchanges in economic, business, cultural, sporting events… The demand for consecutive interpreters is far bigger than simultaneous conference interpreters in China’. The ‘middle-layer’ interpreters as defined in Fig. 4.2 include type 2 and 3 interpreters, for which there is the biggest shortage of supply for training purposes. The expertise of these interpreters can be found in doing short and ‘classic’ consecutive interpreting. After one or two years of training in a translating and interpreting degree programme, recent college graduates can meet the requirements for middlelayer positions. The bottom layer of liaison and tourist interpreters is not relevant for discussion in this book, because it remains the task of vocational schools and polytechnics, which do not have the same need for interpreter training models. But the value of the ‘middle layer’ in China represents a further contextual difference with that of the West.

4.4 Micro-linguistic Context Another significant contextual factor impacting upon interpreting training is related to the linguistic specificity of the Chinese language. As is commonly known, Chinese does not belong to the Indo-European language family which includes most Germanic (e.g. English, Dutch and German), Slavic and Romance languages. These European languages, which genetically derive from a common ancestor, belong to phonograms. The modern Chinese writing system, however, is a logogram (语素文字), which to a certain extent conveys meaning by using the pictorial resemblance to an object or a sign. For example, 明 or ‘brightness’ is composed of 日 (representing the Sun) and 月 (the Moon). When the Sun and Moon come together, it gives us ‘brightness 明’. So, it leads us to question whether the pictorial nature of the Chinese characters can give certain advantages for Chinese interpreters. What implications can it have on interpreter training in this context? Undoubtedly, native Chinese speakers have excellent ‘image/visual memory’ in language perception. Some Chinese characters and numbers often carry with them special meanings. For example, 8 ( 八) stands for prosperity; 6 (六) for smoothness; and 9 (九) for longevity in certain linguistic contexts. That is to say, many Chinese characters have a special relationship between the ‘signifier’ and the ‘signified’. According to the Interpretive Theory of Translation (ITT), all numbers and specialized terms can be transcoded. Due to the linguistic specificity, literal translation or transliteration will inevitably lead to the loss of information (Liu 2006). Thus, what special tactics are needed for interpreter training?

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In terms of structural or syntactic differences between Chinese and European languages like English, the following aspects must be highlighted in view of the special linguistic context: (i) Topic prominent versus subject prominent Chinese is often labelled as a topic-prominent language with over 50% of the sentences following the ‘topic–comment’ structure (Li and Thompson 1976; Chai and Zhang 2006). It is common to see Chinese sentences without a subject. As Setton observed (1999: 143), ‘[…] an initial ‘topic’ may be marked off as such by a particle (ne or a), but there is no overt indication of its relation to the subsequent ‘comment’, and the subject may be deleted’. English, on the other hand, is regarded as a ‘subject-prominent’ language with most sentences following the ‘subject–predicate’ or ‘subject–verb–object’ (SVO) structure. For interpreters working between these two languages, these prominent differences are likely to be stumbling blocks in interpreting. When translating from Chinese into English in the simultaneous mode, special coping tactics are called for under this context. (ii) ‘Co-verbs’ and front-loading features of the Chinese syntax: The syntactical flexibility of Chinese sentences is reflected in its co-verb sentences, many of which follow ‘verb-driven’ structures. Most modifiers appear before the nuclear part of a Chinese sentence, known as the ‘left-branching structures’, which may also require specific coping tactics for interpreting and/or translation. For example, 我国政府对目前在中东地区爆发的所谓 ‘阿拉伯民主之春’ 运动表示谨慎的 理解和支持. (English interpretation): On the so-called Arab Spring movement which broke out recently in the Middle East, the Chinese government expresses its cautious support and understanding. When handling this Chinese sentence in simultaneous interpreting, the interpreter would not know what comes after ‘对…’ The front-loading part from ‘目前…运 动’ is rather long with much declarative information. Can the interpreter wait until the whole sentence is completed? Probably not, for in that case, their processing capacity would have been saturated. In simultaneous interpreting, different mental mechanisms compete for limited resources (see Sect. 1.7). In order to achieve proper balance, this declarative part has to be handled before time runs out. Therefore, a common tactic is to retain the subject ‘我国政府 (the Chinese government)’ and translate the front-loading part first. After hearing ‘理解和支持 (support and understanding)’, resubmit the subject in front of a new clause. Although against the ‘sense-based’ de-verbalization, this technique has proved useful in training Chinese–English interpreters. Translation scholar Chen (1986: 437) writes that: ‘Chinese differs greatly from English in syntax. An English sentence is like a tree with a trunk and some branches attached to it, the trunk being the main clause and the branches being the subordinate clauses and dependent phrases. A Chinese sentence is like a clump of bamboo, each

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shoot growing independently. When a Chinese sentence is translated into English, amplification by conjunction is necessary’. As an interpreter educator, I have had the honour to record many of my former undergraduate student interpreters’ live class performances, especially when they work into B (from Chinese into English). Some typical ‘errors’ or ‘awkward output’, shown below, points to the fact, in my opinion, that language-pair-specific techniques are necessary for beginner trainees. For instance, in a class working on the topic of Sino-US cooperation in science and technology, several students (with Chinese A and English B) interpreted the following speech segment into English as below2 : 我们应该牢牢把握中美关系的大局, 妥善解决分歧, 不断朝着增进了解, 扩大共识, 发 展合作, 共创未来的目标前进. We should take a firm hold of the overall interests of Sino-US relations and settle our differences properly, and reach the goal of promoting mutual understanding, broadening common ground, developing cooperation and building a future together.

This is a typical and interesting example of lacking proper ‘connectives’ in handling cause–effect relationships in Chinese–English translation/interpretation, which has perhaps resulted from mother tongue (L1) interference: the parataxical feature of the Chinese syntax. Even if the students show no difficulty in understanding the source language utterances (their mother tongue), the interpreting output looks awkward. In this respect, interpreter training courses in China may really need to consider effective teaching methods to enhance language-pair-specific skills, i.e. the lack of awareness in translating parataxical Chinese sentences into English, which mainly follows a hypotaxical structure. It is therefore clear that a number of specific features exist in the Chinese interpreting context—often quite distinct from conditions seen in Western Europe and North America. Of course, this becomes interesting because many of the dominant interpreter training models (e.g. ESIT/AIIC) were founded with ‘Western’ conditions and context in mind. Thus in the next section, we begin to consider whether the dominant training models currently employed in interpreting are most effective and properly applicable to various dimensions of the Chinese context.

4.5 Assessing the Suitability of the ESIT/AIIC and XiaDa/GDUFS Models for the Chinese Context (1) Theoretical aspects: Sense-based versus language-specific approach As discussed in Chap. 2, the ITT (Seleskovitch and Lederer 1989/2002; Lederer 2003) believed that ‘units of sense’ do not coincide with words, syntagms or set 2 This

example is adapted from my consecutive interpreting course memo for BA4 English majors in a Chinese college in Beijing (dated 09/06/2009).

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expressions. ‘Sense’ is derived from the linguistic meaning aroused by speech sounds and of a conscious cognitive addition to it: the fusing of linguistic knowledge and extra-linguistic knowledge, which transcends any language combination. The threestep process of interpreting as explained by the Paris School applies to all language combinations. In other words, the ITT denies language-pair-specific difficulties for interpreting. However, from what we have discussed above, the specificity of the Chinese language context calls for an alternative approach to interpreter training. The syntactical or structural differences between the two vastly different languages pose some special difficulty for trainee interpreters. In this sense, the sense-based approach is not sufficient enough to train Chinese interpreters. In my opinion, the Paris School may have put too much emphasis on the role of ‘cognitive complement’ in the process of interpreting, while ignoring the language function in this process. What is the medium of ‘sense’ in the human brain after the source utterances are being de-verbalized? Is the medium verbal or non-verbal? In fact, this question is never answered clearly. As discussed in Sect. 4.4, the micro-linguistic context facing Chinese–English interpreters does require some special techniques to handle syntactical/structural difficulties in translating so as to supplement the sense-based approach in training. (2) General market demand: ‘elitist’ conference interpreters or ‘middle-layer’ consecutive interpreters As we have said, training simultaneous interpreters is the norm for all European Masters in Conference Interpreting (EMCI) member institutions. In China, however, the biggest shortage of supply lies in the ‘middle-layer’ consecutive interpreters, not professional conference interpreters. Given such a contextual condition, it is natural that the major focus for the majority of Chinese universities and colleges should be training the ‘middle-layer’ interpreters. The training of the upper layer of ‘elite’ conference interpreters should be done by the few professional training institutions that in practice can strictly adhere to the AIIC/ESIT training framework (except language directionality). For example, the Postgraduate Professional Diploma course in Conference Interpreting offered by Shanghai International Studies University (SISU) strictly follows the AIIC/ESIT training model. Here, AIIC training standards are adhered to very closely in terms of admission, faculty composition, curriculum and evaluation. With such a selective course, the admission rate in 2005 and 2006 stood just at five per cent (Liu 2007). For the majority of the interpreter training institutions, it must be questioned whether the strict focus on professional conference standards is so necessary, given the different dimensions to demand seen in China. (3) Technical aspects of didactic principles of the ESIT/AIIC model (3a) Level of training: postgraduate or undergraduate The EMCI consortium stipulates that conference interpreting must be set at postgraduate level. In China, however, interpreting is taught at both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. In particular, consecutive interpreting is a compulsory course

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for all English majors nationwide. The didactic function of most interpreting courses in a language faculty without a translation orientation is to further improve students’ command of that language. It is only part of the foreign language curriculum. The motivations of students are also varied. According to my teaching experience, about two-thirds of the course participants in a language faculty without a translation orientation only expect to improve their listening and speaking skills through practising interpreting. It is therefore evident that due to a lack of pre-selection, student motivation and the relatively short time span, interpreting courses offered at this category of schools serve little professional orientation. The didactic approach of the Paris School is clearly not applicable here. In translation departments where both BA and/or MA Translation (including the new MTI) programmes are offered, the level of training for interpreting remains a bit unclear at the moment. Setton (2011: 5) pointed out that it is not yet clear whether the focus of interpreting training in the new MTI will be conference interpreting or upgrading skills for the larger market for public-service-oriented interpreting. In the light of the market demands in China, it is only wise and sensible that a focus on the latter is preferred, not only serving as a strategic educational policy, but also reflecting the contextual nature of interpreter training—in contrast to the principles of the ESIT and EMCI. Indeed, even within Europe today, more and more interpreting curricula (see, e.g., the Westminster and Vienna courses) have begun to shift their focus from professional conference interpreting only to the growing market of business and community interpreting where the (face-to-face) consecutive mode of work is the norm. Gile (2006: 18–21) argued that the position of AIIC interpreters has on the whole eroded over the past decade with lower remuneration and poorer working conditions due to market forces, and suggested that all types of interpreting should be regarded as the same profession. (3b) Language directionality: unidirectional or bidirectional Teaching interpreting into B in the simultaneous mode has been prohibited in ESIT over a long period of time, as it is too ‘risky’ and should be avoided if possible (Seleskovitch and Lederer 1989/2002). However, this rule has become increasingly difficult to observe. The entry of new Eastern European countries has created multiple needs to interpret from these less widely spoken languages into pivotal languages like English or French within the EU. Thus, the need for training native Eastern European interpreters working into B (in most cases, English or French) has become all the more urgent. Globally speaking, interpreting into B has long been practiced at the UN, where the Chinese and Arabic booths shoulder the responsibility of twoway simultaneous interpreting. In private markets in Asia, interpreting into B is even more widely practised. Based on a joint survey conducted in China, Japan and South Korea in 2007, Wang Enmian (2008: 72) discovered that ‘[…] for interpreters in these three countries, at least 50% of their workload deals with interpreting into B’. Hence, teaching consecutive and simultaneous interpreting into B is required in the Chinese context.

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(3c) Faculty composition: AIIC interpreters or applied linguists The Paris School has made a point of assertion that language teachers and translation theorists should not be allowed into the faculty, especially not for training sessions. Only those who are practising (conference) interpreters can be included in the teaching faculty. In ESIT, all interpretation training courses are provided by practising or experienced conference interpreters who are either AIIC members or (former) staff interpreters at international organizations. Is this rule applicable in China? It is true that interpreting skills training is distinct from language acquisition. Interpreting teachers should at least have some interpreting experience, because ‘to teach procedural knowledge, you must first master the know-how yourself’ (Lederer 2008b: 109). Regretfully, a survey of 120 participants in workshops in China for interpreter trainers, taking place in 2004 and 2006, found that only 15% and 62%, respectively, had any interpreting experience (Liu 2008: 147). The number of AIIC members in mainland China is no more than 30 in total. So, the pressing issue facing Chinese interpreter education in general is training on teachers (TOT). The lack of qualified teachers/trainers is yet another prominent issue to be resolved. Can we consider the participation of linguists and researchers in second language acquisition in interpreter training programmes? If so, what kind of roles should they play? Certainly, some didactic approaches in applied linguistics should not be excluded from interpreting teaching. This is discussed in Sect. 4.6.1 where a case study is carried out on my teaching course. (3d) ‘Elitist’ education mentality: to be or not to be The focus on the high-end aspect of interpreting practices by the ESIT-associated training institutions has led to a general philosophy which can be described as quite ‘elitist’. These institutions follow strict quality control criteria in every aspect of the training process: admission, curriculum design, faculty, teaching progression and examinations, and evaluation. Each candidate undergoes a rigorous testing process, comprising an aptitude entrance examination, mid-point streaming test and a final graduation examination. Only those who pass all these examinations can be awarded a diploma for conference interpreting. This category of training institutions has strong links with AIIC and major interpreter employers in Europe as well as international organizations. Representatives from international organizations are normally invited to be external examiners at the graduation examinations of interpreting schools. In many cases, successful graduates can be placed on the roster of (paraprofessional) conference interpreters for these organizations. Many conference interpreters are also members of AIIC. AIICaffiliated instructors strongly recommend that graduating students join AIIC and dissuade students who fail at the graduation examinations from working as interpreters (Gile 2006). Conference interpreting is thus a rather ‘exclusive’ profession with high-entry thresholds, often monopolized by the AIIC-affiliated ‘gatekeepers’. Interpreters outside this system or non-consortium members have found it more and more difficult to enter the market.

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It must be recognized that such a mentality towards interpreter training has served the European conference market well and helped shape interpreting, especially conference interpreting, as a high-performance, high-standard profession. However, we should bear in mind that another important criterion for positioning an interpreting course is its students’ level of proficiency in their working languages, especially the B language. If the students’ command of their foreign language(s) is too weak to even attain a ‘C’ status as defined by AIIC, the interpreting course probably has to deal with language issues. Unfortunately, this is the reality most Chinese universitylevel training institutions have to face. Additionally, as stated above, the Chinese market has a high demand for ‘middle-layer’ consecutive-only interpreters, so such a selective mentality is hardly applicable to Chinese university-level training courses. Given the problems of applying the mainstream European models for interpreter training in places with contextual limitations such as China, some attempt was made to create new frameworks to cater for context. As mentioned earlier, one of the most influential in China was the XiaDa model.

