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Article published In: Translation and Interpreting Studies
Vol. 13:2 (2018) ► pp.185–207

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Complex dynamic systems in students of interpreting training

 | Guangdong University of Foreign Studies
Published online: 12 October 2018
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https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.00011.don
Abstract
Students of interpreting training may go through drastic cognitive changes, but current empirical findings are disparate and isolated. To integrate these findings and to obtain a better understanding of interpreting training, the present article tries to reinterpret students of interpreting training as complex dynamic systems. Relying primarily on longitudinal empirical data from several existing studies, the article illustrates how the initial state of some key parameters influences the progress of the systems, how the parameters themselves evolve, and how interpreting competence develops as a result of self-organization. The hope is that a metatheoretical framework such as Dynamic Systems Theory will allow specific findings and particularistic models for interpreting training to be integrated. Moreover, this approach may allow false dichotomies in the field to be overcome and seemingly contradictory data in empirical reports to be better understood, thereby providing guidelines for future research.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Dynamic Systems Theory (DST)
  • 3.The complex dynamic systems in students of interpreting training
    • Language proficiency
    • Working memory
    • Cognitive control
    • Psychological factors
  • 4.Evolution of dynamic systems in students of interpreting training
    • 4.1Different predictive powers of initial parameters
    • 4.2Evolution of parameters
      • L2 proficiency
      • Working memory
      • Cognitive control
      • Psychological factors
    • 4.3Self-organization
  • 5.Benefits of a DST perspective in interpreting studies
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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