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Article published In: Babel
Vol. 65:1 (2019) ► pp.1–25

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Coping with speed

An experimental study on expert and novice interpreter performance in the simultaneous interpreting of scientific discourse

 | University of Geneva
 | University of Geneva
Published online: 29 March 2019
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00081.rui
Abstract
This article presents an experimental study that compares six expert and eleven novice interpreters in order to assess the effect of moderate and high delivery rates on the simultaneous interpreting of specialised discourse. The dependent variables were ear voice span (EVS) and target speech accuracy. The participants interpreted one medical speech from English into Spanish divided into three parts: the first and third parts were delivered at a moderate delivery rate and the second at a high delivery rate. Twelve segments were selected from the original speech and evaluated by five independent raters (two interpreters and three medical doctors) in terms of accuracy. The findings indicate that a high delivery rate has no significant impact on EVS, and no statistically significant differences were found between the EVS of the two groups of interpreters. The results also show that a high delivery rate has an impact on target speech accuracy in that both novices and experts perform better at a moderate delivery rate.
Résumé
Cet article présente une étude expérimentale qui compare six interprètes expérimentés et onze interprètes novices afin d’évaluer l’impact d’une vitesse d’élocution modérée à élevée sur l’interprétation simultanée d’un discours spécialisé. Les variables dépendantes étaient le décalage et la précision dans le discours d’arrivée. Les participants interprétaient de l’anglais en espagnol un discours médical, subdivisé en trois parties : la première et la troisième étaient prononcées à une vitesse modérée et la deuxième à une vitesse élevée. Douze segments ont été sélectionnés dans le discours original, puis leur précision a été évaluée par cinq évaluateurs indépendants (deux interprètes et trois médecins). Les résultats montrent qu’une vitesse d’élocution élevée n’a pas d’impact significatif sur le décalage et qu’il n’y a pas de différences statistiquement significatives dans le décalage des deux groupes d’interprètes. Les résultats montrent également qu’une vitesse d’élocution élevée a un impact sur la précision du discours d’arrivée, étant donné que les interprètes tant expérimentés que novices affichent de meilleures performances lorsque le débit est modéré.
Article outline
  • 1.The challenge of speed
  • 2.Coping with speed in scientific speeches
  • 3.Ear-voice span (EVS)
  • 4.The experiment
    • 4.1Research questions and hypotheses
    • 4.2Methodology
      • 4.2.1Design
      • 4.2.2Participants
      • 4.2.3Materials (speeches/items)
      • 4.2.4Procedure
      • 4.2.5Data analysis
        • 4.2.5.1EVS
        • 4.2.5.2Target speech accuracy
    • 4.3Results
      • 4.3.1EVS
        • 4.3.1.1Effects of the delivery rate and the interpreter’s expertise on EVS
        • 4.3.1.2Effects of the delivery rate and the interpreter’s expertise on the mean number of omissions
      • 4.3.2Target speech accuracy
        • 4.3.2.1Syntactic accuracy
        • 4.3.2.2Semantic accuracy
        • 4.3.2.3Level of accuracy
        • 4.3.2.4Level of comprehension
        • 4.3.2.5Target speech accuracy
  • 5.Discussion of the results
  • 6.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Note
  • References
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