Translation
Skills
Translation is an art, and, like all other arts, it is
difficult to master, for it seeks to convey the exact meaning of what is
expressed in one language into another. Its very nature, therefore, requires an
intimate knowledge of both the languages concerned – a requisition not easily
to be met with. Knowledge is here intended to imply capacity to comprehend and
express. We must first be able to understand exactly what is intended to be
conveyed, and then to express the very same thought in the other language.
So the whole art of translation lies in expressing exactly
and precisely without either omitting thought from the original passage or
adding any unnecessary or superfluous idea to it, the sense and meaning of the
Vernacular passage in simple, idiomatic English.
Some Important Hints:
Study carefully the following hints:
(1) First read the vernacular passage carefully, marking
all such words or phrases as you do not clearly understand. Remember that words
do not have a fixed meaning. They have more than one meaning, and you have to
find out exactly the meaning intended by the writer. Then and then only will
you be able to translate exactly into English the main thought of the writer
given in the vernacular passage.
(2) Now you are in a position to translate the vernacular
passage into English. In translating try to express as a whole the sense of the
vernacular passage into English, employing exact English equivalents for
vernacular words, phrases and idioms.
(3) But avoid literal translation. You are never required
to give a word-for-word translation. If you do so, you will not be able to
convey exactly the meaning and intention of the writer. We do not think or
speak in words: we think and speak in sentences. Translate a sentence as a whole;
do not translate words.
(4) But if too literal and translation is to be avoided, at
the same time you should guard yourself against too free a translation An
excessively free translation sometimes lacks the essential thought without
which the whole translation looks absurd.
(5) Do not use either unfamiliar or archaic words. Choose
only such words as you know well. The use of bombastic, high-sounding words,
and of foreign words and terms does not in any way add to the beauty of
translation.
(6) Try to avoid the use of many words when a single word,
rightly chosen, will do. The whole art of translation lies in the careful
choice of exact words.
(7) If a sentence is inconveniently long or bears an
involved construction, break it up in your mind in three or four shorter
sentences, and then translate them into English but see that in doing so you
have not sacrificed or mutilated the sense of the original.
(8) Lastly, see that your English translation reads like a
continuous piece of prose, written in simple, idiomatic English. It should give
exactly the same impression as the vernacular passage.
Test of a Good Translation
What are the tests of a good translation? Your translation is a
success if:
1. It
is a faithful translation of the original into English.
2. It
conveys exactly the sense and meaning of the original.
3. It
reproduces all the details, omitting nothing.
4. It
is a translation as a whole.
5. It
is a continuous piece of good English.
6. Its
total impression is the same as that of the original.
Interpreting and translation are two closely related
linguistic disciplines. Yet they are rarely performed by the same people. The
difference in skills, training, aptitude, and even language knowledge are so
substantial that few people can do both successfully on a professional level.
On the surface, the difference between interpreting and
translation is only the difference in the medium: the interpreter translates
orally, while a translator interprets written text. Both interpreting and
translation presuppose a certain love of language and deep knowledge of more
than one tongue.
The Skill Profile of Technical Translators
However, the differences in skills are arguably greater
than similarities. The key skills of the translator are the ability to understand
the source language and the culture of the country where the text originated,
and, using a good library of dictionaries and reference materials, render that
material clearly and accurately into the target language. In other words, while
the linguistic and cultural skills are still critical, the most important mark
of a good translator is the ability to write well in the target language.
An interpreter, on the other hand, has to be able to
translate in both directions on the spot, without using dictionaries or other
supplemental reference materials. Interpreters must have extraordinary
listening abilities, especially for simultaneous interpreting. Simultaneous
interpreters need to process and memorize the words that the source-language
speaker is saying now, while simultaneously outputting in the target language
the translation of words the speaker said 5-10 seconds ago. In addition,
interpreters have to posess excellent public speaking skills, and the
intellectual capacity to instantly transform idioms, colloquialisms and other
culturally-specific references into analogous statements the target audience
will understand.
