Cover not available

Article published In: Interpreting
Vol. 22:2 (2020) ► pp.187–210

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF

The eye or the ear?

Source language interference in sight translation and simultaneous interpreting

 | Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
 | University of Silesia in Katowice
 | Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
Open Access logo
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Published online: 6 April 2020
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/intp.00043.chm
Abstract
In the current study we set out to investigate source language interference in the visual modality (in sight translation – ST) and in the auditory modality (in simultaneous interpreting – SI). We probed interpretations of cognates, interlingual homographs and passive structures in single sentence contexts as performed from English to Polish by 47 advanced interpreting trainees. We also analysed temporal measures: ear-voice span (in SI) or eye-voice span (in ST) as well as total translation time. The results showed a higher level of interference in ST in the case of homographs and a mixed pattern of results for the remaining measures. We also obtained interesting task-independent results, namely an 80% rate of global passive retention testifying to a high level of syntactic priming in both modes of interpreting. We discuss these results in the context of different types of interference occurring in interpreting and conclude that there might be a similar global level of interference in the two tasks, however with differing underlying patterns. This is the first study to date to directly compare interference levels between ST and SI in such controlled conditions. Our results contribute to the understanding of complex linguistic processes occurring across modalities in interpreting tasks.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • 1.Cross-language interference
    • 1.1Lexical interference – cognates and homographs
    • 1.2Structural interference
  • 2.Resource demand interference
  • 3.Comparing simultaneous interpreting and sight translation
  • 4.The present study
    • 4.1Participants
    • 4.2Materials
    • 4.3Procedure
  • 5.Results
  • 6.Discussion
  • References
References (58)
References
Broersma, M., Carter, D. & Acheson, D. J. (2016). Cognate costs in bilingual speech production: Evidence from language switching. Frontiers in Psychology 71, 1–16. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chéreau, C., Gaskell, M. G. & Dumay, N. (2007). Reading spoken words: Orthographic effects in auditory priming. Cognition 102 (3), 341–360. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Christoffels, I. K., de Groot, A. & Kroll, J. F. (2006). Memory and language skills in simultaneous interpreters: The role of expertise and language proficiency. Journal of Memory and Language 54 (3), 324–345. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Christoffels, I., Timmer, K., Ganushchak, L. & Heij, W. L. (2015). On the production of interlingual homophones: Delayed naming and increased N400. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience 31 (5), 1–11.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Costa, A., & Santesteban, M. (2004). Lexical access in bilingual speech production: Evidence from language switching in highly proficient bilinguals and L2 learners. Journal of Memory and Language 50 (4), 491–511. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Costa, A., Caramazza, A. & Sebastian-Galles, N. (2000). The cognate facilitation effect: implications for models of lexical access. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 26 (5), 1283–1296.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dailidėnaitė, A. & Volynec, J. (2013). Source language interference with target language in conference interpreting. Vertimo studijos. Research Journal for Translation Studies 61, 34–49.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dijkstra, T., Grainger, J. & van Heuven, W. J. B. (1999). Recognition of cognates and interlingual homographs: The neglected role of phonology. Journal of Memory and Language 41 (4), 496–518. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ferreira, F. & Patson, N. D. (2007). The ‘good enough’ approach to language comprehension. Language and Linguistics Compass 1 (1–2), 71–83. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Filippi, R., Karaminis, T. & Thomas, M. S. C. (2014). Language switching in bilingual production: Empirical data and computational modelling. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 17 (02), 294–315. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fleischer, Z., Pickering, M. J. & McLean, J. F. (2012). Shared information structure: Evidence from cross-linguistic priming. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 15 (3), 568–579. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