4.6 Evaluating Chinese Models of Interpreter Training The XiaDa training model was well received in China soon after it came into being in the late 1990s, because it suited the general conditions of most Chinese universities and colleges. Large classes are a fact of life for almost all undergraduate programmes with frequently 25–30 students in one classroom. Teaching interpreting to a big class means that one-to-one coaching becomes impossible in class. So how does that affect the teaching methodology? The XiaDa model demonstrates a componentbased operational curriculum: it clearly points out what skills need to be acquired for an interpreter and tries to structure them in a progressive manner. Interpreting skills are reduced into components and dealt with separately in each module. This model follows the teaching doctrine: giving the method of fishing is better than giving fish. In effect, the teachers try to develop or employ a more independent teaching methodology. Having the students learn how to learn by themselves rather than teaching students to learn is the guiding principle in interpreting teaching under the XiaDa model. Through organizing various class activities that simulate real interpreting, like three-cornered dialogue and mock press conferences, students are prepared to apply the skills and techniques demonstrated by the teacher. For example, in the module of note-taking, after the teacher demonstrates the essentials of how to take notes for consecutive interpreting, students are eager to try this out. Students are divided into pairs. At this point, student A is invited to deliver an impromptu speech (two to three minutes long) based on the reading materials given by the teacher on the spot (e.g. a BBC report on the preparation for the 2012 London Olympics). After the presentation of student A, student B is invited to come to the platform to act as the interpreter, standing in front of the class to practise note-taking and then vice versa. In this case, other students have the opportunity to critique the performance of their fellow students, based on what they have learned from the rules

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and techniques of note-taking. In such a classroom, students take the leading roles in class activities while the teacher only acts as an observer or coordinator. These consecutive interpreting exercises from ad-libbed speeches made by the students themselves can actively engage the students in practising public speaking—allowing for instant verbalization in their B language as well as acquiring specific interpreting skills such as note-taking. In this way, interpreting skills and B language enhancement are entwined in one exercise. In response to a lack of B language proficiency, the XiaDa scholars came up with some solutions. Unlike the ESIT model, which leaves language enhancement and extra-linguistic knowledge acquisition to the students, the XiaDa course adopts an integrated approach to blending language enhancement in the interpreting course. For example, when teaching Chinese to English interpreting, one big potential difficulty for the students is that their command of English is not yet up to near-native competence, which will affect the quality of expression. The XiaDa trainers adopt a two-way strategy. Firstly, in the modules of memory training, public speaking and reconstruction, students are required to do a lot of reformulation exercises in English, with special emphasis on assimilating good English expressions from the speeches. Secondly, after class this strategy is extended further. Students are encouraged to listen, read extensively and write summaries of English newspapers and TV broadcasts on current issues with a view to increasing their active vocabulary (XiaDa 2012). In practice, certain didactic methods or approaches drawn from applied linguistics or second language teaching such as ‘peer review’ and/or ‘role-play’ become much more important (see Sect. 4.6.1).

4.6.1 Case Study: Intercultural Awareness in Liaison Interpreting3 Let us take a concrete example to see how class activities are organized under the XiaDa model. One particular aspect worth mentioning in the XiaDa course is module 15 of the first semester entitled ‘Liaison Interpreting and Intercultural Communication’ (see Fig. 3.7), which aim to increase the trainees’ cross-cultural awareness for better communication in interpreting. An example of class activities is offered below, which are designed to increase cross-cultural awareness for the trainees, so as to attain proper sociolinguistic acceptability. In the module for Liaison Interpreting and Cross-Cultural Communication, a simulated interpreting scene is put on stage in class (see as an example the following situation). It aims to show students that linguistic competence alone cannot make a qualified interpreter. Students A and B are invited to come to the platform to act as the interpreter for Xiao Ming, liaison officer for the Foreign Affairs Office of Guilin, 3 This

case study is adapted from my teaching experiment (dated 16/04/2012) in consecutive interpreting (level 1) 英汉交替口译 (English–Chinese) offered to MA and BA4 students of Chinese studies at Leiden University. This module is also seen in week 15 of the XiaDa Curriculum.

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acting out a conversation between him and Mrs. Smith, a commercial representative of Coca-Cola from the USA. (The situation) Mr. Xiao Ming (肖明) is at the airport to meet Mrs. Smith, a guest from the USA. Here is the conversation: (1) Xiao: 您好, 史密斯夫人. 欢迎您来桂林,一路旅途劳顿, 辛苦了! Interpreter A: Nice to meet you, Mrs. Smith. Welcome to Guilin. You must feel tired after a tough journey. (2) Smith: Nice to meet you! Thank you for coming to the airport to meet me. May I have your name? Interpreter A: 很高兴见到你! 谢谢你能来机场接我. 我能知道你的名字吗? (3) Xiao: 我叫肖明. 外事办的李主任派我来接您. 请上车吧. Interpreter A: My name is Xiao Ming. Director Li of the Foreign Affairs Office sent me to pick you up. Please get into the car. So they are on the way to the place where Mrs. Smith is going to stay. (4) Xiao: 桂林的美是有名的. 常言道 ‘桂林山水甲天下’. 等您安顿下来后, 我 带您到处转转. Interpreter A: Guilin is famous for its beautiful landscape. As the Chinese saying goes, East or West, Guilin landscape is the best. After you are settled in, I can show you around. (5) Smith: That’s very kind of you! Interpreter A: 谢谢你的邀请! (6) Xiao: 这是我应该做的. 如果有什么招待不周的话, 还请多 多多包涵. Interpreter A: That’s my duty. If there is anything inhospitable, please bear with me. (7) Smith: By the way, I am going to have a party this weekend. Do come if you can. Interpreter A: 顺便说一下, 本周末我要举行一个派对. 你能来就来吧. (8) Xiao: 那我看看吧. Interpreter A: Let me think about it. After interpreter A is finished, interpreter B tries the same dialogue: (1) Xiao: 您好, 史密斯夫人. 欢迎您来桂林, 一路旅途劳顿, 辛苦了! Interpreter B: Nice to meet you, Mrs. Smith. Welcome to Guilin. I wish you had a pleasant journey!

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(2) Smith: Nice to meet you! Thank you for coming to the airport to meet me. May I have your name? Interpreter B: 很高兴见到你! 谢谢你能来机场接我. 我能知道你的名字吗? (3) Xiao: 我叫肖明. 外事办的李主任派我来接您. 请上车吧. Interpreter B: My name is Xiao Ming. Director Li of the Foreign Affairs Office sent me to pick you up. Let’s get into the car. So they are on the way to the place where Mrs. Smith is going to stay. (4) Xiao: 桂林的美是有名的. 常言道: ‘桂林山水甲天下’. 等您安顿下来后, 我 带您到处转转. Interpreter B: Guilin is known for its beautiful landscape. As the Chinese saying goes, Guilin landscape is the best under the heaven. After you settle down, I can show you around. (5) Smith: That’s very kind of you! Interpreter B: 谢谢你的邀请! (6) Xiao: 这是我应该做的. 如果有什么招待不周的话, 还请多 多多包涵. Interpreter B: That’s what I should do. If there is any question, please let me know. (7) Smith: By the way, I am going to have a party this weekend. Do come if you can. Interpreter B: 顺便说一下, 本周末我要举行一个派对. 你尽可能来哦. (8) Xiao: 那我看看吧. Interpreter B: Thanks for your invitation. See you then! This role-play highlights the importance of cross-cultural awareness for liaison interpreting, emphasizing contextualized decision-making as opposed to cognitive information processing. Indeed, while the ESIT/AIIC training approach gives a far less explicit focus to (inter)cultural elements, cross-cultural understanding is much more important in the training of Chinese interpreters. Managing interpersonal interactions in specific communicative contexts features heavily in the training of Chinese interpreters in order to bridge Chinese and Western cultures. The trainee interpreter A seems to have met little linguistic difficulty in interpreting the sentences word by word. However, it seems that there is something wrong in the communication. Several students in the class immediately shook their heads when hearing interpreter A’s translation, ‘You must be tired after a tough journey’. What is missing in this translation? Certainly, it is not wrong in the Chinese context to start a conversation in the way of interpreter A. Yet, the problem here is that communication is with an American woman, who has come from a vastly different cultural background

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to that of the Chinese host. Interpreter A’s lack of cross-cultural awareness, shown in some inappropriate renditions, may have failed to achieve the communicative purpose of each party and possibly even irritate the American guest in this case. Interpreter B, however, did not translate word for word. Her translations showed a more nuanced consideration of the cultural differences involved in this sort of communication context. To give an example of this kind of emphasis on cultural bridges in interpreting, role-plays on the XiaDa course frequently focus on the opening greeting between a liaison host and their international guest. In Chinese [and other East Asian cultures], the typical greeting as shown in the role-play is ‘一路旅途劳顿, 辛苦了’, which, when translated literally into English, roughly means ‘You must be tired after a long journey’. Such a sentiment is perfectly acceptable in dialogue between two Chinese people: it shows concern from the host for the guest’s condition. However, the literal use of this translated greeting to someone from a Western background would cause problems because it would be interpreted by the Westerner to mean they look quite unattractive or ‘not right’. It is clear that even an interpreter with all the necessary ‘technical’ skills and proficiencies could make a cultural error here—something students are told to take on board. Attaining proper sociolinguistic acceptability in cross-cultural translation is thus highlighted under the XiaDa model. Similarly, other Chinese phrases like ‘这是我应该做的’ and ‘请多多包涵’, which are ways of expressing self-modesty and hospitality, should not be translated literally. Many East Asian cultures (e.g. Chinese and Japanese) are rich in courtesy rules. Social life is arranged hierarchically, whereby the elderly are placed above the young, teachers above students and the guest over the host. Respecting others by depreciating yourself is implicit in handling interpersonal relationships in society. The Western world, in contrast, has no or fewer such cultural traditions. Westerners in general are much more straightforward in communication. There are fewer intricate interpersonal rules to observe. So when translating the Chinese host’s words of selfmodesty, which is less obvious in Western culture, the interpreter must again heighten their cross-cultural awareness. As claimed by Lin et al. (1999: 78), ‘[…]when the cultural frames of references which define meaning are not present, the meaning must be accompanied by some compensating factors, in order to make meaning clear; and this will often be a cross-cultural interpretation’. Thus, one distinctive feature of the XiaDa approach to interpreting is its willingness to take on board these specific intercultural dimensions.

4.6.2 Strengths and Weaknesses of the Chinese Models From the discussions above, it is apparent that the XiaDa course does not separate interpreting from modern language departments, unlike the ESIT course. On the contrary, it is actually imbedded in the foreign language curriculum, in which all the coping tactics regarding B language enhancement can be easily facilitated or supplemented by other language training courses. However, there is a big disadvantage

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for these courses in a language department without a translation orientation. Aside from a lack of B language proficiency among the students, resources for interpreting teaching may often be insufficient, in terms of class hours, teaching facilities and teacher-to-student ratio. It is not intended for simultaneous interpreting training but more appropriate for ‘middle-layer’ consecutive interpreters. As I argued in the introduction of this chapter, effective interpreting training models should be shaped by the contextual demand for skills, which are informed by economic organization and the opportunities provided at the local level. As revealed from the XiaDa course website, graduates from such courses may often find their level of skills acquired from school matches provincial-level governmental administration, multinational companies or private business sectors in which consecutive interpreting is part of their daily responsibilities (XiaDa 2012). As indicated in Fig. 4.2, the biggest player (in terms of market demand) in the Chinese Translation and Interpreting field is consecutive interpreters rather than professional conference interpreters. In that sense, we really need to consider whether strict adherence to the ESIT or EMCI training standards is so necessary in China. As Gile (2006: 30-1) noted, ‘[…] in emerging markets where there is no longstanding tradition of AIIC schools, such schools are likely to have little power in academia, while traditional language departments and institutes where translation and interpreting are taught, albeit with methods and criteria that may seem remote from professional needs and standards, have much more power in the academic institutions. Antagonizing them through claims to superiority may also be unwise’. Indeed, consecutive interpreting teaching in China is firmly embedded in foreign language curriculums. The aims of training in basic professional translation and interpreting are both to sensitize students to the complex reality of translation and interpreting beyond language problems and to select those who show motivation and talent and might be directed towards full professional training programmes. In this sense, the XiaDa model not only is successful in bringing out a new skillsled training methodology which fits the general conditions of higher education in emerging markets like China, but also helps raise the awareness of students about what genuine interpreting is and the critical role that the interpreter plays in bridging linguistic and cultural divides. It also serves as a stepping stone for a few talented students to further explore their potential on a (top-level) professional course. Despite the success this home-grown model has achieved in (undergraduate) interpreter training in Chinese universities, some deficiencies and flaws of the XiaDa model must be identified: (i) Micro-linguistic context The XiaDa model is designed to train Chinese interpreters working between Chinese and English. As pointed out in Sect. 4.2, the micro-linguistic contextual limitations facing Chinese trainee interpreters—the syntactical and structural differences between Chinese and English—are far greater than for most European students working between European languages. Thus, a better understanding of such differences or ‘stumbling blocks’ for interpreting is desirable in order to develop specific

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coping tactics for Chinese–English interpreters. However, the XiaDa model falls short of highlighting this particular aspect in training. It is true that we should not mix interpreter training with language acquisition. But interpreting skills must build upon a solid linguistic foundation—the students’ bilingual excellence. Since all Chinese interpreters are required to interpret into B, a better command of the language-pairspecific coping tactics would be a desirable component for future curriculum design and practice. This weakness of the XiaDa model is offset to some extent by the interlingual transfer skills component offered by the GDUFS (see Sect. 3.5.3). (ii) Training process context The XiaDa model is built upon three overlapping circles where it illustrates the relations and interaction between linguistic and extra-linguistic knowledge, discourse analysis and cross-cultural understanding, skills and techniques, as well as professionalism (see Sect. 2.7.2). These are indeed important components for a successful interpreting performance. However, can the combination of these components alone lead to successful interpreting training? Probably not, since what is even more important is that the training or teaching process takes into account the cognitive and psychological process of learning on the part of students (Chen 2011). As I pointed out in Fig. 4.1, the interpreter training context has three dimensions: (1) macrohistorical context; (2) teaching/training process context; and (3) micro-linguistic context. While the XiaDa model fits the general macro-historical context of most Chinese university-level interpreting courses, it still leaves much to be desired when it comes to the teaching or training process. What constitutes the teaching context for interpreter training? How do we optimize training through grasping different contextual variables? These questions will be dealt with in the next chapter. There are also other aspects concerning curriculum design and didactic progression that need further improvement in China’s interpreter training courses. For example, the selection of speeches for training in view of the students’ learning curves should be given a more prominent role. Chen (2011: 176–178) pointed out that: ‘[…] most of the texts included in the [XiaDa course] book are in formal written language, without much consideration for the variation in difficulty. Many are excerpts of long articles, which are then segmented for interpreting’. Such training materials would substantially increase the processing burden of beginner trainees, who may mistake interpreting as a form of oral reproduction of written translation texts. The potential risks of this are twofold: (1) On the one hand, students need to learn the skill of de-verbalization before being plunged into more text-formatted exercises. In the beginning phase, authentic oral speech with a complete structure (a natural opening, development of argument and a conclusion) is much preferred in developing interpreting competence. In this respect, the ESIT course sets a good example for the Chinese interpreter trainers to emulate. The basic principles of conference interpreting

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training in ESIT can be summarized as (i) the acquisition of ‘de-verbalizing’— essentially grasping speakers’ meaning over literal transposition, (ii) progression from consecutive to simultaneous interpreting, (iii) core interpreting technique acquisition such as note-taking, paraphrasing, multitasking and gisting exercises, and (iv) use of authentic speeches (dealt with below). The didactic progression in ESIT is largely based on grading texts and speeches which are adapted to the level of competence achieved by trainees (Lederer 2008). In that respect, the selection of speeches is given much attention in class teaching in ESIT. Seleskovitch and Lederer (1989: 54) suggest grading the difficulty of speeches for interpreter training needs to take into account the type of exercises and the importance of extra-linguistic knowledge. They recommend three criteria to classify the difficulty of texts and to regulate the progression from one level of difficulty to the next, namely ‘familiarity with the topic, sophistication of the style and nature of the speech (narrative, argumentative, descriptive or emotional)’. A general guide is provided regarding the choice of speech and the progression of difficulty in consecutive interpreting training (Seleskovitch and Lederer 1989/2002; Lederer 2008a: 125): the interpretive theory’s selection of teaching material stresses content rather than language use. It is based on various demands text types make on the comprehension and reformulation capacity of trainees. The suggested grading of speeches for interpreter training is as follows: narrative speeches on a familiar topic; narrative speech on an unfamiliar topic; argumentative speech on a familiar topic; narrative speech on a new topic; argumentative speech on a new topic; stylistically sophisticated speech on a familiar topic; stylistically sophisticated speech on a new topic; topic requiring preparation; description speech requiring terminological preparation; and rhetorical speech. (2) The inappropriate arrangement of teaching progression may also lead to some psychological barriers among the trainees. Many undergraduate students in China are heard complaining that interpreting courses are too ‘difficult’ or ‘demanding’, and hence they are intimidated by these courses to some extent. How do we motivate trainees to actively engage in the long stretch of training? Various teaching or training process contextual variables (Fig. 4.1) must be closely examined in order to further improve the existing training models. This will be our focus in the next chapter. Furthermore, the role of interpreting research must be brought into the spotlight. As most interpreter training programmes are university-based, interpreting is therefore naturally an object of academic interest. As discussed in Chap. 2, interpreting studies as a burgeoning research domain has seen an unprecedented growth over the past decades. Universities and interpreting schools are the main driving force behind this growth. However, we must be aware of the fact that many interpreters-turned-trainers have had little or no research training in the past. Although their expertise may be quite relevant to interpreting practice and training, it does not have much to do with research (e.g. interdisciplinary research to unravel the mysterious ‘translating brain’). As a fledgling domain both in the West and in China, research output is essential for interpreting studies to get

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recognition in academia. How to motivate and engage more potential candidates to form a united front for interpreting research is yet another issue for further discussion. Under the current educational system in China, interpreter training and research sometimes cannot sit well with each other. It remains to be seen whether there will be any institutional breakthrough that can accommodate different interests when there is a conflict between practice and research. It is expected that forging collaboration between interpreter trainers with applied linguists and translation theorists is a viable solution to this issue.

