An Overview of Interpreting Ren Wen, Professor, PhD College of Foreign Languages & Cultures, Sichuan University

I. Brief History of Interpreting 1. Interpreting as a practice 1.1 West: Pharaoh’s pictographs almost 6,000 years ago China: Zhou Dynasty (11 th -7th Century BC) （先秦时已有 “ 象 ”“ 译 ”“ 寄 ”“ 舌人 ”“ 狄鞮 ” 等官员） 1.2 West: 1st oriental language school established in the 14th C China: 1st foreign language school established in 1289 （元帝忽必烈建 “ 回回国子学 ” ） 1.3 West: Christopher Columbus in the 16th C. China: 明代永乐年间建 “ 四夷馆 ” （ 1407 ）清朝顺治年间建 四译馆 (1644) （详见黎难秋《中国口译史》，青岛出版社）

2. Interpreting as a profession 2.1 Paris Peace Conference in Invention of simultaneous interpreting in the 1920s 2.3 Nuremberg Trial between 1945 and AIIC (International Association of Conference Interpreters) established in 1953

3. Interpreting as research 3.1 Early writing period (1950s-early 1960s) 3.2 Experimental period (1960s-early 1970s) 3.3 Practitioners’ period (late 1960s-early 1980s) 3.4 Renewal period (mid 1980s-now) Daniel Gile in Mona Baker, Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies

II. Understanding Interpreting 1. What is interpreting? Interpreting is the oral transposition of an orally delivered message from a source language to a target language. Its aim is to bridge the language and cultural barriers in the intercultural communication. To interpret is to communicate interculturally with the message sender and the message receiver whose languages and cultures are unknown to each other.

Key words: Source Language Target Language Culture Communication

2. What is culture? dominant culture (umbrella culture) vs. subculture (co-culture) 3. What is communication? verbal communication vs. non-verbal communication intracultural communication vs. intercultural communication

III. Types of Interpreting 1. Classification based on the temporal modes of working 1.1 Consecutive interpreting a. monologue (one-way) interpreting b. dialogue (two-way) interpreting 1.2 Simultaneous interpreting a. regular conference SI b. whispering c. sign language interpreting (chuchotage) 1.3 Sight Interpreting

Interpreting Consecutive monologue (one-way) Dialogue (two-way) simultaneous spoken (conference CI)whispersigning

2. Classification based on the spatial modes of working 2.1 Live interpreting 2.2 Remote interpreting

Interpreting live consecutivesimultaneous remote telephoneTVInternet

3. Classification based on the nature of the event conference interpreting liaison interpreting/community interpreting

Interpreting conference consecutivesimultaneous liaison medical interpreting court interpreting business interpreting community interpreting guide interpreting

4. Classification based on settings conference interpreting diplomatic interpreting business interpreting court interpreting medical interpreting guide interpreting media interpreting ……

Interpreting conferencemedicalcourtmediabusinessdiplomatic

IV. Process of Interpreting 1.Listening & Comprehension 1) comprehension on first hearing 2) “standard language” & “nonstandard language” 2.Memorization 1) Long-term memory 2) Short-term memory 3) Note-taking 3.Reconstruction 1) Mandarin 2) “Standard English”

V. Criteria for Interpreting What are the criteria for written translation?

V. Criteria for Interpreting 1.Faithfulness/Fidelity 2.Expressiveness/Fluency 3.Quick Response

VI. Qualifications of Interpreters What makes a qualified interpreters?

VI. Qualifications of Interpreters 1.KL (knowledge of language) 2.ELK (extralinguistic knowledge) 3.Interpreting skills 4.Sound psychological quality 5.Professionalism

1.Knowledge of Language 1)At least a bilingual 2)Comprehension on first hearing 3)Large vocabulary 4)A fluent speaker

2. Extralinguistic Knowledge 1)General knowledge/Common sense 2)Subject/Domain knowledge 3)Contextual/Situational knowledge 4)Cultural knowledge

3. Interpreting Skills 1)Listening for sense 2)Memorization 3)Note-taking 4)Attention splitting 5)Public speaking 6)Figure switching 7)Summarization 8)Coping tactics 9)Cross-cultural communication competence 10)Advance preparation

4. Sound psychological quality 5. Professionalism