| 1. |
- Adler, Aleksandra, 1983-
(författare)
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Cognitive load in dialogue interpreting : Experience and directionality
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation investigates the effect of experience and language direction on cognitive load in dialogue interpreting. The general objective of the study is to contribute to a better understanding of cognitive processes involved in dialogue interpreting. The present inquiry employs a multi- and mixed- method design and seeks to investigate disfluency measures as indicators of cognitive load in dialogue interpreting. Furthermore, the study aims to explore whether blink-based measures are sensitive to changes in cognitive load of dialogue interpreters. The present study is positioned within cognitive translation and interpreting studies (CTIS) and employs cognitive translatology as a framework, encompassing both cognitive and psycholinguistic approaches to translation and interpreting. Chen’s multidimensional theoretical construct of cognitive load in interpreting is explored in the study and remodeled to fit the context of dialogue interpreting and the assumptions of cognitive translatology. The data were collected from 17 dialogue interpreters during simulated interpreted encounters that recreated a situation commonly arising in a public service context in Sweden. The 10 inexperienced and 7 experienced interpreters all had Swedish as their working language, and the other working languages were French, Polish, and Spanish. Following the revised cognitive load model, the analyses of cognitive load focus on interpreter characteristics (interpreting experience) and on task and environmental characteristics (directionality). The results of analyses show that, in line with previous research, both interpreting experience and directionality modulate cognitive load of dialogue interpreters. Specifically, interpreting experience is demonstrated to attenuate cognitive load. In terms of directionality, interpreting into L2 is shown to be more cognitively demanding than interpreting into L1. Moreover, blink rate and blink rate variability (BRV) are explored as possible indicators of cognitive load. The analyses of blink measures suggest that no meaningful relationship can be found between blink measures and cognitive load.Finally, the complementary analyses of disfluency types in the utterances of the Polish interpreters (n=4) point to multifunctionality of disfluency in dialogue interpreting and to the multiple origins of cognitive load in interpreting dialogues. The analysis is performed from the perspective of the functional-cognitive view of disfluency proposed in the dissertation, whereby three disfluency context categories are identified and applied (cognitive-monitoring, cognitive-pragmatic, and cognitive-processing). Lexical access and rendition planning are identified as recurrent causes of cognitive load in dialogue interpreting. The study also makes theoretical and methodological contributions, primarily by revising the theoretical model of cognitive load in interpreting, which allows for operationalization of cognitive load with additional measures, in both experimental and naturalistic settings. Practical implications are a contribution to the understanding of the challenges interpreting into L2, and the impact of interpreters’ experience on interpreting. Overall, the study contributes to the emerging cognitive profile of dialogue interpreters.
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| 2. |
- Englund Dimitrova, Birgitta, 1946-, et al.
(författare)
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Cognitive aspects of community interpreting : Toward a process model
- 2016
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Ingår i: Reembedding Translation Process Research. - Amsterdam : John Benjamins Publishing Company. - 9789027258748 - 9789027266347 ; , s. 195-214
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article discusses cognitive aspects of professional community interpreting. We give an overview of earlier research into community interpreting, arguing that cognitive aspects have largely been neglected. We propose that in building a model of the mental processes of the community interpreter, different kinds of monitoring are a crucial and pervasive component. Monitoring contributes to and enables the double function of the interpreter: translating and managing the interaction of the interpreted encounter. We furthermore stress the importance of the notion of professional self-concept for explaining the interpreter’s decision-making and exemplify this by analyzing turn-taking in two Swedish-Spanish interpreted encounters.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Englund Dimitrova, Birgitta, 1946-, et al.
(författare)
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Retrospection in interpreting and translation: explaining the process?
- 2014
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Ingår i: Monografías de Traducción e Interpretación MonTi Special Issue (ed. R. Muñoz Martín). - Alicante : Universitat d'Alacant. - 1889-4178. ; 1:1, s. 177-200
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- For studying the processes involved in translation and in interpreting, retrospection is one of the few research methods equally suitable for both areas. At the first workshop on research methods in process-oriented research, in Graz in 2009, we presented the results of a pilot study of retrospection as a research method, published as Englund Dimitrova and Tiselius (2009). The study involved data from two groups (15 years of professional experience vs. no professional experience), each with 3+3 subjects (interpreter subjects vs. translator subjects, all with Swedish as their L1). The source text was a 10-minute plenary speech in English from the European Parliament, interpreted simultaneously into Swedish. For the translation data, the translator subjects translated the original European Parliament transcript of the speech, 1,093 words, writing in Translog. After the task, subjects did immediate retrospection. The first analysis of the data indicated that a challenge when using retrospection is that subjects tend to report having forgotten about some of their processes. In this paper we report an analysis of the process data in relation to the retrospective protocols. Our focus is on reported problems and the occurrences of problem indicators in the process. It was found that most reported problems are confirmed by the presence of problem indicators in the process. However, the majority of problem indicators found in the process do not correspond to any reported problem. Hence, the subjects’ problem reports can only explain a limited number of the potential problems in the process. The need for further research into retrospection as a research method in Translation Studies is pointed out.