INTERNATIONAL'S INTERPRETERS
POSSESS THE FOLLOWING SKILLS:
· Thorough knowledge of
the general subject of the speeches to be interpreted
· Intimate familiarity
with both cultures;
· Extensive vocabulary
in both languages;
· Ability to express
thoughts clearly and concisely in both languages;
· Excellent note-taking
techniques for consecutive interpreting;
· At least 2-3 years of
booth experience for simultaneous interpreting.
Principles in training interpreters
One of the first deficiencies which notices is a lack of
experienced interpreters working as experienced instructors (Pearl 1995: 162,
181). There are some basic reasons for that: like good athletes, even very good
interpreters are themselves quite non-analytical and oblivious in their modus
operandi, which means that not all good interpreters (or athletes) can work
successfully as good instructors. Secondly, the practice of simultaneous
interpreting is significantly more financially rewarding than the teaching of
it. (Pearl 1995: 181)
The first principle is:
Before starting to work with any new training exercise,
explain its potential value or psycholinguistic and professional reasons and
explain how it can be used or adapted by interpreters later in other
circumstances.
Example: a
self-training exercise to improve or achieve full attention and concentration
and to make both hemispheres work synchronically. It can be used in any
environment with moving or parked cars.
The most simple exercise is to go along any street, trying
to repeat all the digits and letters of all the car number plates (going either
in the same or the opposite direction).
Next level of difficulty: do the same and simultaneously
translate or convert the same number plates from language 1 (L1) into language
2 (L2).
Next level of difficulty: do the same, simultaneously
translating the plates into L2 and counting the number of cars in each colour
in either L1 or L2 (e.g. 5 reds, 7 whites, 4 cherry, etc.)
Final level of difficulty: do the same simultaneously
translating the plates into L2 and counting the number of cars in each colour
in both languages (e.g. five reds, siete blancos <"7 whites" in
Spanish>, 4 cherry, ocho negros <"8 blacks" in Spanish>,
etc.)
The second principle is:
Increase the self-confidence of my students particularly
where their memory is concerned. This is definitely necessary because almost
all of them complain about not being able to memorise new information or retain
certain pieces of important data in their short- and long-term memory (STM and
LTM).
Example: an exercise
with interesting or funny data which is used in order to demonstrate to my
students that they can easily remember quite complicated data so long as it
is important or interesting to
them. Here I explain how our memory works and how it deals with important and
non-important information which we intend to memorise.
The exercise is called “Very Interesting” or “Muy Interesante” and it is a dictation of short
texts containing interesting figures, dates or plusmarks, etc. For
example: “The American fast-food chain Macdonald's,
appeared for the first time in 1955, but
it had no tables or chairs until 1966.” The
dictation may be in either language or may swap between the two languages once
self-confidence is gained and the exercise is being used purely to train STM
and LTM.
The third principle is:
Work hard on the students' concentration and level of
attention from the very beginning.
Example: An exercise
with distractions, like extra sounds, excessive gesticulation, etc. This kind
of “distractive modelled environment" I call “training in obstacled
conditions”. Any instructor can create his or her own list of distractions,
depending on the level of the group or the specific aim. For more information
about my approach to training in difficult conditions, see my article in Rusistica magazine.
The 4th principle is:
A new exercise has to be very clear and straightforward in
order to be understood and worked through the first time (with a short
debriefing afterwards). Next time, the training exercise has to be difficult
(an authentic or nearly real-life level of difficulty). A “real-life level of difficulty” refers mainly to
the speed of presentation or the sentence complexity, or a lot of specific
vocabulary.
The 5th principle is:
It is not my task to teach vocabulary.
Firstly, this is because the trainee interpreters studying
the MA in Interpreting de facto have
to have a “sufficient” level of proficiency in L2 and L3. It is the primary
criterion for admission to such MA courses. The aim is clear: we do not teach
languages, we teach “interpreting”.
