This chapter presents an experimental study of consecutive interpreting which investigates whether: (a) judged fluency can be predicted from computer-based quantitative prosodic measures including... Show moreThis chapter presents an experimental study of consecutive interpreting which investigates whether: (a) judged fluency can be predicted from computer-based quantitative prosodic measures including temporal and melodic measures. Ten raters judged six criteria of accuracy and fluency in two consecutive interpretations of the same recorded source speech, from Chinese ‘A’ into English ‘B’, by twelve trainee interpreters (seven undergraduates, five postgraduates). The recorded interpretations were examined with the speech analysis tool Praat. From a computerized count of the pauses thus detected, together with disfluencies identified by raters, twelve temporal measures of fluency were calculated. In addition, two melodic measures, i.e., pitch level and pitch range, were automatically generated. These two measures are often considered to be associated with speaking confidence and competence. Statistical analysis shows: (a) strong correlations between judged fluency and temporal variables of fluency; (b) no correlation between pitch range and judged fluency, but a moderate (negative) correlation between pitch level and judged fluency; and (c) the usefulness of effective speech rate (number of syllables, excluding disfluencies, divided by the total duration of speech production and pauses) as a predictor of judged fluency. Other important determinants of judged fluency were the number of filled pauses, articulation rate, and mean length of pause. The potential for developing automatic fluency assessment in consecutive interpreting is discussed, as are implications for informing the design of rubrics of fluency assessment and facilitating formativeassessment in interpreting education. Show less
This study investigates the effect of explicit vs.implicit prosody teaching on the quality of consecutive interpretation byFarsi-English interpreter trainees. Three groups of student interpreters... Show moreThis study investigates the effect of explicit vs.implicit prosody teaching on the quality of consecutive interpretation byFarsi-English interpreter trainees. Three groups of student interpreters wereformed. All were native speakers of Farsi who studied English translation andinterpreting at the BA level at the University of Applied Sciences, Tehran,Iran. Participants were assigned to groups at random, but with equal divisionbetween genders (6 female and 6 male students in each group). No significantdifferences in English language skills (TOEFL scores) could be establishedbetween the groups. Participants took a pretest of consecutive interpretingbefore starting the program. The control group listened to authentic audiotracks and did exercises in consecutive interpreting. The fi rst experimentalgroup received explicit instruction of English prosody and did exercises basedon the theoretical explanation which was provided by their Iranian instructor.The second experimental group received implicit instruction of English prosodythrough the use of recasts. The total instruction time was the same for all thegroups, i.e. 10 hours. Students then took a posttest in consecutive interpretation.The results showed that explicit teaching of prosody had a significantlypositive effect on the overall quality of interpreting from Farsi into Englishcompared with that of implicit prosody instruction. These results havepedagogical implications for curriculum designers, interpreter trainingprograms, material producers and all who are involved in language study andpedagogy. Show less
