Article published In:
BabelVol. 65:4 (2019) ► pp.519–537
A duet and/or a concerto?
Simultaneous interpreters’ working memory and interpreting expertise
Working memory and interpreting expertise are generally acknowledged as two essential factors that affect the
interpreting process. With reference to the compensation model, the independent influences model, and the rich-get-richer model
proposed in cognitive psychology concerning the interplay between working memory and domain expertise, this experimental study, by
varying the delivery speed of the source speech, examines the interplay between working memory and interpreting expertise in the
setting of simultaneous interpreting. This study finds that (1) working memory and interpreting expertise can each have a positive
impact on simultaneous interpreting quality; (2) other factors being equal, interpreting expertise can have a greater impact on
simultaneous interpreting than working memory, and when the interpreting task proves more challenging, interpreting expertise can
help relieve the pressure triggered by inadequate working memory; (3) working memory and interpreting expertise function
differently in simultaneous interpreting in different stages: for beginner interpreting students, working memory’s contribution to
the quality of simultaneous interpreting is more prominent, while for advanced interpreting students, interpreting expertise plays
a more direct and prominent role, and the composite influence of working memory and interpreting expertise on simultaneous
interpreting performance is weakened due to the increasing impact of other factors.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Experiment
- 2.1Participants
- 2.2Experimental design
- 2.3Experimental environment and materials
- 2.3.1Experimental environment and equipment
- 2.3.2Experimental materials
- 2.3.2.1WM
- 2.3.2.2IE
- 2.3.2.3SI quality
- 2.3.2.4Control variable
- 2.4Procedure
- 2.4.1Control variable measurement
- 2.4.2Independent variable and dependent variable measurement
- 2.5Data analysis
- 3.Results
- 3.1WM capacity test
- 3.2IE
- 3.3SI quality
- 3.3.1The correlation between WM and IE (see Table 6)
- 3.3.2The correlation between WM / IE and SI quality
- 3.3.3Main effect of WM and IE on SI quality
- 3.3.3.1In the case of slow source language delivery
- 3.3.3.2In the case of fast source language delivery
- 3.3.4Linear regression analysis of the effect of WM and IE on SI quality
- 4.Discussion
- 4.1The relationship between WM and IE
- 4.2The roles of WM and IE in SI
- 4.3WM’s and IE’s effect in different stages
- 4.4Complex factors behind interpreting quality
- 4.5Three models about WM and domain expertise
- 4.6Implications
- 5.Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
-
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