4.7 Conclusion: A Position The ESIT/AIIC training model has been in existence for more than half a century in Europe. It has proved to be an effective tool for training high-level conference interpreters and the theoretical foundations behind the interpreting profession in the West. However, this chapter has also shown that for all its achievements in defining conference interpreting as a specialized profession, the model has segmented the interpreting market hierarchically, separating conference interpreting from all other types of interpreting and remaining essentially elitist. In other words, it has not done much for the rest of the interpreting community (Gile 2006). The rigid pedagogical rules of the Paris School and their ‘elitist’ approach to interpreter training have made conference interpreting a rather exclusive profession with high-entry thresholds. This segmentation between conference interpreting and the rest has also led to an unbalanced growth of the interpreting community in Europe: other types of interpreter training remained insignificant over a long period of time. For emerging non-Western markets which have no or little historical connection with the ESIT/AIIC model, it is probably unwise to follow this pattern of development in their portfolio. Based on the above discussions, the macro-historical and microlinguistic contexts of China have proved that the pedagogical rules of the Paris School must be adapted organically, in order to achieve better training results. China’s increasing demand for the ‘middle-layer’ consecutive-only interpreters calls for an alternative approach to training. The current Chinese interpreter training programmes, which were influenced by the XiaDa and GDUFS models, have had increasing demand for and difficulty with training this group of ‘middle-layer’ interpreters to meet or satisfy market demand. Given the specific contextual limitations facing Chinese interpreter trainers, what can be done to meet the challenges of optimizing ‘middle-layer’ interpreter training?

Chapter 5

Optimizing Interpreting Education in the Chinese Context: Principles, Curriculum and Pedagogy

Abstract As discussed in previous chapters, interpreting courses have seen unprecedented growth in China’s tertiary institutions since the 1990s. Several training models have been developed to cater to the realities of higher education requirements. However, the previous discussion has also highlighted the fact that interpreting teaching ‘context’ has been a neglected area and deserving of greater attention for course designers and interpreting teachers. The current Chinese university-level interpreting courses have found it increasingly difficult to meet the quality required for nurturing ‘middle-layer’ consecutive interpreters. The major argument put forward in this chapter is that in order to optimize and enhance the overall quality of teaching, a curriculum reform must be carried out catering to the teaching context. In order to build this argument, this chapter begins with a discussion on mentality change within educational philosophy: first, the notion of ‘interpreting education’ is brought into the spotlight. Dewey’s democratic educational philosophy is introduced to show the positive link between democracy and education outcomes, highlighting its value and relevance for educating well-rounded professionals. Under the general framework of interpreting education, a greater and more nuanced reconstruction of the teaching ‘contexts’ is imperative in order to achieve better educational results in China. Keywords Interpreting education · Mentality change · Curriculum · Pedagogy

5.1 Introduction As discussed in previous chapters, interpreting courses have seen unprecedented growth in China’s tertiary institutions since the 1990s. Several training models have been developed to cater to the realities of higher education requirements. However, the previous discussion has also highlighted the fact that interpreting teaching ‘context’ has been a neglected area and deserving of greater attention for course designers and interpreting teachers. The current Chinese university-level interpreting courses have found it increasingly difficult to meet the quality required for nurturing ‘middle-layer’ consecutive interpreters. In most interpreting programmes in China, the term ‘training’ rather than ‘education’ is used in both degree and non-degree © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd 2020 J. Liu, Interpreter Training in Context, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8594-4_5

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courses, which demonstrates a pragmatic orientation for skills acquisition and a restricted vision in the mentality of course designers and teachers. Thus, training is often confused with education in the Chinese context. The major argument put forward in this chapter is that in order to optimize and enhance the overall quality of teaching, a curriculum reform must be carried out catering to the teaching context. In order to build this argument, this chapter begins with a discussion on mentality change within educational philosophy: first, the notion of ‘interpreting education’ is brought into the spotlight. Dewey’s democratic educational philosophy (2004) is introduced to show the positive link between democracy and education outcomes, i.e. its value and relevance for educating well-rounded professionals. Second, under the general framework of interpreting education, I argue that a greater and more nuanced reconstruction of the teaching ‘contexts’ is imperative in order to achieve better educational results in China. A new curriculum design is offered, which is divided into four stages: (a) interpreting for passion; (b) interpreting for skills acquisition; (c) interpreting for profession; and (d) interpreting for social integration. This curriculum specifically addresses Chinese teaching contexts by reconstructing interpreting ideologies, forging links between students’ real-life interests and school literacy, reshaping teacher–student relationships and leading student interpreters into cross-cultural explorations. In the teaching process, a ‘taskbased, student-centred’ approach based on Willis’ framework (1996) is carefully implemented. Guided by Dewey’s democratic educational philosophy (2004), this innovative curriculum aims to empower student interpreters to become well-rounded professionals (Angelelli 2006), with the belief that by creating an environment where students are allowed to experience and interact with the curriculum, the educational process is more effective and students can become more self-motivated in managing their own learning. Third, an analysis of the rationale for the curriculum and its associated pedagogy is provided. Based on the theoretical studies of context by Halliday and Hasan (1993) and Kramsch (1993), a recontextualization of interpreting classroom strategies is put forward which extends into four sub-contexts: linguistic, situational, interactional and cultural (Kramsch 1993). The overall purpose is to carefully attend to students’ cognitive development and affective needs in the process of an interpreting education. This chapter then continues with a discussion on the components of an interpreter education programme and explains how the new curriculum and my general philosophy can help realize the six components of a (health care) interpreting education proposed by Angelelli (2006).

5.2 Towards a Mentality Change to Interpreting Education: A Holistic Philosophy for the Discipline Previous discussions in Chap. 4 have shown that the specific contextual limitations facing Chinese interpreting teachers and students call for an alternative model to

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address the following problems: big class sizes, lower level of B language proficiency, and most importantly, students’ cognitive and affective needs in learning. In my view, any viable solution to address these specific limitations has to start with a shift in interpreter educators’ mentality—upgrading interpreter training to the level of education on the part of interpreting teachers and school authorities. ‘Interpreting education’ should replace ‘interpreter training’ within the discipline based on the following reasons. First of all, ‘education’ is a more holistic concept than ‘training’, relating to the build up of the minds and competence of the recipients rather than technical skills acquisition and application. As Angelelli (2006: 24) observed after examining healthcare interpreting programmes in the USA, ‘[…] most of the courses offered do not focus as much on the education of the individuals who facilitate communication across cultures as they do on the training of how to interpret. Acquisition and learning of interpreting competence is narrowly defined’. This is also true for many interpreting training programmes in China. In fact, to view interpreting as merely a skill or a craft is no longer tenable in the globalized context, when intercultural communication competence and world citizenship have become the target for language education in many countries. How do we cultivate well-rounded professionals who will be able to broker communication more responsibly and respectfully across the international arena? The humanistic educational outlook sees education as a way to develop human potential. One of the founding fathers of this school of thought was John Dewey, an American educator and philosopher. He believed that the best way to realize one’s potential is through social and interactive learning. The purpose of education is not neutral. It is a way to create social change and reform. By democratizing education, human beings acquire a level of social consciousness—an essential feature of broader and deeper humanity. In terms of curriculum and pedagogy, Dewey (2004) argued that students thrive in an environment where they are allowed to experience and interact with the curriculum, and all students should have the opportunity to take part in their own learning. In this way, students’ initiatives are better ignited. Dewey advocated the principle of ‘learning by doing’ in which students are placed at the centre of the classroom. This was later developed as project-based learning (PBL), a useful pedagogical tool widely adopted in medical schools and for second language teaching. In PBL, students collaborate to study problems where they strive to create viable solutions. Since the amount of direct instruction is reduced in PBL, students assume a higher level of responsibility to manage their own learning (Bridges and Hallinger 1991). Under this general framework, the teachers’ role is not an authoritative allknowing figure, but more of a guide, a consultant or a facilitator. Teaching is carried out on the basis of students’ cognitive and affective developments in the process of learning, which is exactly the place for improvement in future curriculum design and pedagogy in China (see Sect. 4.6.4). In an interpreting class, instructors can no longer rely solely on their teaching experience. Interpreting teaching must go beyond the limited scope of imparting skills and experiences, for any pedagogy in interpreter education should be the result of interaction between the principles of cognitive

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management (automaticity, meaningful learning, intrinsic motivation and strategic investment) and affective management (self-confidence and risk-taking) (Angelelli 2006). In a classic work in pedagogy, Brown (2001: 54) states that: ‘by perceiving and internalizing connections between practice and theory, teaching is likely to be enlightened’. This is certainly true for interpreting pedagogy and the teaching of various types of interpreting. Through connecting practice and research, interpreting teachers can assume the role of a ‘reflective practisearcher’, which implies that they, as practitioners in the field, can reflect upon their classroom practices and apply the principles from theory to continuously improve their teaching. The teaching only works when students’ real learning initiative is activated. Secondly, a new mentality would have an impact on curriculum reform, which calls for a more humanistic approach to interpreter education. In previous discussions, I examined the rigid ESIT/AIIC model of training and the skills-led XiaDa model. Both have their strengths and weaknesses (see Chap. 4). Thus, to optimize interpreter education in the Chinese context, future models must consolidate the merits of both yet allow for a certain level of flexibility to enable adaptation to specific contexts. To be specific, the humanistic approach to education has created some implications for reform in the curriculum: (a) Adopting a more holistic, bottom-up approach in interpreting teaching: Traditionally, many interpreting curriculums follow a ‘subject-centred, top-down’ approach, guided by what ought to be taught and learned. All the skills and techniques are introduced in a sequence that puts knowledge of the subject as the focus of curriculum design, while largely ignoring affective and psychological aspects of learning on the part of the students (see discussions on the XiaDa model). This often leads to motivational or psychological barriers among the students, shown in either a form of increased anxiety1 or a loss of interest. Within this type of curriculum, subject skills are imparted from teacher to student. Accordingly, a ‘teacher-centred’ class is likely to be formed, where students take a passive role in the learning process and their own initiatives and affective needs cannot be activated or satisfied. Future curriculum design and pedagogy must take into account the ‘voice’ of the students. (b) Implementing a more flexible, inclusive approach: Students in the rigid and exclusive AIIC/ESIT model or framework are treated as ‘products on the assembly line’. Interpreter training has therefore become a process of standardized manufacturing, performed in a mechanical and impersonal manner. This biggest flaw of this training scheme is that it lacks a humanistic guideline to achieve the goal of a holistic education. The learner as a human being must be treated as a whole person, whose affective and cognitive needs are necessary for pedagogical success. Certain space can be left in a curriculum for students to choose or explore their topics of interest. Furthermore, since big class size 1 The

element of ‘anxiety’ is particularly significant in the Chinese context, where students are brought up in an examination-bound educational system. Consistently, excellent test scores are expected from students, in order to satisfy the high expectations from their family and retain an ‘elitist’ image imposed by society.

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is a fact of life in most undergraduate programmes in China, a more inclusive pedagogy is called for in order to actively engage students as a whole. In sum, interpreting is a means to bridge communication between human beings. Therefore, the intrinsic connection between interpreter education and humanism lies in the intrinsic connection between communication and humanness. The humanistic approach to interpreter education requires a reshaping of interpreting ideology and a reconsideration of the teaching ‘context’.

5.3 Empowerment and Recontextualization: The New Curriculum for Consecutive Interpreting It goes without saying that affective factors play an important role in pedagogical success. In the field of second language acquisition, previous research has shown that learners with high motivation, self-confidence, a good self-image and a low level of anxiety are better equipped for success (see,e.g. Krashen 1982; Wang 2005). Krashen’s affective filter hypothesis highlights the facilitative role that ‘affective variables’ play in acquiring foreign languages. These include learners’ self-concept, confidence, anxiety, attitude and motivation. Past research in second language acquisition (SLA) discovered that anxiety has a negative impact on foreign language learning. There exists an inverse correlation between anxiety and learning outcomes among foreign language students (see, e.g. Philips 1992). This has shed some light on the curriculum design and pedagogy in our discussion. As pointed out earlier, interpreting is a complex interlingual communicative act, which easily invokes high-level anxiety for many students. Thus, when designing an interpreting curriculum, we should first bear in mind the motivation and anxiety concerns. In the following section, I propose a new curriculum for consecutive interpreting at undergraduate level, followed by discussions on how it takes into account the above-mentioned elements and ending with an analysis of the rationale behind such arrangements. This new curriculum for consecutive interpreting is designed for English or Translation majors in the final year of their undergraduate programme, or MA students in translation studies or related disciplines who have never been systematically exposed to interpreting.2 In most Chinese universities and colleges, one-year consecutive interpreting (a total of 72–124 class hours) as a compulsory subject is offered to BA3/BA4 students. I am going to elaborate on how this curriculum helps reduce anxieties and empower student interpreters through a series of pedagogical innovations. 2 This

curriculum is designed primarily for undergraduates majoring in English and/or Translation, who are required to take one-year consecutive interpreting in their third or fourth year. It may also offer some pedagogic guidance for postgraduate students selected in conference interpreting programmes.

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It is hoped that the proposed curriculum design can help optimize interpreter education in this category of higher institutions. The new curriculum features four interpreting stages: (a) interpreting for passion (译随心动); (b) interpreting for skills acquisition (译技飞扬); (c) interpreting for profession (译能实战) and (d) interpreting for social integration (译韵流芳). In the teaching process, principles such as ‘task-based’ and ‘student-centred’ are to be carefully observed and implemented. This curriculum covers consecutive interpreting (交替传译) for two semesters, which is divided into four developmental stages. In each stage, there are four to six tasks and each task takes two class hours. Designing appropriate tasks for each stage is the key to the success of students’ interpreting performance. In the following curriculum design, my focus is not on what skills need to be trained, but rather on the didactic principles and their associated pedagogies. Two teaching plans for stages A and C under the ‘task-based’ framework are also provided for reference. Before delving into the curriculum, an overview of what the ‘task-based’ approach is and its implications for an interpreting classroom is given.