Secondly, in any case I think that it is a waste of time to
teach new vocabulary on a word-to-word level on MA courses. It is the student's
responsibility to do it all the time if they want to be professional
interpreters. At the same time the “ideal course” may include some specific
hours of training dedicated purely to word-to-word drills (not teaching) from
L1 into L2, altering both languages all the time.
Intuition is
considered by some Russian psychologists (see Granovskaya Rada, et al,
1991) as a simultaneous interaction between the right and left
hemispheres in our brain. When “intuition” is activated, a kind of
"bridge" is established in order to secure an interchange of
information stored in the two different “storage rooms”, or hemispheres. Each
"room" contains unique material. The “bridge” is necessary in order
to be able to make them work simultaneously. A very similar mechanism is
required for interpreting, where a person has to be able to “switch” between
the different “language storage rooms” where L1, L2 and L3 are focused. The
exact location of each one does not matter; what counts is the ability to build
a successful “bridge” between them as quickly as possible.
People can be divided into three groups of differing sizes:
the majority are right-handed, a smaller group are left-handed and finally an
even smaller group is made up of ambidextrous individuals (equal dexterity in
both hands). Why is this information relevant to interpreting? Each hemisphere
responds to certain specific "duties" of human activity: analysis,
synthesis, speech, co-ordination, emotions, etc. Therefore, in general terms,
according to whether we are right or left handed we can be divided into
"analysts" and "creators" or, in other words, into
"mathematicians" and "poets" or "executives" and
"artists". For the purely practical purpose of interpreter training
it is not so important to know the exact location of the speech zones in our
hemispheres, i.e. right or left. What is of great
significance is the ability to make both hemispheres co-ordinate their active
functions almost at the same time, by building a kind of "bridge". It
is in fact more important for Simultaneous Interpreting than for Consecutive
Interpreting because of the time factor.
It is no less significant as one of the factors that we can
observe and measure when testing the ability of future interpreters to perform
their future professional duties on a purely cerebral level without any
language interference. Therefore some NON-verbal tests were adopted for that
purpose.
I would like to focus on the NON-verbal character of the
tests because it demonstrates a person's ability to perform a certain type of
brain activity, which, in general terms, is similar to the cognitive process
that takes place in our head while interpreting (mainly simultaneously).
The first test measures the velocity of cognitive (or
creative) processes while solving NEW non-verbal problems. It is based on a
test developed by the famous Russian pedagogue Boris Nikitin, who formulated
the universal law of“Irreversible Extinction of the Possibility
for Effective Development of Abilities: IEPEDA”. He
worked a lot with “normal” children and adults, observing their creativity
level "growing" while using the so-called “developmental games”.
There is a clear correlation between the speed of exchange between hemispheres
and the velocity of creative problem-solving. The greater the speed, the better
the creative performance of the tested person and the higher the chance of them
becoming a good simultaneous or consecutive interpreter. I consider that
near-native fluency in two or more languages (source and target) is a necessary
requirement but by no means the only or the most important element to be
developed by the future interpreter. As far as I know, language skills can be
developed and improved, but the capacity for fast and effective hemisphere
exchange is more of an innate capability, so it is essential to know from the
very beginning what we are dealing with. As Boris Nikitin states, it is never
too late to learn, and a training exercise which includes “developmental
non-verbal games” can help improve the professional interpreter's performance
considerably. Different types of puzzle games like Rubik cubes can help the
future interpreter increase the hemispheres' interaction.
The second test determines the group to which the tested
student belongs: left- or right-handed. This knowledge may be important if the
instructor is to offer different “tasks” to his or her students according to
their left or right hand preference. Nobody questions the difference between
“Western” and “Oriental” models of learning, but there is a gap in research
into mechanisms that make a difference to our learning processes depending on
our hand dominance.