García, A. M., Ibáñez, A., Huepe, D., Houck, A. L., Michon, M., Lezama, C. G., Chadha, S. & Rivera-Rei, Á. (2014). Word reading and translation in bilinguals: The impact of formal and informal translation expertise. Frontiers in Psychology 51, 1–14.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gernsbacher, M. A. & Shlesinger, M. (1997). The proposed role of suppression in simultaneous interpretation. Interpreting 2 (1–2), 119–140. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Green, D. W. (1998). Mental control of the bilingual lexico-semantic system. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 1 (02), 67–81. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hansen-Schirra, S. (2011). Between normalization and shining-through: Specific properties of English–German translations and their influence on the target language. In S. Kranich, V. Becher, S. Höder, & J. House (Eds.), Multilingual discourse production: Diachronic and synchronic perspectives. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 133–162. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hartsuiker, R. J., Pickering, M. J. & Veltkamp, E. (2004). Is syntax separate or shared between languages? Cross-linguistic syntactic priming in Spanish-English bilinguals. Psychological Science 15 (6), 409–414. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hejwowski, K. (2004). Translation: A cognitive-communicative approach. Olecko: Wydawnictwo Wszechnicy Mazurskiej.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hoshino, N. & Kroll, J. F. (2008). Cognate effects in picture naming: Does cross-language activation survive a change of script? Cognition 106 (1), 501–511. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jereščenková, A. (2014). Interferenzen beim Vom-Blatt-Dolmetschen und beim Simultandolmetschen. MA thesis, University of Vienna.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kroll, J. F., Dussias, P. E., Bogulski, C. A. & Kroff, J. R. V. (2012). Juggling two languages in one mind. In B. H. Ross (Ed.), Psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 56). Oxford: Academic Press, 229–262. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kroll, J. F., Michael, E., Tokowicz, N. & Dufour, R. (2002). The development of lexical fluency in a second language. Second Language Research 18 (2), 137–171. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lamberger-Felber, H. & Schneider, J. (2009). Linguistic interference in simultaneous interpreting with text: A case study. In G. Hansen, A. Chesterman & H. Gerzymisch-Arbogast (Eds.), Efforts and models in interpreting and translation research. A tribute to Daniel Gile. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 215–236. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lambert, S. (2004). Shared attention during sight translation, sight interpretation and simultaneous interpretation. Meta 49 (2), 294–306. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lemhöfer, K. & Broersma, M. (2012). Introducing LexTALE: A quick and valid Lexical Test for Advanced Learners of English. Behavior Research Methods 44 (2), 325–343. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lijewska, A. & Chmiel, A. (2015). Cognate facilitation in sentence context – translation production by interpreting trainees and non-interpreting trilinguals. International Journal of Multilingualism 12 (3), 358–375. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Maier, R. M., Pickering, M. J. & Hartsuiker, R. J. (2017). Does translation involve structural priming? The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 70 (8), 1575–1589. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Malkiel, B. (2009). When idioti (idiotic) becomes “fluffy”: Translation students and the avoidance of target-language cognates. Meta 54 (2), 309–325. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mandera, P., Keuleers, E., Wodniecka, Z. & Brysbaert, M. (2015). SUBTLEX-PL: subtitle-based word frequency estimates for Polish. Behavioral Research Methods 47 (2), 471–483. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Meuter, R. F. I. & Allport, A. (1999). Bilingual language switching in naming: Asymmetrical costs of language selection. Journal of Memory and Language 40 (1), 25–40. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Otwinowska, A. (2016). Cognate vocabulary in language acquisition and use: Attitudes, awareness, activation. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pöchhacker, F. (1994). Simultaneous interpretation: ‘Cultural transfer’ or ‘voice-over text’? In M. Snell-Hornby, F. Pöchhacker & K. Kaindl (Eds.), Translation studies ‒ an interdiscipline. Selected papers from the Translation Studies Congress, Vienna, 1992. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 169–178. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Runnqvist, E., Strijkers, K., Alario, F.-X. & Costa, A. (2012). Cumulative semantic interference is blind to language: Implications for models of bilingual speech production. Journal of Memory and Language 66 (4), 850–869. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sadoski, M. & Paivio, A. (2013). A dual coding theoretical model of reading. In D. E. Alvermann, N. Unrau & R. B. Ruddell (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (Sixth ed.). Newark, NJ: International Reading Association, 886–922. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schneider, W., Eschman, A. & Zuccolotto, A. (2002). E-Prime user’s guide. Pittsburgh, PA: Psychology Software Tools Inc.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2017a). Multimodal processing in simultaneous interpreting. In J. W. Schwieter & A. Ferreira (Eds.), The handbook of translation and cognition. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell, 461–475. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2017b). Interpreting at the European Institutions: Faster, higher, stronger. CLINA: Revista Interdisciplinaria de Traducción, Interpretación y Comunicación Intercultural 3 (2), 73–90. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Seleskovitch, D. & Lederer, M. (1989). Pédagogie raisonnée de l’interprétation. Paris: Didier.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shlesinger, M. (2008). Towards a definition of Interpretese: An intermodal, corpus-based study. In A. Chesterman, H. Gerzymisch-Arbogast & G. Hansen (Eds.), Efforts and models in interpreting and translation research: A tribute to Daniel Gile. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 237–253.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shlesinger, M. & Malkiel, B. (2005). Comparing modalities: Cognates as a case in point. Across Languages and Cultures 6 (2), 173–193. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shreve, G. M., Lacruz, I. & Angelone, E. (2010). Cognitive effort, syntactic disruption, and visual interference in a sight translation task. In G. M. Shreve & E. Angelone (Eds.), Translation and cognition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 63–84. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Spalek, K., Hoshino, N., Wu, Y. J., Damian, M. & Thierry, G. (2014). Speaking two languages at once: Unconscious native word form access in second language production. Cognition 133 (1), 226–231. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Strobach, T. & Schubert, T. (2017). Mechanisms of practice-related reductions of dual-task interference with simple tasks: Data and theory. Advances in Cognitive Psychology 13 (1), 28–41. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Teich, E. (2003). Cross-Linguistic variation in system and text: A methodology for the investigation of translations and comparable texts. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tindle, R. & Longstaf, M. G. (2015). Writing, reading, and listening differentially overload working memory performance across the serial position curve. Advances in Cognitive Psychology 11 (4), 147–155. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Titone, D., Libben, M., Mercier, J., Whitford, V. & Pivneva, I. (2011). Bilingual lexical access during L1 sentence reading: The effects of L2 knowledge, semantic constraint, and L1–L2 intermixing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition 37 (6), 1412–1431.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tymczyńska, M. (2012). Trilingual lexical processing in online translation recognition. The influence of conference interpreting experience. In D. Gabryś-Barker (Ed.), Cross-linguistic influences in multilingual language acquisition. Berlin: Springer, 151–167. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Van Assche, E., Duyck, W. & Hartsuiker, R. J. (2012). Bilingual word recognition in a sentence context. Frontiers in Psychology 31, 1–8.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Van Heuven, W. J. B., Mandera, P., Keuleers, E. & Brysbaert, M. (2014). SUBTLEX-UK: A new and improved word frequency database for British English. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 67 (6), 1176–1190. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Verhoef, K., Roelofs, A. & Chwilla, D. J. (2009). Role of inhibition in language switching: Evidence from event-related brain potentials in overt picture naming. Cognition 110 (1), 84–99. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Viezzi, M. (1989). Information retention as a parameter for the comparison of sight translation and simultaneous interpretation: An experimental study. The Interpreters’ Newsletter 21, 65–69.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wang, B. & Zou, B. (2018). Exploring language specificity as a variable in Chinese-English interpreting. A corpus-based investigation. In M. Russo, C. Bendazzoli, & B. Defrancq (Eds.), Making way in corpus-based Interpreting Studies. Singapore: Springer Singapore, 65–82. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Weinreich, U. (1953/1979). Languages in contact: Findings and problems. The Hague: Mouton.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wickens, C. D. (2002). Multiple resources and performance prediction. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science 3 (2), 159–177. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (30)