5.3.1 The ‘Task-Based’ Approach and Its Application in the Interpreting Classroom The ‘task-based’ approach as a pedagogical tool was originally developed in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and widely adopted in the 1980s. Many scholars have contributed to the development of this approach, including Nunan (1988, 2004), Willis (1996) and Skehan (1998). The basic principle underlying all communicative approaches is that students must learn not only to make grammatically correct, propositional statements about the experiential world, but must also develop their ability to use language to get things done, since simply being able to create grammatically correct structures in language did not necessarily enable the learner to perform various real-life tasks. CLT regards the primary function of language as communication, which involves the forms of a language, the use of forms and the information carried in the forms. Thus, real language learning only starts when the learner starts using it in a communicative context (Li 1986/2001; Nunan 1988, 2004). This approach to language teaching puts (foreign) language acquisition in authentic communicative contexts, emphasizing four key aspects: (1) content-rich teaching; (2) task-based teaching; (3) process approach and (4) learner-centredness (see Li 1986/2001). ‘Task’ in this approach generally refers to classroom activities that reflect the real-world tasks for communicative purposes, where the meaning of utterances is placed above the form. The didactic principles advocated by this approach include learning by doing, cooperative study and authenticity in classroom communication. This approach was well received in the 1980s and 90s, as it successfully activated learners’ enthusiasm by putting them at the centre of classroom activities. Various

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content-rich tasks and group activities can actively engage more students to collaborate in the process of executing either individual small tasks or group-level projects. In such a way, students are no longer passive followers in the classroom with the teacher at the centre delivering knowledge. Instead, they become actors within the tasks and thus become stakeholders in the whole process. These advantages and the intrinsic connection between communication and the process of interpreting, which deal not only with source–target equivalence but also interpersonal interaction, lead us to think if this approach can be applied to interpreting teaching. If so, how can we adapt it to specific contexts by considering its merits and weaknesses? So far, very few studies have touched upon whether this language-teaching approach can be adapted to interpreting classrooms. If indeed it can, what special arrangements must be made to cater for the complexities of interpreting and the specific context it is placed in? In the following part, I use Willis’ framework (1996: 52–62) to analyse and try to integrate this model into my proposed interpreting curriculum for task design and execution, which is illustrated in Fig. 5.1. Willis’ framework (1996) follows a three-step sequence: pre-task, task cycle and the language focus. The first part is the pre-task stage, which serves as a ‘warm-up’ period for the whole class. Here, the teacher introduces the theme of the session, some background information including the objectives or requirements for the session and the task(s) to be performed or executed. Some relevant vocabulary and useful expressions can also be introduced to the students. According to Willis, this stage is designed to activate students’ schema of task-related knowledge so as to better prepare them for the incoming task. Fig. 5.1 Willis’ framework of task-based learning (1996)

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The task cycle stage in a language classroom consists of three sub-stages: task performing, group planning and reporting. At the task-performing stage, students in each group are given one or two (quasi) real-life communicative tasks to execute with the help of language instructions in the textbook. Communicative tasks may cover various aspects of our life: meeting people, discussing daily life, describing things, getting things done, looking forward and talking about the past. In the classroom, the learners are given enough autonomy in all the communicative activities, with the teacher acting only as the organizer, supervisor, facilitator and co-communicator. After the task execution, the teacher asks the students to discuss and reflect on their own task performance, and then students in each group can either choose one or two representatives or individually report to the whole class about their task completion. In the end, the teacher makes comments on group performance and the content of the reports. The final part, the language focus (analysis and practice), is designed in response to the common criticism that the task-based approach does not attach importance to language forms and grammar. Thus, this part is devoted to resolving languagespecific issues, which may include explicit grammar, error treatment and controlled drill practices. The weight of this part varies depending on the level of language proficiency achieved among the students. Teachers can therefore exercise flexibility according to different class conditions and student performances.

5.3.2 Principles for a ‘Task-Based’ Interpreting Classroom When adapting this framework into interpreting teaching, the following principles are worth being highlighted in view of the prominent differences between foreign language learning and interpreting. First of all, some authors (e.g. Man 2012) have already argued that the pre-task part in an interpreting class should be done at the end of the previous session, not at the beginning of a new one; particularly since interpreting tasks are much more demanding than communicative language activities, usually requiring more time (for instance, one week) for preparation in terms of subject knowledge, terminology and glossary work. So for instance, teachers could spend some time (10 min) at the end of the previous session to inform the students of the topic and task to be performed for the next one. This is a reasonable arrangement for more sophisticated topics, which could be adopted in my proposed stages C and D (see following discussion on Interpreting for Profession and Social Integration). For tasks involving preliminary skills training, the pre-task part should remain with the rest in one session, for interpreting is ‘once and for all’. The instantaneous nature of the interpreting act should be reflected in class activities. Secondly, one thing that previous studies have ignored (see Man 2012) is the link between (interpreting) task design and the skills required to perform that particular task. This is a fundamental principle that deserves more emphasis for curriculum design and pedagogy. It is widely recognized that we should not mix

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foreign language acquisition with interpreting teaching, for which (interpreting) skills and techniques constitute an essential part. When adapting Willis’ framework, we should first consider how to integrate skills, from preliminary to more sophisticated ones, into specific tasks and topics in a progressive manner that corresponds with students’ cognitive and psychological needs in the learning process. For example, when training preliminary skills such as logical analysis and information visualization, different genres of speech can be chosen, respectively: narrative speech for logical analysis and descriptive stories for information visualization. In other words, in addition to designing stimulating and interesting tasks to capture students’ attention, tasks should also cater to specific skills and students’ competence achieved in that stage. A common practice is starting with short stories (3 min) and then moving onto longer speeches, with the ultimate aim of cultivating students’ ability to interpret five-minute-long narrative, argumentative or descriptive speeches in the consecutive mode (Liu 2001/2005). Thirdly, when considering Willis’ framework, the language focus part is of particular interest here, for it fits the Chinese context well given that the command of the majority of university foreign language students’ B language still leaves considerable room for improvement. Besides, another important component in interpreting teaching, as I described in Chap. 4 under the ‘micro-linguistic’ context facing Chinese student interpreters, is the necessity to incorporate some common interlingual transfer skills between Chinese and English. In this sense, language/grammatical work plus language-pair-specific skills are necessary in the language focus section for most (undergraduate) interpreting courses. As discussed in Chap. 4, language-pair-specific skills for Chinese interpreting students mainly include the handling of parataxis vs. hypotaxis, conjunctions, logical cohesion and coherence, and the conversion of parts of speech, subject and predicate. The traditional way of language assessment in Chinese EFL classrooms, relying on teachers’ comments or correction, does not always help students as intended (Ye 2012). On the contrary, it may end up consuming too much class time on language issues, which should instead be allocated to interpreting strategies or coping tactics. Additionally, students may easily become too dependent on the teacher and thus lack self-assessment ability in the process of learning. Essentially, the effectiveness of such one-way correction and feedback is very much debated or even doubted in the field of second language acquisition (Wang 2005; Ye 2012). Therefore, a new practice is proposed here in a new framework. First of all, teachers should focus more on the positive aspects of the students’ performance, such as pointing out good wording and appropriate expressions in students’ interpretation and giving encouraging comments to their verbal and non-verbal communication strategies such as sufficient eye contact, good pronunciation or an upright seating or standing posture when interpreting in front of the class. In this way, students’ self-esteem and their engagement with interpreting can be considerably enhanced. The teacher’s primary role in an interpreting class is not merely error correction, but empowering students so as to enhance their confidence and learning motivation. This, however, does not mean that errors should be ignored in class. When the teacher gives comments on performances, a distinction must be made between

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two types of errors in students’ production: (1) ‘zero-level’ mistakes and (2) nonidiomatic use of L2 (in this case, English). The first type refers to grammatical errors which should be avoided whenever possible or corrected by students themselves. For these types of errors, an indirect way of error correction can be done through peergroup review. Peer review can be organized by the teacher in the language focus section to raise students’ awareness of their performance assessment. Students in each group are encouraged to comment on and critique other groups’ performance: their overall performance (accuracy, fluency, skills and language), communication effectiveness and the occurrence of ‘zero-level’ mistakes. In this way, students can increase their self-assessment awareness by pointing out each other’s strengths and weaknesses. It is also a good way to reduce anxiety created by teacher–student correction, thus better protecting students’ self-esteem. For the second type of error—non-idiomatic use or production of L2 (B language) at the level of diction, syntax or lexicography, which is obviously more problematic for both the teacher and students to handle—the interpreter educators should probably take a more holistic and dynamic view to look at what is termed ‘interlanguage’ by applied linguists. It reflects the L2 learners’ evolving system of rules, and results from a variety of processes, including the influence of the first language (‘transfer’), contrastive interference from the mother tongue and the overgeneralization of newly encountered rules (Crystal 2003). Interlanguage is likely to happen when student interpreters lack a thorough command of their B language. In a task-based class, the teacher’s role in the language focus part is more on pointing out methodological mistakes than correcting linguistic errors. They should be able to identify and focus on what type of ‘errors’ students have made and the possible causes for their clumsy or awkward rendition(s). The examples given in Sect. 4.4 on micro-linguistic context demonstrate that the respective students lack awareness and an insufficient command of language-pair-specific skills in translating. This is what the teacher could focus on explaining and try to cultivate this awareness through intensive exercises both in and after class. In the meantime, we should also be aware that these kinds of renditions are, to a certain extent, an unavoidable part of the learning process. L2 production is a process of self-perfection. These ‘errors’ can be viewed as necessary steps towards higher proficiency and idiomaticity. Eliminating ‘interlanguage’ is a matter of time and practice, as students gradually improve their language proficiency with more stimulus input from L2 (Wang 2005). With more interpreting practices and positive language input, it is argued that most of these errors disappear substantially. It is therefore advised that other parallel courses run by departments such as Advance English Reading (高级英语阅读) and Public Speaking (公众演讲) can be better geared in terms of topics or contents to the communicative language competence required in interpreting. Alternatively, a separate B language enhancement component should be added to the curriculum (see Lederer 2008a). Finally, a testing and assessment scheme (see more in Sect. 5.4) is added for each stage of learning to evaluate pedagogical results and also for students to monitor their own progress.

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In the following section, each stage is explained in more detail with particular reference to teaching principles and pedagogy and especially to demonstrate how the ‘task-based’ approach is merged into the teaching of each stage.

5.3.3 Stage A: Interpreting for Passion (译随心动) This is the beginning of the interpreting journey. As the name indicates, this stage is designed as a ‘hook’ to capture students’ enthusiasm and boost their confidence for interpreting. When designing classroom activities, we should bear in mind that most college students are young adults whose prior life experience would have a bearing on their learning process and preference on class activities. From a survey of the literature, Brindley (1984) concludes that adult learners are not merely passive recipients of subject matter devised by some educational authority, but have a wide experience of life which can be brought to bear in the learning process. At this stage, real interpreting should not yet take place as preparatory skills like active listening, summarizing and gisting, and logical analysis and (short-term) memory training need to be introduced first. The tasks may include message reformulation (A-A/B-A), gisting exercises (A-A/B-A) and story retelling (B-A/A-B). The didactic focus though is on how to let students understand that interpreting is not language switching, but extracting and reformulating the ‘sense’ of the speech, which involves a process of disassociating meaning from form. By offering stimulating tasks or topics, we empower the students into active learning, so as to fulfil the main objective at this stage—getting the message through active listening and analysis. As students are not yet prepared to do any real interpreting, no notes are allowed in class activities. Speeches must therefore be oral in nature, avoiding reciting or reading a script and reducing the ‘technical’ content if necessary. Well-structured short stories in students’ A and B languages (approximately 2–3 min in duration) can be a good starting point. It is widely recognized that the success of a learning programme very much depends on the respect and passion of its participants for the subject matter (see Ye 2012). This stage therefore serves as a catalyst for cultivating students’ interest and generating their passion for interpreting. In general, four to six weeks are necessary for drawing the students in and generating confidence. Students are encouraged to come up with exciting topics that interest them. Teachers gather these proposed topics and apply them to class tasks. Topics at this stage are usually flexible and more personal, such as ‘my campus life’, ‘festivals, traditions and films’ or ‘my favourite city, country or lifestyle’. Besides collecting topics from the students, interpreting teachers should meet regularly to discuss and decide on tasks and topics that are relevant to young people’s life and interests, or related to the themes of other parallel courses. Teachers can also adapt well-known folklore stories into impromptu speeches for class reformulation (without notes). Both Chinese and Western folklore stories can be chosen for A-A reformulation and B-A retelling. Well-known folklore stories such as The Little Red

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Cap, Mermaid and Monkey King can be adapted by the teacher for class practice in this beginning phase. Such familiar folklores would help activate student interpreters’ pre-existing knowledge to grasp the storyline and reproduce the story in their own words—which aims to show that interpreting is not word-for-word translation. Meaning over literal transposition is the key to mastering the methodology. The more difficult A-B reformulation should be arranged at the end of these sessions after students have acquired the appropriate habit of listening for messages rather than language and also to minimize L1 interference. The rationale for such arrangements is clear: to reduce anxiety and boost confidence on the one hand and to forge links between school literacy and real-life interests to activate the schema of knowledge on the other. The following is a sample of a teaching plan for Task 1 of stage A. Task A-1 Teaching objectives: (a) Cultivate students’ interest and build up their confidence in interpreting; (b) familiarize students with the overall curricular arrangements for the term; (c) theme for the task: getting the message through active listening. Teaching Procedure: (1) Lead-in (10–20 min): The teacher briefly introduces the overall curriculum for consecutive interpreting: four stages which make up this two-semester-long course. Students are informed about the types of interpreting, as well as basic requirements for interpreters and professional codes of conduct. A 10-min video on the EU’s conference interpreting services over the past 60 years is shown to stimulate discussions on the qualifications of an interpreter. (2) Pre-task (10–15 min): In this phase, the teacher moves onto introducing the main theme of this session: active listening for message rather than language. Students are informed that interpreting is not language switching but meaningbased ‘de-verbalization’. It requires listening as well as analysing the logic and meaning and grasping the intended message of the speaker. Comprehension of the source speech requires knowledge of the language, extra-linguistic or encyclopaedic knowledge, and analysis of the discourse, such as the genre of the speech, and the verbal and non-verbal implicature of the speaker. Students may then ask how they can achieve sufficient comprehension for interpreting. At this point, it is time to move onto the task cycle: students’ presentation and reformulation about ‘my campus life’. In the reporting section, more instructions on the degree of comprehension (i.e. whether it is sufficient) for interpreting may be required. 3. Task cycle (60 min): a reformulation task (B-A) Three groups (A, B and C) are formed before class. Students in Group A select the topic ‘our campus life’ to present. In this case, PowerPoint (PPT) slides are used in the presentation. Students in Group A are requested before class to present in their B language. After some opening remarks, students in this group come to the stage to

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share their experience of campus life one by one. The instructor assigns Group C to reformulate the presentation of each presenter into their A language. Group B in this round is requested to note down the merits and weaknesses of the presentations and reformulation and then join the discussions after their fellow students’ performances are finished. (3a) Planning (group discussion): In this phase, Group B is divided into two parts to join the discussions of Groups A and C. For Group A, they discuss the performance of reformulation done by Group C. For Group C, they discuss the presentation skills and communication effects of Group A. As some examples, instructive questions could be listed by the teacher to remind the students of what a good presentation should contain and how to get the intended message across through verbal and non-verbal communication. (3b) Reporting: Individual reporting to the class is encouraged. Students are free to comment on the content, structure and style of the speech, as well as the delivery and posture of the speaker. The reformulation part is given sufficient attention regarding the comprehension of the source language: ‘what and how’ in reformulating a speech when the speaker was talking. The instructor’s comments aim to stimulate discussions on the relationship between linguistic, extra-linguistic knowledge and analysis in comprehension. Language focus (10–20 min): As mentioned above, this stage is mainly used to draw the students into interpreting. It is designed to encourage students to use their B language to discover and explore topics or ideas that interest them, while trying not to interrupt them with language-level concerns. Thus, we try to emphasize ‘fluency first’ and ‘logical-correctness-focused’ in evaluating students’ performance at this stage (see later discussion on assessment). Most importantly, we aim to enhance students’ self-esteem and liberate them from the rule-bound, tightly constraint evaluations. However, this does not mean that language errors are ignored at this stage. Common errors should be collected by the teacher and discussed in class. Error correction is not explicitly excluded but should not override the importance of implementing stimulating tasks given the limited class time. Finally, the teacher wraps up the session by summarizing what has been achieved and introduces the topics or tasks to be performed for the next session. Another important component at this stage, on the part of the instructor, is explaining to the students the process of (successful) interpreting: the three-step triangular model as illustrated by the ITT (see Sect. 2.3), after students have gained some perceptual knowledge about interpreting. For instance, one special session can be arranged to watch an online lecture on the interpretive model given by Prof. Lederer to deepen students’ understanding of the subject matter. In the Internet age, supplementary online audio-visual materials have become more widely accessible. Utilizing network resources to open up new channels for teaching is a new trend in discussing interpreting pedagogy. For instance, teachers can recommend useful websites for students to download live speeches for after-class practice (e.g. www.cspan.org) after informing them how to select appropriate speeches for practice (see Sect. 5.3.4.1 below).