Attention
As research has shown, it is impossible to divide someone's
attention between two independent actions when both require the maximum level
of concentration. Even long and persistent training cannot help overcome such a
problem (See Granovskaya, 1997: 52).
Concentration
Concentration vs Dispersed Attention
Dispersed attention can
be compared with light, which passes through a matte crystal and illuminates a
large square. If we use lenses instead of a matte crystal, the illuminated spot
with light focused on it would be considerably smaller but brighter. The concentration of attention focuses our
perception on one item, while other - peripheral - objects disappear from it.
Research on the cerebral activity in a state of deep concentration reveals that
there is no asymmetrical activity at that specific moment and that both
hemispheres work together simultaneously (See
Granovskaya, 1997: 60).
Interconnectability between activities
Interconnectability is
defined by the speed of transition from one type of activity to another. The
dispersed attention allows us to maintain several different objects within our
field of attention. The more "passive" or "relaxed" the
condition of a person, the better the result of our "dispersed"
attention activity. The instructor's role is to explain this and create the
necessary conditions while teaching. Self-confidence can help considerably to
create a "relaxed" condition during the process of SI (See
Granovskaya, 1997: 62, 63).
Ear preference/hemisphere dominance
There is a clear dependence on the dominant hemisphere and
the dominant eye. Is there any similar dependence between the dominant
hemisphere and the dominant or “comfortable” ear for interpreters?
There is still no official final result on a right/left ear
preference for professional interpreters, but some practising interpreters
claim that removing one headphone slightly off one ear they manage to focus
better on the incoming message with one ear next to the headphone and monitor
their own delivery in L2 with the other, partially released ear.
It is still unclear whether it is the same ear as their so
called “telephone ear” or whether right-handed and left-handed interpreters
always release the same ear when interpreting from L1 into L2 and from L2 into
L1, but one thing already is clear: each one of the trainees has to try to find
his/her “comfortable ear” for each of the language combinations. In my
practical classes I just inform my PG students, trainees in Simultaneous
Interpreting, about such a possibility and ask them to try each ear with each
language combination. Some of them realize immediately during the class training
that one of the ears is “more comfortable” for them, others need more time and
more self-observation.
So what should we teach future interpreters? My answer
is: techniques of interpreting. What does this mean?
What kind of skills do we need to teach them?
Those skills are:
1. to listen in L1;
2. to understand in L1;
3. to memorise the information in L1;
4. to mentally translate, compress and "edit" the message from L1
into L2;
5. a) for consecutive interpreting:
and finally to verbalise the
message in L2;
5. b) for simultaneous interpreting:
and finally to verbalise the
message in L2 while listening to the new portion in L1.
Separate training for each skill may include:
1.- listening A
This mainly requires a lot of attention and concentration,
which is why it is necessary:
· to introduce some
"distracting" or “annoying” elements such as sounds (background
noises), flashing lights, excessive gesticulation, etc. in order to make it
more difficult/impede aural recognition;
· to work simultaneously with
two different texts both in L1;
· to work simultaneously with
two different texts both in L2;
· to work simultaneously with
two different texts: one in L1 and the other in L2;
· to use “shadowing”, i.e.
reading the text aloud while the trainer reads the same text simultaneously, introducing
some new elements (changing figures, names, tenses, verbs, adjectives, etc.)
with the comparison of the two texts at the end;
· to introduce phonemic shadowing which involves repeating each
sound exactly as it was heard without waiting for a complete meaning unit. This
specific skill helps to develop the mechanical aspect of simultaneous
interpreting, in other words the ability to listen and speak simultaneously.
1.- listening B: Selective Listening combined with phrase
shadowing/paraphrasing
· While practising the
so-called “selective listening” , the trainee is exposed to two different
verbal messages. Each incoming message is presented to one ear through
headphones. In such a case, the trainee is receiving two different incoming
messages simultaneously. The task consists in “switching off” one of the ears
through which comes the “irrelevant” message and focusing all the attention on
the “relevant” verbal text. This specific training concludes either with phrase
shadowing of the “relevant” incoming message or with later paraphrasing it.