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| 5. |
- Tiselius, Elisabet, 1967-, et al.
(författare)
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Asymmetrical language proficiency in dialogue interpreters : Methodological issues
- 2019
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Ingår i: Translation, Cognition & Behavior. - : John Benjamins Publishing Company. - 2542-5277 .- 2542-5285. ; 2:2, s. 305-322
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Language proficiency of dialogue interpreters, who typically work in the public service sector, is an under-researched area. Unlike as in the case of conference interpreters, there is no generally accepted definition of proficiency levels of working languages for dialogue interpreters. This article discusses language proficiency in dialogue interpreting. It presents a methodological problem, namely, how to define and determine a given interpreter’s stronger and weaker working languages. We discuss different methods for determining the individual interpreter’s stronger and weaker working languages, such as self-assessment, demographic, socio-linguistic questionnaire and test score (Dialang). We conclude that there is a need for more research in this area.
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| 6. |
- Tiselius, Elisabet, 1967-
(författare)
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Experience and Expertise in Conference Interpreting : An investigation of Swedish conference interpreters
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Avhandlingen undersöker tolkningsprocessen och tolkprodukten hos konferenstolkar med olika lång tolkerfarenhet. Detta görs utifrån expertteorin (jmf Ericsson, Charness och Hoffman 2007) tillämpad på tolkning. Enligt expertteorin använder mycket skickliga utövare, oberoende av fält, samma typer av processer och strategier för att nå den absoluta toppen inom sitt gebit. En viktig del av expertteorin är medveten eller avsiktlig övning (deliberate practice), en särskild typ av övning som mycket skickliga utövare använder sig av för att förbättra sin insats.Avhandlingen bygger på fyra olika studier om två olika grupper av deltagare. Deltagarna simultantolkar ett eller två tal från engelska till svenska. Två grupper – en tvärsnittsgrupp med nio deltagare på tre olika tolkerfarenhetsnivåer (ingen erfarenhet, kort erfarenhet och lång erfarenhet) samt en longitudinellgrupp med tre deltagare som spelats in vid två olika tillfällen med 15 års mellanrum – analyserades utifrån både process och produkt data. Tolkprocessen studerades genom att analysera och kategorisera process problem, monitorering och tolkstrategier som tolkarna rapporterat om under retrospektion efter tolkning. Tolkprodukten analyserades genom holistiska bedömningsskalor, en för förståelighet och en för nivån på informationsöverföring. Vidare genomfördes också djupintervjuer med deltagarna i det longitudinella materialet. Syftet var att undersöka hur de uppfattade medveten/avsiktlig övning och hur de såg på sin utveckling och övning av tolkfärdigheten. En viktig del av avhandlingen, förutom resultaten, är utvecklingen av de holistiska bedömningsskalorna (utvecklade från Carroll 1966) och utvecklingen av metoden i djupintervjustudien.Slutsatsen i avhandlingen är att det finns en mätbar skillnad i tolkfärdigheten mellan tolkar med liten eller ingen tolkerfarenhet och tolkar med lång tolkerfarenhet. Denna slutsats fick dock inte stöd i det longitudinella (och intra-individuella) materialet. Skillnaderna mellan grupperna i tvärsnittsmaterialet var också tydliga i processdata. Erfarna tolkar stöter på färre process problem än tolkar med kortare erfarenhet. Det fanns också tydliga skillnader vad gäller förekomsterna av monitorering (alltså kontroll av tolkprocessen och produktionen) mellan erfarna tolkar och övriga deltagare. Monitorering verkar vara en skiljelinje mellan erfarna och oerfarna tolkar, de erfarna tolkarna hade mer process kapacitet tillgänglig för att monitorera sig själva. Detta stöddes också till viss del av djupintervjuerna, där deltagarna rapporterade hur de ständigt utvärderar sig själva i syfte att förbättra sin insats. Ett nyckelantagande som slogs fast i början av projektet – nämligen att erfarna tolkar skulle hävda i djupintervjuerna att de ägnade mycket tid åt att öva färdigheten – fick, till författarens förvåning, inte stöd. Tolkarna rapporterade om många övningslika aktiviteter, men hävdade samtidigt att de inte övade.Avhandlingen avslutas genom ett önskemål om fler studier med fokus på medveten/avsiktlig övning bland tolkar. Dessutom föreslår författaren också att termen “experttolk” eller “expert” ska användas med stor försiktighet i forskningsstudier om just expertkunnande i tolkning. Författaren efterlyser också en bredare diskussion om expertkunnande och medveten/avsiktlig övning.