Cited by 30 other publications

Amos, Rhona & Martin J. Pickering
2025. A new perspective on models and theories of simultaneous interpreting. Target. International Journal of Translation Studies 37:2 ► pp. 159 ff. DOI logo
Chen, Shirong, Jia Feng, Michael Carl & Muhammad Zammad Aslam
2025. Exploring preparatory reading in bidirectional sight and written translation through clustering analysis of eye-tracking data. PLOS One 20:8 ► pp. e0329858 ff. DOI logo
Chernovaty, Leonid & Natalia Kovalchuk
2025. Psycholinguistic and Technohumnistic Aspects of Translator and Interpreter Training, DOI logo
Gumul, Ewa & Jessica Pérez-Luzardo Díaz
2025. Explicitation and cognitive load in sight interpreting/translation (SiT): a study into explicitating behaviour of English-Spanish trainee interpreters. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Guo, Zidian & Ketong Li
2025. Limitations and Best Practices for the Design of Computer-Aided Interpretation Tools. In Artificial Intelligence in HCI [Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 15819], ► pp. 319 ff. DOI logo
Janikowski, Przemysław & Agnieszka Chmiel
2025. Ear–voice span in simultaneous interpreting. Interpreting. International Journal of Research and Practice in Interpreting 27:1 ► pp. 28 ff. DOI logo
Liu, Zhicen, Deyan Zou, Ruoyun Gao & Lan Yu
2025. Sight Translation Under Time Pressure: A Preliminary Study on Effects of Text Presentation Rate on Student Interpreters’ Performance. Sage Open 15:4 DOI logo
Mao, Lan & Qingping Li
2025. Effects of Core Executive Function Training on Student Interpreters’ Consecutive Interpreting. Behavioral Sciences 15:11 ► pp. 1477 ff. DOI logo
Whyatt, Bogusława, Anna Hatzidaki & Brian French
2025. Participant profiling. In Research Methods in Cognitive Translation and Interpreting Studies [Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, 10], ► pp. 21 ff. DOI logo
Xie, Rui, Yao Yao, Wenkang Zhang & Andrew K.F. Cheung
2025. Language interference in Mandarin Chinese-English simultaneous interpreting: insights from multi-dimensional syntactic complexity. Lingua 325 ► pp. 104005 ff. DOI logo
Yang, Shanshan, Defeng Li, Victoria Lai Cheng Lei & Laura Morett
2025. Multimodal processing in simultaneous interpreting with text: Evidence from ear-eye-voice span and performance. PLOS One 20:7 ► pp. e0326527 ff. DOI logo
Carl, Michael
2024. An Active Inference Agent for Modeling Human Translation Processes. Entropy 26:8 ► pp. 616 ff. DOI logo
Chen, Sijia & Jan-Louis Kruger
2024. A computer-assisted consecutive interpreting workflow: training and evaluation. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 18:3 ► pp. 380 ff. DOI logo
Chen, Sijia & Jan-Louis Kruger
2024. Visual processing during computer-assisted consecutive interpreting. Interpreting. International Journal of Research and Practice in Interpreting 26:2 ► pp. 231 ff. DOI logo
Chmiel, Agnieszka, Marta Kajzer-Wietrzny, Danijel Koržinek, Dariusz Jakubowski & Przemysław Janikowski
2024. Syntax, stress and cognitive load, or on syntactic processing in simultaneous interpreting. Translation, Cognition & Behavior 7:1 ► pp. 22 ff. DOI logo
Frances, Candice
2024. Good enough processing: what have we learned in the 20 years since Ferreira et al. (2002)?. Frontiers in Psychology 15 DOI logo
Guo, Meng & Lili Han
2024. From manual to machine. Interpreting. International Journal of Research and Practice in Interpreting 26:1 ► pp. 24 ff. DOI logo
Jacob, Gunnar, Moritz Jonas Schaeffer, Katharina Oster & Silvia Hansen-Schirra
2024. The psycholinguistics of shining-through effects in translation: cross-linguistic structural priming or serial lexical co-activation?. Applied Psycholinguistics 45:3 ► pp. 542 ff. DOI logo
Chekin, Leonid S.
2023. First Secretary Gierek, President Carter, and the president’s Polish interpreter. Babel. Revue internationale de la traduction / International Journal of Translation / Revista Internacional de Traducción 69:6 ► pp. 725 ff. DOI logo
Chernovaty, Leonid, Martin Djovčoš & Natalia Kovalchuk
2023. The Impact of the Source-Text Syntactic Characteristics on the Sight-Translation Strategies and Quality. PSYCHOLINGUISTICS 34:2 ► pp. 156 ff. DOI logo
Chmiel, Agnieszka & Agnieszka Lijewska
2023. Reading patterns, reformulation and eye-voice span (IVS) in sight translation. Translation and Interpreting Studies 18:2 ► pp. 213 ff. DOI logo
Fang, Jing, Xiaomin Zhang & Haidee Kotze
2023. The effects of training on reading behaviour and performance in sight translation: a longitudinal study using eye-tracking. Perspectives 31:4 ► pp. 655 ff. DOI logo
Hodzik, Ena
2023. Predictive processes in interpreters. Translation, Cognition & Behavior 6:2 ► pp. 141 ff. DOI logo
Xiao, Yao, Kristian Tangsgaard Hvelplund & Chen-En Ho
2023. Wearable eye trackers. Translation, Cognition & Behavior 6:2 ► pp. 164 ff. DOI logo
Xing, Shunjie & Jing Yang
2023. The Impact of Interpreting Training Experience on the Attentional Networks and Their Dynamics. Brain Sciences 13:9 ► pp. 1306 ff. DOI logo
Lijewska, Agnieszka, Agnieszka Chmiel & Albrecht W. Inhoff
2022. Stages of sight translation: Evidence from eye movements. Applied Psycholinguistics 43:5 ► pp. 997 ff. DOI logo
Zhou, Xiangyan, Xiangling Wang & Xiaodong Liu
2022. The impact of task complexity and translating self-efficacy belief on students’ translation performance: Evidence from process and product data. Frontiers in Psychology 13 DOI logo
Zou, Longhui, Michael Carl, Mehdi Mirzapour, Hélène Jacquenet & Lucas Nunes Vieira
2022. AI-Based Syntactic Complexity Metrics and Sight Interpreting Performance. In Intelligent Human Computer Interaction [Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 13184], ► pp. 534 ff. DOI logo
Ho, Chen-En
2021. What does professional experience have to offer?. Translation, Cognition & Behavior 4:1 ► pp. 47 ff. DOI logo
Su, Wenchao & Defeng Li
2020. Exploring processing patterns of Chinese-English sight translation. Babel. Revue internationale de la traduction / International Journal of Translation 66:6 ► pp. 999 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 12 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue