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Article published In: Translation, Cognition & Behavior
Vol. 7:2 (2024) ► pp.187–208

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Effects of experience and directionality on cognitive load in dialogue interpreting

ORCiD logo with link | Stockholm University
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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.

Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with Stockholm University.

Published online: 19 November 2024
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https://doi.org/10.1075/tcb.24005.adl
Abstract
The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of interpreter experience and interpreting direction on cognitive load of dialogue interpreters. The study was conducted on two groups of interpreters (experienced and inexperienced) during a simulated interpreter-mediated encounter and cognitive load was operationalized with disfluency durations, and disfluency counts. The data suggest that both experience and directionality modulate cognitive load in dialogue interpreters. All participants manifested an increase in cognitive load while interpreting into their weaker language (L2), which suggest that directionality had an effect on cognitive load of dialogue interpreters. The results also suggest that inexperienced interpreters are likely to exhibit higher cognitive load compared to experienced interpreters. The study underscores the significance of experience and directionality in understanding the cognitive demands faced by dialogue interpreters, contributing valuable insights to research on interpreting and cognitive load.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Cognitive load in dialogue interpreting
  • 3.Disfluency and cognitive load
  • 4.Directionality
  • 5.Experience in interpreting
  • 6.The present study
    • 6.1Participants
    • 6.2Materials and method
    • 6.3Results
  • 7.Discussion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (65)
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