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5.3.4 Stage B: Interpreting for Skills Acquisition (译技飞扬) After completing the first stage, students are prepared to get equipped with interpreting skills and techniques. This stage is crucial for developing professional competence. Students are sequentially introduced to all essential skills and techniques used in professional interpreting, including note-taking, information restructuring, reconstruction and paraphrasing, preparation as well as coping tactics for comprehension. In accordance with the principles formulated above (see Sect. 5.3.1), specific skills acquisition is best integrated into the task design. That is to say, we should not only provide a list of know-hows, but also matched exercises to help students practise these newly acquired skills. For more sophisticated skills such as note-taking, several class sessions may be necessary to familiarize the students with the know-how and help them to master it through practice. For example, for reference, a three-session arrangement for teaching note-taking can unfold as follows, based on my previous teaching practices3 : In the first session, the instructor introduces Gile’s Effort Models for consecutive interpreting to point out that notes can be used to compensate for weaknesses in other areas such as terminology and jargon. Students are then instructed on the essentials of note-taking: what to take down, how to mark different information units, how to position notes on the page and how to analyse and deal with the continuously incoming meaning units. A simple passage is then played in Chinese to let the students try it out. One or two students’ notes are collected, and the instructor comments on these notes. In the second session, specific techniques of consecutive note-taking are introduced: abbreviations, symbols, arrows, lines, verticality and indentation. It is very important to get students to realize that practice makes perfect. A large number of exercises are designed for students to practise in and out of class. In the second and third sessions, a considerable amount of time is devoted to practising note-taking. Five speeches (two in Chinese and three in English) are used for class practice. One or two students in each group are invited to take notes on the whiteboard in front of the class and try to interpret the speech segment into the target language. Each performing student is encouraged to share their feelings and experience with the rest of the class. Students are encouraged to discuss and report to other group members what special difficulties they have encountered. One didactic focus in teaching note-taking is on how to deal with the lag between note-taking and the continuously unfolding meaning units, which is likely to be a special difficulty for students. Since difficulties encountered by each student can vary considerably, the teacher’s task is never to let the students copy his/her own ‘noting’ system, but rather, to lead the students to discover the best possible ways of coordinating these concurrent ‘efforts’ in taking notes for themselves. The teacher should 3 Consecutive interpreting (Level One) was offered

at Leiden University in the academic year 2012.

by me to MA/BA 4 students of Chinese Studies

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provide individual suggestions or solutions by resorting to principles explained: what to note, how to analyse, how to mark different information units and how to use notepads effectively. When students perform a specific task, the teacher assumes the role of a facilitator, not intervening but observing and jotting down points that may need further explanation after the whole performance is finished. Finally, the teacher wraps up the third session by explaining the correct procedure for taking notes: (a) Listening and analysing—it serves as the foundation for notes. (b) Remembering and note minimum—the proper coordination of memorization and note-taking is the key to success. When there is a conflict, always put remembering before note-taking. (c) Recall—with the help of notes, the message and structure of the original speech can be reproduced. (d) Render—the linguistic and extra-linguistic factors will come into play for the final rendition. 5.3.4.1

Material Selection and Coherence in Interpreting

At this stage, the selection of class materials or speeches must cater to the skills acquired. In that sense, the criteria for the selection of speeches for practice at this stage should be given sufficient attention. As I pointed out in the previous chapter, this is an area neglected by interpreting course books from the past. For example, in the influential Interpreting for tomorrow (Lin et al. 1999), which is a joint product from the XiaDa interpreting team and the University of Westminster, little attention is paid to the discussion of how to select speeches for either class training or after-class practices among the students. Much space in the teacher’s book (TB) is given to language issues and additional texts, which are mostly in written style, or segmented texts from written articles published in newspapers or official documents. Previous research (see Chen 2011) and my teaching experience have shown that this type of text would probably intimidate the students from the start and may also send a misleading signal that learning interpreting is no more than dealing with language issues and oral reproduction of written texts. The importance of the analysis of ‘discourse’ in interpreting is largely ignored. One of the widely observed poor performance indices for consecutive interpretations by trainee interpreters is that the discourse of interpreting can be confusing and imprecise, ‘lacking coherence and cohesion’, with sentences not linked but juxtaposed (Ficchi 1999: 202; Peng 2011). Hatim and Mason (2002: 262) suggest that successful consecutive interpreting should ‘show a clear outline of the way a text is structured’. A review of the literature shows that ‘making sense’ and ‘sense consistency’ are two of the most frequently proposed attributes which need to be considered in evaluating the quality of interpretation in professional settings (e.g. Kurz [1993]/2002; Peng 2011).

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This offers some guidance for didactic approaches in the classroom. It suggests that in addition to information accuracy, we must also highlight logical ‘cohesion and coherence’ in the discourse of interpreting. The best solution, in my view, is to start with the selection of speeches for teaching. It is suggested that all speeches for training in class must be oral, or adapted orally to give the students not only a voice for listening, but also the situational ‘context’ for processing: the setting, the participants, the genre, the key, the instrumentalities and the ends as defined by Hymes (1977). Therefore, authentic live speeches made by native speakers of the source language are the preferred choice for practice, because they provide the above contextual variables for the interpreter to process the speech. Several scholars (e.g. Seleskovitch and Lederer 1989/2002; Liu 2001/2005: 47; Chen 2011) have emphasized the importance of choosing ‘authentic’ materials for class teaching. Liu has proposed three criteria for choosing interpreting materials for skill acquisition as follows: (1) Topics dealing with current issues: This encourages students to activate their extra-linguistic mental resources to process the speech, which helps them to better understand the interpreting process and working procedure. (2) Completeness in content: Although the actual length of interpreting materials is at the discretion of the teacher, one point needs to be made: all training materials used should be a complete discourse which helps the students develop logical analysis and facilitate ‘deep processing’ for the speech. After students have acquired all individual skills, a complete speech with a natural opening, twists and turns in reasoning and a convincing conclusion should be used in integrated exercises to better develop students’ concentration, memory and analytical skills (Chen 2011: 179). (3) Skill–content correspondence: Teachers should be able to identify and provide matched exercises to train specific skills or techniques in each unit. This can be a speech segment or oralized (written) reports starting from 1.5 to 3 min all the way up to 5 min as students’ mastery of skills increases. Again, B-A exercises should precede A-B ones. Single sentence-to-sentence interpreting should be avoided as it lacks ‘context’ and may lead to methodological mistakes—emphasizing linguistic instead of interpretive translation (see Sect. 2.4). Given that it is not always possible for interpreting classes in China to have a native English speaker to serve as a teaching assistant, a common practice is to utilize online audio-visual recordings as teaching materials, provided that the instructor is discerning in selecting and adapting them according to the above-mentioned principles. It should also be noted that it is best if a conference room can be used for interpreting courses instead of placing students in language laboratories where face-to-face communication is limited.

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5.3.5 Stage C: Interpreting for Profession (译能实战) This is the third stage of the course. By the time students have finished the second stage, it is expected that they have mastered all the essential skills for interpreting. At this stage, two areas are addressed: (1) professional ethics, focusing on the code of conduct and its application in different settings—business liaison, public service, conference or community and (2) mock interpreting exercises. Students are informed about the different settings in which interpreters work. Angelelli (2006) argued that standards and regulations applicable to one type of interpreting cannot be blindly transferred to others, since there are significant differences among the settings where interpreting is performed. Hence, one major pedagogical objective at this stage is to sensitize the students to the ‘role’ of an interpreter in different settings and under different contexts. Students must become aware of the power they have as interpreters and learn how to use their skills effectively and responsibly on a par with their duties. Through implementing setting-specific tasks, students are explicitly informed of their responsibilities as interpreters. Task design focuses on creating different mock settings where consecutive interpreting normally takes place, especially in a Chinese context. These settings may include receiving a foreign delegation at the airport, interpreting for doctors and medical assistants at an international sporting event and interpreting for business negotiations as well as international conferences. This stage contains six units, which take approximately 24 class hours. The following is a sample of a teaching plan designed for the third session of this stage, which is entitled ‘interpreting for press conferences’. Task C-3 Interpreting for Press Conferences Teaching objectives: After completing the first two stages, students are equipped with all the essential skills and techniques used in consecutive interpreting. Now it is time to try them out in professional settings. This task (covering two class sessions) is designed to cultivate skills required for interpreting at a press conference setting. The topic chosen is the briefing on the preparation for the London 2012 Olympic Games (venue: IOC Centre). All students are requested to collect information for organizing a briefing on the preparation of the London Games. In class, three groups (A, B and C) are formed to act out different roles in turn: the spokespersons, journalists and officials from the organizing committee as well as interpreters. To be specific, this task is designed to fulfil three functions: (1) conference preparation: familiarizing the students with the relevant background information and glossary for the London 2012 Olympic Games; (2) public speaking skills for spokespersons and (3) figure interpreting such as taking notes and switching figures from Chinese to English and from English to Chinese.

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Teaching procedure (1) Pre-task (20 min): the instructor introduces the theme of the briefing, including the participants (spokesperson, journalists and officials) and the theme of the press briefing—the latest updates on the preparation of major sporting venues. (2) Task Cycle (60–80 min): Without prior arrangement, Group A is chosen by the instructor to act as participants of the press conference. Students in this group take the role of journalists, invited officials and the moderators of the conference. The instructor assigns Group B to act as interpreters to complete the interpreting tasks for each speaker in Group A. Then, students in Group B perform the task one by one. It is worth pointing out that no student is allowed to only perform single-sentence interpreting. Each segment for interpreting is no less than two minutes in length. The actual duration of interpreting for each student depends on the number of students in each group and the length of each speech. Group C in this round assumes the role of independent observers, who are required to note down the merits and limitations of group B’s interpretation and then join the group discussions after their fellow students finish their performance. (2a) Planning (group discussion): This stage is done directly after the completion of the interpreting task. Groups A and C discuss the performance of Group B. Group B discusses and reflects upon their own interpreting performances and their collaboration with speakers in group A. (2b) Reporting: In this phase, each group can choose their own representatives to report to the class on the results of their discussion about the interpreting performance of Group B. Individual reporting on a voluntary basis is also encouraged. Students are given licence to comment on their particular preferences in each performance. 3. Language Focus and Controlled Interpreting Exercise (20–25 min): (3a) Language analysis: Based on the group reports and their observation, the instructor collects comments on the speakers’ presentations and the interpreters’ performances in terms of skills, accuracy and language. Some common linguistic errors are sometimes collected by the instructor for further explanation, such as misuse of prepositions, inappropriate collocation and errors resulting from insufficient command of certain interpreting skills or the lower level of language proficiency. (3b) Controlled interpreting exercise: After the instructor finishes the language analysis, a controlled interpreting exercise to recapture speech segments that are particularly problematic to previous interpreters is needed. The instructor assigns certain speakers to deliver the speech or certain speech segments again (on the same topic but using different language). Students in Group C now assume the role of interpreters in turn in order to finish the controlled exercises. This controlled interpreting exercise aims to enhance what has been learned on the part of the students by going over the difficulties encountered. This is also in

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line with the ‘learning by doing’ principle. Furthermore, this kind of retrospective exercise helps the students form self-reflective habits, which are conducive to their future career development.

5.3.6 Stage D: Interpreting for Social Integration (译韵流芳) This is the final stage of the one-year-long consecutive interpreting course and lasts 12–16 class hours. There are two to three larger projects to be implemented in this stage. The major pedagogical purpose is to lead the students to explore the sociocultural dimension of interpreting as a profession in society. As an integral part of an interpreting education, we as educators are obliged to make efforts to enhance students’ sociocultural knowledge, to cultivate their social awareness and responsibility. This would be a substantive step forward in realizing the social function of a university education in cultivating well-rounded citizens. Regardless of students’ future career choices, one fundamental element is common to all: the need for education (Angelelli 2006). It is worth pointing out that the competence we try to cultivate through this course consists of three parts: (1) interpreting skills and techniques; (2) intercultural communication and (3) humanistic/social knowledge and awareness. This third element occurs in this final stage, whereby students are encouraged to go out of campus to do some investigation in society in order to complete a project. Project or task design in this stage should therefore focus on sociocultural issues, which require the students to carry out research and social investigation cooperatively. In- and after-class interactions among the students play equally important roles in this curriculum. To this end, the teacher’s main responsibility is again to design stimulating and appropriate tasks to engage students and give full play to their creativity and imagination. Topics may include controversial issues like ‘the legalization of gay marriage in China’, ‘here comes the DINKs’4 or ‘democracy and the form of government’, as just some examples. These thought-provoking topics would stimulate young students’ interests and kindle their passion for implementation. The following is an example of a task in D-3: Organizing an interpretation contest in the form of a debate. Topic: Should gay marriage be legalized in China? Participants: Chinese students, foreign teachers and guests. Time for preparation: three weeks. Date and venue: Student Hall (7–9 pm, 17 December). This debate is carried out on the above topic between Chinese natives who are supposed to speak Mandarin only during the debate and English-speaking teachers 4 DINK

stands for‘double income, no kids’. The DINK family goes against the traditional Chinese and indeed many East Asian family values of raising children to carry on the family line.

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who do not understand Mandarin. Each debater has an interpreter, whose job is to provide consecutive interpreting either from Chinese to English or English to Chinese. Interpreters are chosen among the students or recommended by the teacher. The first step is to let the students form three groups to act as the pro-side, againstside and interpreters, respectively. All students are requested to do some research into this issue, through literature reviews, social investigation and data collection, in order to form an argument. A tentative arrangement for each week is shown below. Week one: Group formation among the students. Research and social investigation are carried out within each group. Each side must gather sufficient evidence to support their arguments. To this end, students do research into various aspects of this social issue: the marriage law, the social status of gay/lesbians, discrimination and anti-discrimination movements and the psychological pressure for gay and lesbian students on campus. Week two: Foreign teachers or guests are invited and informed of the topic for the debate. Student interpreters are chosen on the basis of both academic merits and voluntary participation. An evidence-gathering session is organized in the classroom. Both the pro-side and against-side are assigned a writing task to jot down the major points to be presented in the debate. The chosen interpreters have the right to communicate with each side for more information. This simulates the interpreter’s preparation for conferences in real-life situations. Week three: The actual interpreting contest takes place on stage. Teachers and students form the pro-side and the against-side. The interpreters draw lots on the spot to decide which debaters they are going to interpret for. External examiners from professional interpreting users are invited to be judges. The interpreting ‘feat’ is now ready to be performed. Such interpreting projects are likely to become transformative experiences for many, serving as a gateway for the students to know more about society. This in turn will help realize the sociocultural function of education: cultivating modern citizenship and critical thinking. By completing these projects, students not only learn to interpret, but also project their voices about the world and social affairs in this process. As for the interpreters, interpreting for a debate is also a way to revisit the role of interpreters in connection with different social and political positions, particular to the position or stance that each debater holds. Hence, student interpreters are made aware of the impact that both the institution and society have on the interaction they (as interpreters) broker and realize its constraints and cultures (Angelelli 2006: 33). Thus, I have constructed a new curriculum that deals with the Chinese context— the final step to establishing an assessment scheme in order to make the whole edifice complete. I now discuss the reform of the scoring scheme that is in line with the general philosophy of this curriculum.

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5.4 Pedagogic Assessment: The Scoring Scheme and Testing Focus Assessment plays an instructive role in guiding pedagogy and curriculum design in schools. Pedagogical assessment aims to lead the students to understand the objectives of teaching in each stage of the curriculum and help the teacher better manage the didactic progression. Our focus in assessment is not on professional-level testing, which is often done by certifying bodies such as NAATI5 or interpreter employers like the EU. My scoring scheme aims to monitor and evaluate the pedagogical results for each stage. Since this curriculum is designed for (undergraduate) interpreting as a compulsory subject, it is open to all junior or senior students (BA3/4) in an English or Translation department, meaning entry-level assessment is often not possible. For this category of interpreting course, I emphasize that formative assessment by the instructor as part of the teaching and learning process takes a more prominent role than summative assessment at the end of each term. This ‘process-focused’ approach should also be reflected in the scoring scheme: every stage has different functions and focuses, which follows a developmental line to the realization of the ultimate goal of an interpreting education. Students should also be made familiar with this scoring scheme so that they know what is expected from them. Stage A: The pedagogical focus is on ‘confidence building and information retrieval’. At this stage, the attention and efforts are mostly directed to attaining ‘fluency first’ while temporarily putting aside the language errors. Accordingly, the assessment criteria are composed of three parts: information correctness and logic (50%), flow of language (30%) and language quality (20%). Stage B: At this stage, we try to cultivate the skills and techniques in training, which are embedded in various themes or topics for interpreting. This part constitutes the largest percentage points in the assessment. In the meantime, as students become more and more confident and comfortable with interpreting, we gradually increase the percentage points for language expression, and add one more component—the psychological control in performance. Thus, the assessment criteria and the percentage points for each are interpreting skill and techniques (45%), subject matter knowledge (15%), language quality (25%) and psychological control (5%). Stage C: This stage aims to apply skills to professional settings. Students are expected to behave more like real professionals after mastering all the essential skills of interpreting. More weight is given to linguistic skills and subject matter knowledge. Thus, the distribution goes like this: subject matter knowledge (30%), linguistic skills (20%), preparation (10%), interpreting skills (30%) and psychological control (10%). Stage D: This stage focuses on the implementation of larger interpreting projects by the students. Assessment is carried out on site. Professional interpreters can be 5 NAATI,

the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters, is an independent organization based in Australia. Its primary function is to establish and monitor the standards of translation and interpreting, and it is responsible for developing the means by which practitioners in Australia can be accredited at different levels.

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invited to be judges for the interpreting contest. The actual implementation of the contest accounts for 50% of the assessment, while the other 50% is assessed according to teamwork on the preparation of each group: evidence gathering, arguments and the completion of the writing task. This marks the end of the curriculum design for consecutive interpreting in a Chinese context. It is hoped that this curriculum can help optimize interpreting education not only in China, but also shed some light on other developing or emerging countries where the context for teaching interpreting diverges from the mainstream European practices. Although it is yet to be empirically validated, this curriculum lays down a framework in which student successes are expected. In the following section, a theoretical analysis is provided to further elaborate on the context of teaching.

5.5 Discussion on the Context of Teaching: Deconstruction and Reconstruction This new innovative curriculum for (undergraduate) interpreting education can be discussed and analysed from the point of view of ‘context’. As pointed out earlier, there are two major obstacles facing interpreting students in China as follows: (1) Anxiety and fear. Many students of English or Translation regard interpreting as the most difficult course to deal with. As a well-known saying among the students goes, every interpreting class is as tough as fighting in a battlefield. In a typical interpreting classroom, in which teachers assume the leading role to organize class activities and critique students’ performances, there is a oneway cycle of interpreting practice to teachers’ comments. Such practices are so entrenched in curriculums and educational thinking that few dare to change them. The major problem in such a context is that students are generally passive and are often found to have a lack of interest, simply waiting nervously to be called to interpret. (2) The relatively lower standard in the B language and native language (L1) interference. As we already noted, the command of most university students’ B language (English in our discussion) is not yet up to the level required for professional interpreting. The transference of their native language (A language) is a natural product in their translation. This often has a negative impact on the production of A-B translation, which may lead to what is called ‘Chinglish’, a form of interlanguage. So what can we do to address these two problems in our curriculum and pedagogy? One viable solution lies in removing the psychological barriers in the first place. This includes encouraging students to ‘dare to interpret’ through designing stimulating interpreting tasks, thus boosting their confidence from the very start. By giving positive feedback on students’ performance, instead of focusing on linguistic error correction, we can break away from the conventional ‘rule-bounded’ teaching context. Cognitive and affective empowerment can be achieved for the students. In

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the meantime, we have reshaped the four dimensions of the ‘context’ of teaching (see Fig. 4.1): linguistic, interactive, situational and (inter)cultural. Kramsch (1993: 11) argued that attention should be drawn to create ‘a type of pedagogy that fosters both direct and indirect ways of transmitting knowledge, that values not only facts but relations between facts, that encourages diversity of experience and reflection on that diversity’. This new curriculum has managed the recontextualization of the above-mentioned four dimensions of the teaching context. I look at each of these four dimensions in turn below.

5.5.1 Linguistic Context The first dimension is the linguistic context, which determines the choice of linguistic forms to ensure maintenance of the cohesion and coherence of the text (Halliday 1978). This curriculum and its associated pedagogy challenge some of the teaching conventions in interpreting. We have liberated learners from the conventional linguistic constraints—a prescriptive system that focuses on ‘deviations’ from an ideal standard in terms of source–target accuracy, equivalence or fidelity (Pöchhacker 2004: 143). Under the conventional scheme, students are tightly bound by a number of rules for interpreting, which quite often lead to a loss of confidence in their abilities. In this proposed new system, however, topic design replaces error correction to become the main task for teachers. Students are given opportunities to explore topics of interest, thus giving free rein to their imagination and innovation. As is well known, interest is the best catalyst for learning. Through implementing tasks that express their innate feelings and voices, students are likely to better internalize and accelerate the use of their (acquired) linguistic and procedural knowledge in interpreting. In this new curriculum and its associated pedagogy, peer review replaced the one-way teacher-to-student critique as the predominant form of feedback. A new formative assessment scheme that puts ‘fluency first’ in the beginning stage has replaced linguistic ‘correctness’ or ‘accuracy’ in teaching. Students’ cognitive and affective needs are thus prioritized in the process of learning. Peer review and crosscorrection have allowed for a new way in which the choice of linguistic forms is more equal and negotiable between fellow students. The teacher is also liberated from the heavy load of linguistic error correction and is thus able to put more energy into task design and teaching methodology.

5.5.2 Interactive Context The interactive context is defined as the interaction between the interlocutors through their beliefs and presuppositions (Kramsch 1993). Here it mainly refers to the teacher–student relationship. This pedagogy aims to reconfigure power relations

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in teaching practices. By shifting some of the traditional authority from teacher to student, the teacher loses their traditional role of ‘magisterial’ lecturer to instead combine the role of comrade, director and coordinator. The reshaping of the teacher– student relationship is best demonstrated in the ‘task-based’ approach. The teacher has become a class observer, a director of class activities and a comrade or colleague of their students, there to consult or give assistance. In this interactive context, teachers are no longer an authoritative figure imparting knowledge to the students. Rather, they become a consultant for the students in the process of learning, providing them with the foundations to achieve higher targets in the zone of proximal development (ZPD) (Van der Struyf 2002). Also, by involving the teacher in both classroom and extra-curricular activities, such as the interpretation contest, a strong sense of attachment and mutual support is created. The teacher’s personality plays a key role in implementing this pedagogy.

5.5.3 Situational Context The production of a text or discourse is closely related to the external context of communication or situational context (Halliday 1978). This includes the psychological and cognitive environments in which the learners are placed. It is believed that one of the most challenging tasks for interpreting teachers is on how to engage the students and structure the course in a progressive way that reflects the psychological and cognitive developments of learning. This new curriculum and pedagogy have tentatively offered a four-step solution—an integrated curriculum design comprising (1) interpreting for passion; (2) interpreting for skills acquisition; (3) interpreting for profession and (4) interpreting for social integration. This curriculum has integrated both the skills-led approach and the topic-based approach, while implementing a ‘student-centred’ principle. By forging links between students’ real-life interests and school literacy, I aim to activate students’ genuine interest in interpreting and engage them in active learning in the teaching process. Various in-class tasks and extra-curricular activities have turned the interpreting class into a stage for performance where the leading role is no longer taken by the teacher but by the students. The new teacher–student relationship helps strengthen the affective attachment between them, thus possibly reducing communication barriers and fostering a culture of cooperation. The shift of error correction from the teacher to the peer groups, to a large extent, protects the self-esteem of the students. It therefore opens up a new channel for affective empowerment.

5.5.4 Cultural Context Another dimension of context is the context of culture, a term that describes the institutional and ideological background knowledge shared by a community (Fowler 1986). The cultural context allows people to make sense of the world around them,

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but at the same time, may also pose difficulties for communication between those who do not share the same stock of knowledge and experience in both intra-cultural and intercultural communications (Ye 2012). ‘Intra-cultural’ or ‘intercultural’ differences are terms used to describe discrepancies between social groups or classes (within one country) for geographical, historical and/or socio-economic reasons. As revealed in previous discussions, competent interpreters must be good intercultural communicators. This curriculum emphasizes the notion of promoting social and cultural understanding among the students, which constitutes an important part of an interpreting education. A good example is the organization of an interpretation contest in the form of a debate on a certain social or cultural topic. Such activities provide not only a platform to improve students’ interpreting skills, but also serves as a tool so they can better understand themselves and the relationship between individuals and society.

5.6 Conclusion: Realizing an Interpreting Education In our discussion, I have offered a mentality shift towards interpreting education, which has guided the new curriculum design and pedagogical innovation—a tenable solution to address the Chinese context. Discussions have also shown that through reshaping interpreting ideology, we upgrade interpreting teaching onto a new level: a process of cultivating well-rounded professionals in modern society. Interpreting education is a holistic concept whose framework of meaning awaits continuous enrichment from various perspectives. In this chapter, I have created and outlined an integrated curriculum design with its associated pedagogy as well as teaching principles, which seeks to realize an interpreting education in the Chinese context. Discussion has also revealed that under the general framework of education, interpreting teaching is likely to be enlightened. There can be multiple ways of realizing an interpreting education in different contexts and through different means. Angelelli (2006: 24) first proposed the notion of ‘interpreting education’ after examining healthcare interpreting programmes in the USA. She elaborated on its basic components: (1) information processing; (2) interpersonal; (3) linguistic; (4) professional; (5) setting-specific and (6) sociopolitical. She argued that while most of the interpreting programmes have in general incorporated components (1), (3) and (4), the other components, namely (2), (5) and (6), are neither taught nor reflected upon in most interpreting courses or curriculums. From the discussions above, we can conclude that this curriculum incorporates the above six components. Furthermore, we have expanded the meaning of an interpreting education, stating that it serves not only to cultivate well-rounded interpreters, but also creating a path leading to modern citizenship and intercultural personality. Research into (university-level) interpreting education in China is a new domain that has existed for less than two decades. In this research, I use ‘context’ as a breakthrough to investigate and discuss various contextual variables in the teaching of interpreting.

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Hopefully, this book can also shed some light on future interpreting curriculum design and course enrichment in contexts that are similar to China, especially for emerging economies or countries. It is believed that with consistent efforts from academia, interpreting education will become a new platform where research on pedagogy, curriculum and approaches can flourish.

Chapter 6

General Conclusion: Towards a Contextual Model for Interpreter Education

Abstract The final part of this book concludes that interpreting education is a contextual matter. It proposes a reshaped interpreting educational model that can accommodate contextual conditions, and points out some future avenues to push forward didactic research in the future. Keywords Contextual model · Reshaping education · Conclusion

6.1 Summary and Research Findings As shown in this book, interpreter training is a contextual matter. As a human practice, the act of interpreting dates back to ancient times. Professional interpreting, however, only took shape in the twentieth century within the context of two world wars. Correspondingly, interpreter training practices that sprung up from this context appeared in post-war Europe and then spread to other parts of the world, embedded in different social and historical structures and settings. Since then, interpreting (and translation) studies has come a long way to become a research domain, a specialization or major at university, and most notably for this research project, a compulsory yet popular subject for foreign language students in China. It has made its presence felt in both academia and industry, gaining momentum to develop further into an autonomous discipline. It is against this sort of sociopolitical background that I posed the research questions in the opening chapter to start investigating the relationship between interpreting training models and their receptive contexts. I have studied major conference interpreting training models and programmes in both Europe and China, in particular examining the applicability of the highly influential AIIC/ESIT model of training, as represented by the European Masters in Conference Interpreting (EMCI), in the Chinese context. Following a review of the developments of interpreting research paradigms and training practices in Chap. 2, we have mapped out a panoramic picture of six major research paradigms and the overarching themes in interpreting didactics. In Chap. 3, I further looked into the major interpreter training models or programmes in both Europe and China. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd 2020 J. Liu, Interpreter Training in Context, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8594-4_6

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From the discussion in Chap. 4, it is argued that interpreter training is closely related to its embedded context—a new definition of context comprising three dimensions is given, which has served as a starting point for comparative study. A new position is formulated in this chapter to lead us to reconsider interpreter training in the light of divergent contexts. Following the discussions on interpreting education in Chap. 5—issues surrounding curriculum design, pedagogy and teaching principles—we now have a clearer picture of how pedagogical strategies should also be receptive to the teaching– learning context. In the light of the specific contextual limitations facing Chinese interpreter trainers, Chap. 5 offered a new four-step curriculum for consecutive interpreting at the undergraduate level, which has targeted some prominent issues facing Chinese students, like ‘anxiety’ and ‘B language enhancement’. In summary, this book has addressed research questions via the following three aspects, leading also to the findings summarized below. First, I stressed the importance of ‘context’ in modelling interpreter training through a comparative study of mainstream European and Chinese interpreter training models, especially when it comes to curriculum, pedagogy and skills. The discussions have shown that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to interpreter training. We need to adjust the level of skills, course objectives, pedagogical approaches and class design in view of divergent contexts. For modelling interpreting training outside the optimal European context, pedagogical adjustments and coping tactics in line with corresponding contextual variables are needed in order to achieve better socio-ecological results. This brings home the point that theoretical modelling should be receptive to context. The act of interpreting and interpreter education, as a social practice, takes place in social institutions. It is thus inevitably bound up in sociocultural and linguistic contexts. To an extent, social institutions determine the selection, production and operational procedures of interpreting training practices. This in turn affects the pedagogical and linguistic strategies adopted. As a result, interpreting education can be viewed as a ‘socially regulated undertaking’—which leads us to reconsider interpreting education as a constructing and constructed subject in society. This point of view is further elaborated upon in the contextual model in Fig. 6.1. Second, I showed that China has a ‘sub-optimal’ context for interpreting teaching and learning—the specific contextual limitations facing Chinese university-level interpreting courses and the corresponding coping tactics. To optimize interpreting teaching in the Chinese context, a mentality shift from ‘training’ to ‘education’ on the part of interpreting teachers was proposed in Chap. 5, and a new curriculum for undergraduate interpreting teaching, aiming to reshape interpreting ideology, forge links between students’ real-life interests and classroom activities and rebuild teacher–student relationships, was offered to better handle the intricate relationship between ‘anxiety’ and ‘empowerment’ in an interpreting education. Chapter 5 put forward some solutions better suited to the Chinese context—a more democratic way of teaching interpreting and the theoretical educational benefits derived from such a mentality change. The manipulation of various contextual elements to create new and innovative approaches to empower student interpreters creates a viable

6.1 Summary and Research Findings

A (D+CC)

Socio-historical context

S C (SL+K)

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R (TL+K)

Teaching-learning context

I

Linguistic context

Fig. 6.1 Contextual model for interpreting education

path to cultivate students’ creativity and intercultural competence in an interpreting education. Third, this book has shed new light on the notion of ‘interpreting education’ as a solution to some pressing issues in the Chinese context. It is widely recognized that education is the key to individual success in society. In a knowledge-driven world today, creativity and intercultural awareness are defining features of any successful society. In college interpreting courses, the neglect of students’ personal voice and affective needs have resulted in fear of interpreting, unsatisfactory interpreting performance and, more importantly, the loss of creativity to varying degrees. Hence, as interpreting educators, we need to re-envision the nature, objective and didactics of college-level interpreting courses. The overall purpose of this book is to stimulate discussion and reflection on interpreting education in China. To achieve better educational results, we really need to adopt more intercultural and holistic approaches in teaching and curriculum design to nurture well-rounded professionals and their intercultural identity in this globalized world. Therefore, the implications and significance of this study are multifaceted. For university interpreting or translation teachers, the need to enhance students’ intercultural competence, self-motivation, confidence and creativity is as important as, if not more than, linguistic competence and skill proficiency. For researchers in second language acquisition and (applied) translation studies, the integration of innovative approaches to interpreting teaching offers a new direction for applied research in pedagogy and curriculum. For interpreting students, the new approach and curriculum help link interpreting with creativity and intercultural competence development, where they can exercise creativity and make their voices heard, thus leading towards the reduction of anxiety and fear of interpreting. In promoting my proposed curriculum and pedagogy, I am not implying that they should be implemented in any kind of uniform way, and neither do I want to standardize this new approach. On the contrary, diverse

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teaching contexts may require redesigning and amendments. It is hoped that the new approach and curriculum for interpreting education can be practised, tested and finally improved as more and more empirical evidence is generated through (future) teaching experiments. I also hope that I can apply these new frameworks in my future research and teaching career. Although this study has some specific implications for teachers of interpreting in China, I hope that what has been discussed here is also of interest and relevance to teachers and scholars of foreign language education, cultural studies and applied linguistics across different regions and cultures.

6.2 Reshaping an Interpreting Educational Model To get down to specific models of interpreter training, previous discussions have shown that the combination of individual component skills alone (such as those represented by the XiaDa model) cannot lead to a successful interpreter education. As pointed out in Chaps. 4 and 5, the teaching–learning process context should be given sufficient attention in modelling. Here, I offer a new contextual model based on the XiaDa for interpreting education as a way of summarizing our previous discussions. In this new model, the three overlapping circles (namely analysis, comprehension and reconstruction) with the skills core at the centre (including professionalism) construct a technical road map to interpreting. However, in order to attain a successful interpreting education, a contextual filter comprising three layers— namely socio-historical, teaching–learning and linguistic context—is added. This shows that interpreter education is a contextual matter, for which all component skills or techniques (S) must go through a filter to upgrade to the level for contextual adaptation. The relationships between discourse analysis (A), comprehension (C) and reconstruction (R) are still the same as explained in Chap. 2, though the relationship between the skill triangle (S) at the core and the contextual filter should be highlighted here. It aims to show that the level of skills required for an interpreting course is actually determined by the three layers of this contextual filter: (1) the top ‘socio-historical’ layer, which determines the supply and demand for any particular interpreting service (liaison, community or conference) and the operational resources (both human and logistics) for teaching at the local level; (2) the middle ‘teaching–learning’ layer, which dictates the didactic and pedagogical strategies for training; and (3) the bottom ‘linguistic’ layer concerning student composition and their linguistic proficiency as well as issues concerning language pair specifics. Both the XiaDa/GDUFS and ESIT/AIIC models have their strengths in adapting to their own three-layer contexts, but may become problematic when applied blindly to another ‘alien’ environment or context, be that linguistically related or within a teaching–learning process. The Chinese interpreting market calls for consecutiveonly interpreters at a broader conference level, a new yet much desired ‘middle-layer’ group for training and a more realistic teaching goal in China. After assessing these

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two types of representative models in the light of the three dimensions of the Chinese context, we find that the influential ESIT/AIIC model has its advantages over the XiaDa in several aspects, including establishing progressive steps in teaching, the selection of oral materials for training and clearly distinguishing interpreter training from language teaching through translation. The Chinese ‘home-grown’ models, however, put more emphasis on its embedded linguistic context: devising languagepair-specific techniques, highlighting intercultural communication as an essential skill for interpreting as well as language enhancement issues. No value judgment on these models has been made in this book. Instead, the new contextual model offered here illustrates that whenever any interpreting course is conceived, the relationship between skills and context ought to be taken on board. Interpreting education is a local undertaking, closely related to a receptive context and external conditions. Hopefully, the contextual model proposed in this book can provide some guidance for (future) course designers and interpreting teachers when considering applying certain training models into their courses. Despite the spread of English as the ‘lingua franca’ of today, interpreters remain an indispensable ‘bridge’ or a critical link in various aspects of international communication. The language services market in China, for example, has witnessed an annual growth rate of 15% to reach a total value of 125 billion RMB (around 20 billion US dollars) between 2010 and 2011, of which 65% comes from interpreting and translation services (TAC 2012).1 In order to help universities and colleges or other types of training institutions more effectively in course planning, we first have to understand more clearly what constitutes a successful interpreting education. Hopefully, this new framework and the discussion on the components of interpreting education will prove to be of direct value for contemporary interpreting schools or training institutions. There are still some misperceptions which insist that mastering simultaneous interpreting techniques is the ultimate goal of any interpreting curriculum—the quality or value of an interpreting course is measured by its depths or sophistication of skills provided. This book has definitely offered some new insights into this debate. There has in general been an over-reliance on skill acquisition which almost predominates the whole curriculum. What I have offered and discussed in this book forges a path to ‘interpreting education’—a viable solution for the majority of Chinese institutions and colleges. There is perhaps a long and arduous road ahead, before these new ideas can be integrated into a new form of educational ideology in China. After all, a textbookbased, teacher-centred approach has been deeply entrenched in curriculums, books and educational thinking. Although many call for a breakaway, few believe it to be possible. Now that I have proposed some viable solutions, I would like to evoke the famous words: ‘never fear the fear of Sisyphus: the students are behind us!2 ’

1 Source:

http://news.china.com.cn/txt/2012-12/06/content_27326373.htm (accessed 10/09/2013). is a quotation from the Foreword for Communicative English for Chinese Learners (CECL 1986/2001) by Prof. Xu Guozhang (1915–1994), a towering figure in the field of English language education and linguistics.

2 This

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The ESIT/AIIC training model for interpreters has proved to be an effective framework for training high-level conference interpreters. It is not the intention of this book to undermine this important model. Instead, my intention has been to reconsider this influential framework in the light of great changes in the micro- and macro-contextual conditions for interpreting across the globe. The interpreting world is not the same as it was 20 years ago, let alone half a century ago. Interpreting teaching should therefore progress with the times. China’s increasing demand for ‘middle-layer’ consecutive-only interpreters has thrown up new problems for the old established interpreting training doctrines. Based on the above discussion, the macro-historical and micro-linguistic contexts within China have shown that the pedagogical rules of the Paris School must not be accepted unquestioningly but adapted organically to specific conditions. This requires a level of flexibility in the models that we use. The recent emergence of the XiaDa and the GDUFS models is arguably a step in the right direction, as they have taken more account of the practical limitations institutions face in ‘sub-optimal’ conditions. A new curriculum and its associated pedagogy have been proposed in Chap. 5 which aim to empower Chinese undergraduate interpreting students by giving more weight to the ‘process context’, i.e. through reconstructing the four sub-contexts (linguistic, situational, interactive and cultural) to realize adaptation. Based on my discussion and analysis of the contextual model above, I can now conclude that the success of theoretical modelling is largely dependent on its reception to context as shown in Fig. 6.1. This suggests that we should move away from approaching interpreter training in the abstract.

6.3 Limitations and Problems of the Research In the book, the notion of ‘context’ is used as an essential concept to discuss interpreter training models and their feasibility in relation to divergent contextual conditions. However, even within the Chinese context, interpreting teaching and learning are also varied. The distribution of educational resources and facilities is quite unbalanced from region to region. There may also be other ‘contexts’ that have not been reflected upon in the literature so far. Also, the effectiveness of each individual model (both Western and Chinese) in terms of their suitability to context can be measured in more quantitative terms. One major methodological limitation that needs to be ironed out in future is that more empirical evidence or statistical support should be provided to enhance literature-based theoretical reasoning or qualitative analysis. For example, research methods such as designing surveys or questionnaires and portfolio assessment, as widely adopted in applied linguistics today, can be used to measure pedagogical effectiveness or validity in interpreting classrooms. Some important parameters such as ‘task design’, ‘competence’ and ‘anxiety’ need to be measured by more stringent standards in order to obtain more objective statistics. Furthermore, a basic limitation of this book is that it is based on the research of one individual scholar. Given the baseline expertise available for this research, the

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discussion has been confined to selected areas of Western Europe and China. In fact, there are other ‘less influential’ models of training in both areas, which may or may not conform to the above model and discussions. In order to refine the framework or model proposed, it is hoped that the principles or essentials of this framework can be applied or tested in wider interpreting situations or contexts. For example, it would be interesting to turn our attention to modern-day ‘underdeveloped’ countries and regions such as Central Asia or Africa, which also have quite different historical, linguistic and cultural traditions from the ‘developed’ West. Do the basic tenets of the framework hold up for these countries?

6.4 Afterword—Where Do We Go from Here? Having said that, I am now at the very end of my research journey. As a final afterword, I would like to look into the future of research on didactic issues by outlining the following two topics or themes for further consideration. (a) Setting-specific didactics After the ‘empirical and cultural turn’ in interpreting studies, more and more attention has turned from conference interpreting to interpreting in public services or communities across a wide range of settings: police stations, asylum agencies, local courts and hospitals. In many countries, the training of these community interpreters is still being done by non-tertiary institutions, mostly in the form of crash courses. The specific contextual conditions and limitations facing this category of interpreters such as power differentials, and psychological and logistical concerns deserve our investigation into curriculum design and pedagogy. How we realize an ‘interpreting education’ in such specific settings to nurture well-rounded professionals is still a bridge that needs to be crossed (Angelelli 2005). (b) Language-pair-specific research and pedagogy In our discussions, we have explored the linguistic specificity of the Chinese language and its impact on interpreter training. The recent Chinese interpreter training models (e.g. GDUFS) have taken note of these contextual conditions and tried to incorporate them into their curriculum—a notable move towards contextual adaptation in interpreting teaching. As we know, Mandarin Chinese has the biggest number of native speakers in the world. Yet research output relating to Chinese language in interpreting is still rather limited (Xiao 2002). Chinese native speakers are known for imagery abstraction in reasoning and writing. Does this give Chinese interpreters a certain advantage for information processing when translating from Chinese into English? If so, how do we prove it? More in-depth research on language pair issues is called for, especially empirical research into the cognitive process. Additionally, as China is assuming a more prominent role on the world stage, more and more Westerners are becoming proficient Mandarin speakers—and many of them want to

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become interpreters/translators. Thus, a prospective pool of Chinese B interpreters is being accumulated, especially among graduate students from Sinology/Chinese Studies departments in the West. If proper interpreting training were to be carried out among these Chinese B candidates, what pedagogical strategies would be the most appropriate for them? How might these differ from training Chinese A interpreters? The contextual filter in the educational model (Fig. 6.1) may shed some new light on pedagogical adaptation for these Chinese B student interpreters. If we want to push forward didactical research, these stimulating questions could point to some fruitful future avenues.

Appendix

A.1 Chinese Interpreter Training in Context: Textbook Compilation as a Didactic Tool The following article, ‘Chinese Interpreter Training in Context: Textbook Compilation as a Didactic Tool’, was first published by the Korean Journal of Translation Studies in 2015 and was written by the book’s author Jie Liu. It is being reproduced here with the publisher’s permission. 口 译 教 程 Challenging Interpreting: A Course Book of Interpreting Skills (2nd edition), by Yang Liuyan and Su Wei (Eds.). Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2014. ISBN: 978-7-5446-3774-9/H.1358. 口译 译基础 础Basics of Interpreting Skills, by Su Wei and Deng Yi (Eds.). Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2009. ISBN: 978-7-5446-14344/H.0584.

A.2 Introduction The past two decades have witnessed rapid growth in interpreter training courses in Chinese higher education, especially after Translation and Interpreting Studies was recognized as an independent discipline in China. Consecutive interpreting as a compulsory subject is now widely taught on Chinese undergraduate-level foreign language programmes. Statistics from the Translators Association of China (TAC) show that by the end of 2013, more than 160 tertiary institutions across China had been authorized to offer Bachelor of Translation and Interpreting (BTI) and/or Master of Translation and Interpreting (MTI) degrees, with an annual intake of 25–50 students per programme. The rapid growth of the Chinese T/I training courses, with frequently 25–30 students in one room, has brought up new challenges for interpreter educators,

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd 2020 J. Liu, Interpreter Training in Context, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8594-4

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necessitating constant update of didactic approaches and curriculum design. Correspondingly, there has been a substantial increase in interpreting textbook compilations as didactic practice in the Chinese context, totalling 181 different publications in 2007 (Tao, 2008: 154). The compilation of textbook for training as a noticeable, and even perhaps a unique Chinese phenomenon, deserves more discussion in the interpreting studies circle. As pointed out by Liu (2014), logistical or operational resources for teaching in most undergraduate-level interpreting training institutions1 entail multiple constraints and limitations: low teacher-to-student ratios (in most cases, 1: 25), a relatively low level of students’ B language proficiency and, most importantly, students’ cognitive and affective needs in the teaching–learning process. This article reviews two of the latest textbooks published within the so-called XiaDa model of interpreter training developed at Xiamen University, one of the most influential Chinese institutions for interpreter training. These two books have been officially approved and recommended by the Chinese Ministry of Education, and they are useful to help illustrate how the interpreting training model has developed over time. After a brief overview of the historical development of this influential model in China, I discuss the most recent changes and updates in the didactic approaches, selection of training materials and curriculum design of the XiaDa model in these books. The pros and cons of what is effective in the updated XiaDa model are considered along with some of the particularly thorny issues surrounding textbook compilation for training purposes. The overall objective of this article is to critically assess the relationship between didactic modelling and its reception in a specific context.

A.3 The XiaDa Training Model in a Nutshell The XiaDa model has been one of the most prominent training approaches and is one of the most frequently discussed in the Chinese interpreting studies (CIS) literature (see, e.g., Lin et al. 1999; Chen 2009; Wang and Mu 2011; Liu 2014/2015). The model was developed originally from the comprehension formula of Daniel Gile (1995), who spearheaded the study of operational components of the interpreting process. It first appeared in the preface of Interpreting for Tomorrow: a coursebook of interpreting skills between English and Chinese (teachers’ book) published by Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press in 1999, where the authors stated their purpose of developing a model to serve as the theoretical underpinning for their training course in interpreting skills (Lin et al. 1999). Since that time, the XiaDa authors have compiled a series of interpreting textbooks based on this model to guide their own training practices, which have been well received and quickly adopted by many Chinese universities. The original XiaDa model for interpreter training was built upon three overlapping circles: analysis (A), comprehension (C) and reconstruction (R) in addition to a superimposed triangle of skills and professionalism (S + P) on

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top. It aimed to reflect the nonlinear dynamic process of interpreting through demonstrating each and every component skill required in this process on the basis of which a curriculum for training was built (see Liu 2014 for a more detailed discussion of this model). Guided by the chart of progression of skills, skills and techniques for consecutive interpreting are subdivided into various components including memory training, public speaking, note-taking, figure switching, paraphrasing, coping tactics and sight translation. These skills are introduced to students in a step-by-step manner throughout the training course. Revision and integration of skills are provided at the end of each unit. Course materials for each unit are carefully chosen to match the skills practised. This approach to the teaching of interpreting advocates a skills-led rather than language/content-based pedagogy. It is regarded as a model that opens a new window to interpreter training in China by setting a new training framework, emphasizing professional interpretation skills rather than linguistic skills per se (Chen 2009: 287–88). Since its inception, the XiaDa model has been well received and has served as a useful tool to guide interpreting courses in China, especially at the undergraduate level. However, in the course of applying this model in classroom practice, certain flaws and deficiencies have been observed. These include an inappropriate didactic progression of skills acquisition, an overemphasis on certain skills in the curriculum at the expense of others, the selection of training materials and, most importantly, meeting the cognitive or psychological needs of students in the learning process (see more in Chen 2009; Liu 2014). In other words, a key question is how to map out an effective way for Chinese (undergraduate) students to master the set of skills and techniques required for (consecutive) interpreting. Let us now turn our attention to the new textbooks.

A.4 The Updated XiaDa Model and Its Didactic Progression Despite substantial success in guiding interpreter training pedagogy in undergraduate-level interpreting courses, the original XiaDa model lacks a nuanced appreciation of the teaching–learning process of skills acquisition (Liu 2014). By drawing on advances in cognitive psychology and their own classroom practices on skills training, the XiaDa scholars have adjusted their model to extend the training process to include both pre-class preparation and after-class monitoring. We can see in the updated XiaDa model (see Fig. A.1) that two modules have been added to the original: (1) foundation building (FB), and (2) quality control (QC). Foundation building, according to the authors (2009: 2–3; 2014: 4–5), requires three things from the students before and during the training process: consistent language enhancement, long-term encyclopaedic knowledge build-up and short-term task-oriented preparation, as well as students’ psychological quality training.

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Fig. A.1 The Updated XiaDa model for interpreter training (2009)

Quality control (QC), the second module added to the model, comprises a monitoring, testing and assessment scheme incorporated into the course in order to further raise students’ awareness in the process, so as to improve the overall quality of training. Specifically, three kinds of monitoring are implemented in the course: (1) macro-monitoring for the communicative effect and micro-monitoring for language use and knowledge; (2) process monitoring: self-monitoring, peer review, group discussion, etc.; and (3) after-class monitoring on midterm and final examinations, certificate tests and field interpreting practices. In recent years, an encouraging trend in interpreter training in China is that more training courses (including the XiaDa model) have recognized the importance of cultivating students’ quality assessment awareness by designing such a didactic component in actual training, geared towards what can be termed ‘learner autonomy’ in educational psychology. The updated model was first presented in a national symposium on interpreting held in 2008 and later published as the theoretical underpinning of the coursebooks under review—Basics of Interpreting Skills (2009) and Challenging Interpreting: A Course Book of Interpreting Skills (2nd edition) (2014). First and foremost, these sets of textbooks are aimed undergraduate-level translation or English programmes that have an interpreting module, lasting over a period of one year. As noted in the introduction, cultivating consecutive interpreting competence (rather than simultaneous interpreting) is the focus of most Chinese T/I training courses, despite a variety of methods or approaches used. The two books also provide web-links for target readers/users to download MP3 audio recordings of practice materials. Interestingly, the preface (p. iv) of Basics of Interpreting Skills explains how to use the textbook: ‘[] the course book aims to provide a basic framework for training [] and with the help of modern IT technology, teachers are encouraged to adapt, change or update the training materials or exercises provided according to the actual conditions or levels of competence achieved amongs the students in their respective classes or institutions.’ This statement alone is all the

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more noteworthy for interpreter educators in their attitude towards the function and functionality of a textbook for training (see more below in Sect. A.5). For the discerning eyes of an interpreter educator, the coursebooks and the teachers’ manual offer much for consideration.