2.- understanding
requires mainly language guessing and predicting skills.
· Speed of
presentation in L1 is very important: train interpreters for the highest speed
possible.
· Dialects and
individual particularities of articulation (including defective ones) is
another area for training. It is especially important for European languages
such as English, Spanish or French.
· The capability for
good linguistic guessing, predicting and anticipating elements in sequence can
be trained by introducing unfinished sentences in both languages (L1 and L2).
This training is also especially important to develop the interpreter's ability
to "edit" unfinished or cut phrases produced by some people in their
spontaneous speech.
3.- memorise the information in L1
This requires skills such as instant, short, medium and
long term active memory. It is necessary to work on:
· the capacity to
encode and decode texts using any symbol system (for consecutive interpreting);
· a good ear for any
foreign names and toponyms;
· a good ear for
figures and measures;
Special training is required for all of these skills. Very
useful exercises include:
· memorising
poems, prose, radio news;
· regular dictation on
figures, names and measures first in L1, then in L2 and finally mixing both
languages in one dictation.
4.- translation A (mentally)
requires important skills such as the ability to compose
edited texts based on certain key-words (or symbols for consecutive
interpreting) or good "editing" and text compression. Such skills
need special training using the key-words methodology.
The main options might be as follows:
· No previous
presentation of any text, key-words are given in L1 and the task is to make an “edited”
sensible text in L1.
· No previous
presentation of any text, key-words are given in L2 and the task is to make an “edited”
sensible text in L2.
· No previous presentation
of any text, key-words are given in L1 and the task is to make an “edited”
sensible text in L2.
· No previous
presentation of any text, key-words are given in L2 and the task is to make an “edited”
sensible text in L1.
· No previous
presentation of any text, key-words are given in both L1 and L2 and the task is
to make an “edited” sensible text in L1.
· No previous
presentation of any text, key-words are given in both L1 and L2 and the task is
to make an “edited” sensible text in L2.
4.- translation B (sight)
· sight translation;
· sight interpreting.
5.- verbalisation
This requires the following skills to be developed:
for simultaneous interpreting:
· to speak while
listening;
· the simultaneous “editing”
of texts (working with macro-blocks on a syntagmatic level and “finishing
unfinished sentences”);
for consecutive interpreting:
· immediate “editing” in L2
of large pieces of texts using encoded or encrypted key-words.
Verbalisation and “editing” imply the “re-telling” or
paraphrasing ability training which starts in L1 using key-words and some
common symbols and then continues in L2.
Conclusions.
The training of future interpreters should necessarily
include some psycholinguistic training, taking into account the fact that a
major part of the work depends on the self-training of the students. The
instructor's role, to aid self-preparation, is to provide some useful
guidelines and exercises that can be used outside the language laboratory,
without an instructor and without any sophisticated equipment. The aim of this
article is to offer some general ideas concerning the self-training of future
interpreters and the role of the instructor. Some basic differences and
similarities in the training of simultaneous and consecutive interpreters are
analysed.
· Qualities of an Simultaneous
Interpreter
· keep in mind what
their qualities are, and value their hard work:
o Knowledge: They master both the source and the active (also
called target) language and they’re 100 per cent capable of communicating in
such languages in verbal and written forms
o Resourcefulness: They get the message across instantly, using not only
their language skills but also their knowledge of the subject matter of the
conference or meeting
o Intuition: In order to perform better in their everyday
activities, they develop abilities to improvise and to construe facts in fast
manner
o Education: Simultaneous interpreters and translators are
college-educated professionals
o Good Manners: Their voice is pleasant, and their manners are appropriate
for interaction with one or dozens of people
o Cultured: Their knowledge of the world allows them to act with
tact and to sort many unexpected situations
Abstract: This
paper discusses memory training in interpreting. According Gile's Effort Model (a Processing Capacity Account),
short-term memory is an essential part in the process of interpreting. This
paper analyzes the major characteristics of Short-term Memory (STM) and their
implications for interpreters' memory training. The author believes that
interpreting is an STM-centered activity, which includes encoding of information from the Source Language, storing of
information, retrieval of information, and decoding of information into the
target language. The training of STM skills is the first step
in training a professional interpreter. Tactics for memory training for
interpreters like retelling, categorization, generalization, comparison,
shadowing exercises, mnemonics, etc. are presented in this paper.