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| 7. |
- Tiselius, Elisabet, 1967-, et al.
(författare)
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Monitoring in dialogue interpreting : cognitive and didactic perspectives
- 2023
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Ingår i: Routledge Handbook of Public Service Interpreting. - London : Routledge. - 9780367278427 - 9780429298202 ; , s. 309-324
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The chapter introduces the concept of monitoring in dialogue interpreting, and argues that it is central to understanding and learning dialogue interpreting. The chapter first outlines the epistemological and theoretical foundations of monitoring with a discussion of the distinctions between translation acts and translation events, proposed and discussed by Toury (2012), Chesterman (2015), and Muñoz (2016). Monitoring is then shortly discussed within the framework of distributed cognition. In the chapter, different theories of monitoring from Translation Studies, Speech Studies and theories of interaction, are explored, namely, Toury (1995/2012), Levelt (1983), Laver (1980), and Goodwin (1980). We discuss the monitoring concepts, exemplifying them with our own research data. We propose an understanding of monitoring as a cognitive process in dialogue interpreting, arguing that six different (sub)processes are monitored. We go through results from studies relating to monitoring in dialogue interpreting, and we also make the connection between monitoring and coordination clear. Finally, we argue that teaching students the concept of monitoring will contribute to developing their meta-cognitive awareness, which will be applied to the interpreting task. We end our chapter by giving examples of how monitoring can be taught in interpreting training.
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| 8. |
- Tiselius, Elisabet, 1967-, et al.
(författare)
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Testing the working memory capacity of dialogue interpreters
- 2023
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Ingår i: Across Languages and Cultures. - 1585-1923 .- 1588-2519. ; 24:2, s. 163-180
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Allocation and management of working memory resources are crucial for successful interpreting. A number of studies have found clear indications that simultaneous interpreters have larger working memory capacity, at least in some areas, than other bilinguals. To date, no studies have focused on the working memory of dialogue interpreters. The study reported in this paper investigated the main differences and similarities in working memory between experienced and inexperienced dialogue interpreters when it comes to central executive functions. We also compared experienced dialogue interpreters to experienced simultaneous conference interpreters. Fifteen dialogue interpreters with two working languages, Swedish and either French, Polish or Spanish, participated in the following working memory tests: tests for updating (2-back), inhibition (arrow flanker), attention-sharing, storage and processing (Barrouillet, letter span, matrix span, operation span). We found no significant differences between the experienced and inexperienced dialogue interpreters, and there were significant differences between the experienced dialogue interpreters and a comparison group of experienced simultaneous conference interpreters (n = 28). Although the number of participants is small, the study may serve as a baseline for future work on the cognition of dialogue interpreting.
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| 9. |
- Tiselius, Elisabet, 1967-, et al.
(författare)
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Turn-taking in dialogue interpreting : Coping with cognitive constraints
- 2021
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Ingår i: Cognitive Linguistic Studies. - : John Benjamins Publishing Company. - 2213-8722 .- 2213-8730. ; 8:2, s. 328-355
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study addresses cognitive aspects of turn-taking and the role of experience in dialogue interpreting, by investigating the temporal and textual properties of the coupled turn (i.e. the original utterance and its interpretation). A comparison was made using a video-recorded scripted role-play between eight interpreters, with Swedish-French or Swedish-Spanish as working languages and with different levels of experience. Cognitively challenging long stretches of talk were introduced in both directions of the working languages and analyzed with a multi-modal approach. We identified a number of quantitative measures, such as the number of coupled turns and the time used. Furthermore, we qualitatively analyzed the types of renditions. The findings suggest that the mean length of time of the coupled turn, which we label processing span, is a measure that is not primarily related to interpreting experience but rather reflects the constraints of the interpreter’s working memory. A further finding is that the inexperienced interpreters have a higher percentage of reduced renditions than the experienced interpreters, and this difference is statistically significant.
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