A.4.1 Overall Design and Pedagogic Objective A.4.1.1

Challenging Interpreting (Second Edition)

To begin, Challenging Interpreting (2014) has extended the training process into five key interrelated components (from the previous three in Interpreting for Tomorrow): (1) foundation building; (2) comprehension; (3) analysis; (4) reconstruction; and (5) monitoring. Based on the five key components, the textbook offers 10 units to cultivate consecutive interpreting skills and a brief supplementary section on career orientation for beginning interpreters with some practical guidelines (see Table below). To be more specific, each unit contains four sections covering 2–3 sub-skills under the general skill in discussion, totalling 21 skills/techniques for consecutive interpreting in the whole book. Challenging interpreting course units Preface: Introduction to Professional Interpreting and the XiaDa Model Unit 1 Getting the Message through Listening Unit 2 Extracting the Gist Unit 3 Memory in Interpreting Unit 4 Public Speaking Skills Unit 5 Note-taking Unit 6 Interpreting Figures Unit 7 Discourse Analysis for Interpreting Unit 8 Reformulation Skills Unit 9 Intercultural Analysis Unit 10 Coping Tactics Appendix: Career Orientations for Beginners

It should come as no surprise that in many ways this coursebook follows the pedagogical approach of its influential predecessor Interpreting for Tomorrow (1999): skills-led and theme-based, rooted in discourse analysis, text linguistics and intercultural communication (Chen 2009). By adding the two new components (FD and QC), the textbook Challenging Interpreting seems to have added more scientific and professional rigour to the course in terms of arranging skills progression and class activities. Following the newly approved BTI syllabus for interpreting, this coursebook concentrates fully on training consecutive interpreting skills (deleting

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the optional introductory part on simultaneous interpreting in the first edition). Each of the 10 units (2–4 class hours per unit) is structured along the same lines: a brief introduction or summary of a skill and/or relevant theory of interpretation, followed by exercises and practice materials targeted at the skill(s) being discussed. Notably, two types of interpreting exercises are chosen: dialogue interpreting and consecutive interpreting (2–3 min long in one segment). The authors have specifically designed a language-in-focus (日积月累) section in each unit after the interpreting exercises to help beginning trainees acquire useful expressions by topic areas and help them grapple with complex sentence structures in interpreting in order to resolve problems specific to the language pair of Chinese and English. Each unit ends with some knowledge-based instructions on how to become a competent interpreter. Although the overall design of the book looks logical and coherent, it is instructive to consider some of the deficiencies and flaws in order to make further improvement. First, Dialogue Interpreting as a new section is introduced as an ‘interesting’ class ‘activity’ to practise the skill(s) under discussion (not introducing as a separate set of skills?) in the textbook. However, the authors seem to have forgotten to first introduce to the students what dialogue interpreting is, before immersing them in a sea of practice. What is the difference between a conference interpreter (performing the ‘classic’ form of consecutive) and a dialogue interpreter? What special skills does a dialogue interpreter need to possess? These are important questions that are unanswered. More effort is required to make students aware of the ‘role’ of interpreter in different settings. Second, although the sample translations provided in the language-in-focus section are generally accurate and reliable, the instructions on how to use this section for language enhancement might be confusing to some students. For example, in the preface to the book, the authors encourage students to ‘write down and recite these useful sentences’ as a daily practice with a view to improving language competence. Yet there is no doubt that interpreting cannot be reduced to such a process of language switching. Every sentence or language group (or sense unit, the term the Paris School employs) can have different interpretations in different contexts. Thus, the sample translations provided are certainly not the only ‘standard’ versions. The authors’ instructions on sentence recitation might send misleading signals to beginning trainees, who could mistake interpreting as a process of linguistic transcoding instead of meaning-based ‘making sense’.

A.4.1.2

Basics of Interpreting Skills

After the establishment of BTI (Bachelor of Translation and Interpreting) programmes in China, interpreting has been upgraded from a single course in translation and interpreting to a series of courses. Efforts have therefore been made to devise a series of complementary courses targeting different phases of training. Basics of Interpreting Skills is a preparatory course introduced in an interpreting curriculum and is illustrative of the XiaDa authors’ understanding of developmental stages of the training process. It is also a tentative solution to the issue pertaining to the majority of

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Chinese T/I training institutions: Can interpreting courses be offered when students’ bilingual excellence is not yet up to AIIC-classified language standards?2 If so, how? Designed to further enhance undergraduate students’ linguistic and cognitive language-processing skills, Basics of Interpreting Skills (2009) offers three units (15 lessons) and a section of reference answers/translations for the exercises. As the name of the book suggests, Basics of Interpreting Skills could serve as a preparatory course before consecutive interpreting is formally introduced. To that end, it only covers the most basic or fundamental skills: (1) active listening and analysis for message(s); (2) memorization skills as an interpreter; and (3) oral presentation skills in interpreting. Again, each lesson follows the same structure: theory explaining a skill(s) to be mastered, pre-task preparation, targeted text for exercise, language in focus and additional texts for after-class exercises. One highlight is the authors’ emphasis on intensive exercises on sentence-to-sentence interpreting for beginners. This method is drawn from written translation, centring on the syntactical and structural differences between English and Chinese. Although such an approach was rejected outright by the Paris School of interpreting scholars (e.g. Seleskovitch and Lederer 1989/2002), Chinese interpreter educators still see it as an effective means to cultivate interlingual transfer awareness in translating.

A.4.2 Didactic Progression of Skills The authors go a long way to restructure and rearrange the progression of different skills in Challenging Interpreting. Sequencing skills, especially distinguishing preliminary skills from more sophisticated ones, and structuring them progressively into a training course are by no means easy. This has also been a central focus for discussion among interpreter trainers in the past. Note-taking (Unit 5) as a sophisticated skill, for instance, is introduced in three sessions after preparatory skills such as listening for information (Unit 1), ‘gisting’ exercises (Unit 2) and memory training (Unit 3). In Unit 5, the authors go to considerable lengths to explain the layout of notes, what to write down, how to analyse and mark information units, as well as the coordination between memorization and note-taking. Two sample notes by professional interpreters (A-B/B-A) and a video on note-taking skills (to download from the Internet) are provided for reference in the textbook (p.121–22). While it is good to see hands-on examples of notes taken from professional interpreters incorporated in the textbook, one wonders if it would have been more useful and important to explain to students (perhaps in the last session of this unit) the proper procedure of consecutive note-taking: (a) Listening and analysing this serve as the foundation for notes. (b) Remembering and note minimum the proper coordination of memorization and note-taking is the key to success. When there is a conflict, always put remembering before note-taking.

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(c) Recall with the help of notes, the message and structure of the original speech can be reproduced. (d) Render the linguistic and extra-linguistic factors will come into play for the final rendition. In comparison with previous XiaDa coursebooks, it is good to see that both textbooks start with a unit called ‘Listening for Information’ (信息听辨), thus dealing with the most fundamental skill or mechanism involved in interpreting: information processing and getting the message through listening. Several preparatory sub-skills under the headings ‘listening for keywords’, ‘grasping the line of logic’ and ‘gist exaction’ are introduced separately in the first two units with targeted practice texts from B-A and A-B, respectively. Unit 3, entitled ‘memory training’, which was introduced as the first skill for interpreting in Unit 1 in Interpreting for Tomorrow (1999), is reshuffled in the new course syllabus, because memory skills only work after the basic mechanism of listening for information is instilled in students.

A.4.3 Material Selection (Speech or Text?) In the CIS literature, controversy surrounding the use of written materials for interpreter training has been a focus of debate since the 1990s (see, e.g., Liu 2008; Chen 2009; Liu 2014). Some have argued against the adoption of any form of a textbook for training, since the oral features of speeches cannot be properly illustrated on paper, and materials compiled in a book cannot keep up with the times. This issue has pervaded discussions within the T/I training community for years. In my view, no single solution can be found. As far as material selection is concerned, these coursebooks have made some impressive improvements. In the previous coursebook Interpreting for Tomorrow (1999), for instance, many of the texts included were in formal written language with no consideration for difficulty progression from one level to another in terms of language use, register and the level of extra-linguistic knowledge involved. Previous research and my own teaching experience have shown that these kinds of ‘texts’ would probably intimidate many beginner students and might even send misleading signals to students that interpreting courses are no more than dealing with language issues and the oral reproduction of written texts. The XiaDa authors have realized this problem and made some technical changes and adaptations in the latest two textbooks under discussion. Another commendable feature in both textbooks is the adoption of a sizeable bank of ‘real-life’ materials, drawn mostly from either the authors’ own interpreting assignments or from the Internet (e.g. conference speeches, lectures and TV interview transcripts) on a variety of topic, many of which are complete discourses (instead of segmented texts) dealing with current affairs such as Barack Obama’s speech on China or adapted speeches from a World Energy Forum. These speeches are adapted as ‘tasks’ for interpreting in the units. At the pre-task section, lead-in questions are

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sometimes provided as stimuli to help activate students’ schema of extra-linguistic knowledge for processing the incoming speech (e.g. Basics of Interpreting: p. 20). This also serves the purpose of the foundation building (FB) component in the updated model. Alternatively, a scenario description of the speech exercise containing the ‘what, who, when and where’ information in Basics of Interpreting (48) is provided to the students, before plunging them into interpreting exercises in each unit. All these didactic arrangements illustrate a greater and more nuanced appreciation of the teaching–learning context, as some have recently called for (see Liu 2014). Arguably, however, more attention should be paid to informing students about how to select appropriate materials for self-study and after-class practice. The criteria for selecting materials (whether oral or written) for training should be clearly elaborated in any interpreting textbook. In her seminal work in interpreting pedagogy in the Chinese context, Liu Heping (2001/2005: 47) proposed three criteria for choosing skills-training materials: (1) Topics dealing with current issues: This encourages students to activate their extra-linguistic mental resources to process the speech, which helps them to better understand the interpreting process and working procedure. (2) Completeness in content: Although the actual length of interpreting materials is at the discretion of the teacher, one point needs to be made: all training materials used should be a complete discourse, as it helps students develop logical analysis and facilitates ‘deep processing’. (3) Skill–content correspondence: This is already self-evident in our discussion and has been well demonstrated in the XiaDa approach. Overall, these two coursebooks have deepened the skills-led, theme-based approach to interpreter training. Skills from preliminary sub-skills to more sophisticated ones have been restructured and rearranged in a progressive way to better reflect the teaching–learning process. The introduction of monitoring mechanisms and preparation has extended the training process outside of the classroom to include both pre- and after-class activities. In this way, the updated XiaDa model has helped to chart a steadier route to interpreting competence, and I look forward to seeing this updated model applied in more Chinese interpreting classrooms, possibly through adapting materials to the local context.

A.5 Textbook for Training: Towards an Interpreting Learning Package (ILP) In my recent work (see Liu 2015), I examined major interpreter training models in both Europe and China, and argued that much still needs to be done to optimize Chinese consecutive interpreting didactics, especially when it comes to the teaching– learning context. Compiling textbooks for interpreter training in China, as discussed in this article, has arguably served as a solid step towards systematizing skills-training practices by setting up a pedagogical framework and charting out an effective way to

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interpreting competence. Within such an established framework shown in a textbook, teachers can better structure the training process and evaluate pedagogical results specified in different units stage by stage, while students can monitor their own progress against the goals of each unit or stage. In that sense, textbook compilation is encouraged and useful on the condition that trainers/teachers are discerning in their role in the training process. In countries or regions where the interpreting profession is still in its infancy, writing on the know-how of interpreting skills and publishing in pedagogical books may serve as a tool to disseminate and promote its learning a useful means to greater visibility and profile-raising for interpreter educators in academia. However, I would like to emphasize that a textbook is no substitute for teacher qualification. As we know, interpreting is first and foremost a specialized skill. To teach interpreting skills, one must possess the operational expertise him/herself. Interpreter trainers are therefore preferably active practitioners in the field or at least have some interpreting experiences. The two textbooks, however, make no mention of teacher qualifications for the course. Regretfully, a recent informal survey3 I conducted during a translation teachers’ training workshop in Beijing suggests that instead of devoting more time and energy to interpreting practice, most universitylevel interpreting/translation teachers’ top priority is to publish papers and increase their research output, especially under the current climate of ‘publish or perish’ in academic institutions. Under the current academic promotion system in China, interpreter training practices and research sometimes cannot sit well with each other. It remains to be seen whether there is any institutional breakthrough that can accommodate different interests when there is a conflict between practice and research. Last but not least, I have to emphasize that the traditional teacher-centred, textbook-based classroom no longer meets the demands of the large-size classes with the new generation of students in the Web 2.0 era, that is, with web-based interactive learning. China’s highly centralized educational system, demographics and students’ learning psychology have given rise to new demands for developing interpreting didactics. In this discussion, the merits and limitations of current interpreting textbook compilation have been underscored. In my view, one of the greatest challenges in China today is how to foster interactive learning, attend to students’ learning habits and psychology, and utilize authentic ‘real-life’ data for training. Fortunately, the development of corpus linguistics with the use of ICT tools has now enabled us to create e-learning tools online and develop electronic corpora to document and classify large quantity of ‘real-life’ interpreting data. For example, the Italy-based Directionality in Simultaneous Interpreting Corpus (DIRSI-C) and the European Parliament Interpreting Corpus (EPIC) have been applied in training their in-house interpreters. This has shed light on the creation of corpus-based electronic interpreting training platforms for teachers and students in the Chinese context. If we want to properly address how textbooks can be kept up to date and reconcile

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with the oral feature of interpreting, developing corpus-based e-learning platforms to supplement textbook compilation may serve as a way forward. Notes 1. In most Chinese universities and colleges, one-year consecutive interpreting (a total of 72–124 class hours) is offered to third- or fourth-year undergraduates majoring in English or translation. 2. AIIC, the only worldwide association of conference interpreters, has strict rules classifying interpreters’ working languages into A/B/C languages. 3. Informal interviews on teacher development were conducted in late 2013 among 17 Chinese interpreting teachers across 7 major T/I training institutions for my Ph.D. project.

A.6 Course List for Master of Interpreting in China (MTI Education)

Compulsory courses

Semester

Credit

Political Theory

I

3

Chinese Language and Culture

I

3

Introduction to Translation Studies

I

2

Interpreting Fundamentals

I

2

Translation Fundamentals

I

2

Consecutive Interpreting

II

6

Simultaneous Interpreting

II

6

Second Foreign Language

II

2

Theme-based Interpreting

II

2

Optional courses

Translation History

II

2

Translation Criticism and Appraisal

II

2

Intercultural Communication

II

2

International Politics and Economics

II

2

Mock Conference

III

3

Sight Translation

II

3

Computer-Assisted Translation

III

3

Translation Workshop

III

2

Internship

III

3

Diplomatic/Business/Court Interpreting III 2

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A.7 Leiden Course Units of Consecutive Interpreting (MA/BA 4) 英汉/汉 汉英交替口译 (初 初级) This course aims at (initial) skills training for consecutive interpreting offered to the Chinese majors in the final year of their undergraduate programme or MA students who have never been systematically exposed to interpreting practice. In order to enter the course, students are expected to have a good command of Mandarin and English. A skills-led syllabus is implemented throughout the course. Teaching is done with the assistance of audio-visual facilities. Essential skills include short-term memory, note-taking, public speaking, comprehension of source text, figure interpreting, etc. Topics include education, diplomacy, international trade, environmental protection, cultural exchange, technology, etc. With interpreting practice on a variety of topics, the course uses interpreting skills as the mainline, including: short-term memory, note-taking, liaison interpreting, figure interpreting, discourse analysis, interpreting and register, interpreter’s qualifications, anticipation, Chinese and English variations, crosscultural communication and coping tactics. The detailed course modules are as follows: Modules

Themes

1

口译介绍与 听取信息 introduction and active listening

2

记忆训练 memory training

3

演讲技巧 public speaking skills

4–6

笔记技巧 note-taking

7

联络口译 liaison interpreting

8

数字口译 figure interpreting

9

译前准备 preparation

10

语篇分析与重组 discourse analysis and reconstruction

11–12

应对策略 coping tactics

13

中英文变体 Chinese and English variations

14

逻辑连贯 logic and coherence

15

跨文化交际 cross-cultural communication

16–17

模拟会议 mock conference

18

期末考试 final exam

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