Key Words: Interpreter Training, Memory Training, Short-Term Memory,
Effort Model
1. Why Memory Training?
Interpreting is defined as "oral translation of a
written text" (Shuttleworth & Cowie: 1997:83). Mahmoodzadeh gives a
more detailed definition of interpreting:
Interpreting consists of presenting in the target language,
the exact meaning of what is uttered in the source language either
simultaneously or consecutively, preserving the tone of the speaker (1992:231).
Whether novice or experienced, all interpreters find this
profession demanding and challenging. Phelan says that "when an
interpreter is working, he or she cannot afford to have a bad day. One bad
interpreter can ruin a conference" (2001:4). In discussing the
qualifications required for an interpreter, Phelan mentions that:
"The interpreter needs a good short-term memory to
retain what he or she has just heard and a good long-term memory to put the
information into context. Ability to concentrate is a factor as is the ability
to analyze and process what is heard" (2001:4-5).
Mahmoodzadeh also emphasizes that a skillful interpreter is
expected to "have a powerful memory." (1992:233). Daniel Gile
(1992,1995) emphasizes the difficulties and efforts involved in interpreting
tasks and strategies needed to overcome them, observing that many failures
occur in the absence of any visible difficulty. He then proposes his Effort Models for interpreting. He says that
"The Effort Models are designed to help them
[interpreters] understand these difficulties [of interpreting] and select
appropriate strategies and tactics. They are based on the concept of Processing
Capacity and on the fact that some mental operations in interpreting require
much Processing Capacity."(1992:191) According to Gile, Consecutive
Interpreting consists of two phases: a listening and reformulation phrase and a
reconstruction phase (1992:191, 1995b:179):
Phase One: I=L+M+N
I=Interpreting, L=listening and analyzing the source
language speech, M=short-term memory required between the time information is
heard and the time it is written down in the notes, and N=note-taking.
Phase Two: I= Rem+Read+P
In this Phase Two of Consecutive Interpreting, interpreters
retrieve messages from their short-term memory and reconstruct the speech
(Rem), read the notes (N), and produce the Target Language Speech (P). Gile's
Effort Model for Simultaneous Interpreting is:
SI=L+M+P
SI=Simultaneous Interpreting.
L=Listening and Analysis,
which includes "all the mental operations between perception of a
discourse by auditory mechanisms and the moment at which the interpreter either
assigns, or decides not to assign, a meaning (or several potential meanings) to
the segment which he has heard."
M=Short-term Memory, which
includes "all the mental operations related to storage in memory of heard
segments of discourse until either their restitution in the target language,
their loss if they vanish from memory, or a decision by the interpreter not to
interpret them."
P=Production, which
includes "all the mental operations between the moment at which the interpreter
decides to convey a datum or an idea and the moment at which he articulates
(overtly produces) the form he has prepared to articulate" (1995a:93).
Gile emphasizes that the memory effort is assumed to stem
form the need to store the words of a proposition until the hearer receives the
end of that proposition. The storage of information is claimed to be
particularly demanding in SI, since both the volume of information and the pace
of storage and retrieval are imposed by the speaker (1995a:97-98).
In both models, Gile emphasizes the significance of
Short-term Memory. It is actually one of the specific skills which should be
imparted to trainees in the first stage of training. Among all the skills and
techniques which are required for a good interpreter, memory skill is the first
one which should be introduced to trainee interpreters.
2. Memory in Interpreting
2.1 Short Term vs. Long Term Memory
Psychological studies of human memory make a distinction
between Short-Term Memory (STM) and Long-Term Memory (LTM). The idea of
short-term memory simply means that you are retaining information for a short
period of time without creating the neural mechanisms for later recall.
Long-Term Memory occurs when you have created neural pathways for storing ideas
and information which can then be recalled weeks, months, or even years later.
To create these pathways, you must make a deliberate attempt to encode the
information in the way you intend to recall it later. Long-term memory is a
learning process. And it is essentially an important part of the interpreter's
acquisition of knowledge, because information stored in LTM may last for
minutes to weeks, months, or even an entire life. The duration of STM is very
short. It is up to 30 seconds. Peterson (1959) found it to be 6 - 12 seconds,
while Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) and Hebb (1949) state it is 30 seconds.
Memory in interpreting only lasts for a short time. Once the interpreting
assignment is over, the interpreter moves on to another one, often with
different context, subject and speakers. Therefore, the memory skills which
need to be imparted to trainee interpreters are STM skills.
2.2 Major Characteristics of STM
Input of information: It
is generally held that information enters the STM as a result of applying attention to the stimulus, which is about a
quarter of a second according to the findings of both Sperling(1960) and
Crowden(1982). However, McKay's (1973, in Radford and Govier, 1991: 382)
findings do not fully support this, asserting that unattended information may
enter the STM.
Capacity: As mentioned in the previous section, the capacity of STM
is limited and small. Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) propose that it is seven
items of information (give or take two). Miller (1956) says it is seven
"chunks." Another possibility may be that the limiing factor is not
the STM's storage capacity, but its processing capacity (Gross:1990:55).
Modality: To store information in STM, it must be encoded, and there
is a variety of possibilities as to how this operates. There are three main
possibilities in STM: (1) Acoustic (Phonemic) coding is
rehearsing through sub-vocal sounds (Conrad,
1964 and Baddeley:1966). (2) Visual coding is,
as implied, storing information as pictures rather than sounds. This applies
especially to nonverbal items, particularly if they are difficult to describe
using words. In very rare cases some people may have a "photographic
memory," but for the vast majority, the visual code is much less effective
than this (Posner and Keele: 1967). (3) Semantic coding is
applying meaning to information, relating it to something abstract
(Baddeley:1990, Goodhead:1999)
Information Loss: There are three main theories as to why we forget from our
STM: (1) Displacement—existing
information is replaced by newly received information when the storage capacity
is full (Waugh and Norman:1965) (2) Decay—information
decays over time (Baddeley, Thompson and Buchanan, 1975). (3) Interference—other information present in the
storage at the same time distorts the original information (Keppel and
Underwood:1962).
Retrieval: There are modes of retrieval of information from STM:
(1) Serial search—items in STM are examined one at a
time until the desired information is retrieved (Sternberg:1966). (2) Activation—dependence on
activation of the particular item reaching a critical point (Monsell:1979,
Goodhead:1999).
3. Memory Training
The purpose of memory (STM) training in interpreting is to
achieve a better understanding of the source language, which will lead to
adequate interpreting. As Lin Yuru et al. put it, "Memory in consecutive
interpreting consists of nothing more than understanding the meaning, which is
conveyed by the words" (Lin et al., 1999:9). Understanding is the first
step in successful interpreting; therefore, memory training is to be provided
in the early stage of interpreter training. Memory functions differently in
consecutive and simultaneous interpreting, because the duration of memory is
longer in CI than in SI. There are different methods of training STM for CI and
SI respectively. Interpreting starts with the encoding of the information from
the original speaker. According to Gile's Effort Model, interpreting is an
STM-centered activity; the process of interpreting could be re-postulated into:
Encoding of information from the Source Language + Storing
Information + Retrieval of Information + Decoding Information into the Target
language.
In Consecutive Interpreting, there is probably up to 15
minutes (depending on the speaker's segments) for the interpreter to encode and
then store the information. This is the first phase of Gile's Effort Model for CI. In the second phase of
Gile's Model, the interpreter starts to retrieve information and decode it into
the target language. In SI, encoding and decoding of information happen almost
at the same time. The duration for storing the information is very limited.
Therefore, in the first step of interpreting, encoding (understanding)
information uttered in the SL is the key to memory training.
According to the previous description, there are three main
possibilities of storing information in STM: (1) Acoustic Coding; (2) Visual
Coding and (3) Semantic Coding. Visual coding may be used by interpreters in
conference situations with multimedia. Notes in interpreting are to assist in
such visual coding of information. But in most interpreting contexts,
interpreters will depend on acoustic and semantic coding. Therefore, exercises
should be designed for this purpose. The following methods are recommended:
Retelling in the Source Language: The instructor either reads or plays a recording of a
text of about 200 words for the trainees to retell in the same language. The
trainees should not be allowed to take any notes. In the first instance,
trainees should be encouraged to retell the text in the same words of the
original to the largest possible extent. The following tactics should be used
by the trainees after a certain time of training on retelling: Categorization: Grouping items of the same
properties; Generalization: Drawing general conclusions
from particular examples or message from the provided text; Comparison: Noticing the differences and similarities
between different things, facts and events; Description:
Describing a scene, a shape, or size of an object, etc. Trainees are encouraged
to describe, summarize, and abstract the original to a large extent in their
own words in exercises (2) to (5). Shadowing Exercise:
Which is defined as "a paced, auditory tracking task which involves the
immediate vocalization of auditorily presented stimuli, i.e., word-for-word
repetition in the same language, parrot-style, of a message presented through a
headphone"(Lambert 1899:381). This kind of exercise is recommended for
training of Simultaneous Interpreting, especially the splitting of attention
skills and the short-term memory in SI.
There is another tool which is effective in memory
training: Mnemonic to Memory. Mnemonic is a
device, such as a formula or rhyme, used as an aid in remembering. Mnemonics
are methods for remembering information that is otherwise quite difficult to
recall. A very simple example of a mnemonic is the '30 days hath September'
rhyme. The basic principle of Mnemonics is to use as many of the best functions
of the human brain as possible to encode information.
The human brain has evolved to encode and interpret complex
stimuli—images, color, structure, sounds, smells, tastes, touch, spatial
awareness, emotion, and language—using them to make sophisticated
interpretations of the environment. Human memory is made up of all these
features.
Typically, however, information presented to be remembered
is from one source—normally words on a page. While reading words on a page
reflects one of the most important aspects of human evolution, it is only one
of the many skills and resources available to the human mind. Mnemonics seek to
use all of these resources. By encoding language and numbers in sophisticated,
striking images which flow into other strong images, we can accurately and
reliably encode both information and the structure of information to be easily
recalled later (Manktelow:2003).
It is also advisable that Exercises with Interference (e.g.
noises) be provided in order to prevent information loss in the Short-Term
Memory, since the environment and other information present in the storage may
reduce the information encoded. Recording speeches with specially 'inserted'
noises as a background is a recommended classroom practice, since this is a
very effective method to enable the students to concentrate and thus strengthen
their STM duration.
4. Conclusion
Short-Term Memory is an essential part of interpreting, but
memory training has long been ignored by professional trainers. From the above
analysis, we can conclude that memory skills in interpreting could be acquired
by effectively designed exercises. With a well-'trained' short-term memory,
interpreters are actually equipped with an effective tool for the encoding and
decoding information. It is, therefore, advised that institutions of
interpreter training include "memory training" in the design of their
courses.
Notes:
1. Training of professional interpreters has a three-part
structure: the first stage is introduction to skills specific to interpreting,
for example through memory training and note-taking exercises. This is followed
by intensive classroom practice. The third stage involves work experience and
observation where the main focus is on task achievement.
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