Interpreting: Tasks

Interpreting is the process by which communication is exchanged between two parties who do not share the same language. Interpreters facilitate this communication between people, transferring ideas, content, and meaning from one language (source language) and culture to another (target language). Unlike translation activities, interpreting occurs in real time; the interlocutors are typically face-to-face in the communication transaction or interact via the use of various technologies. Translation, though a similar activity that involves the transfer of meaning, usually results in the production of a text that has been informed by the luxury of time. Thus, it is not an immediate transfer process; instead, the translator has had opportunity to consider carefully how the target text should be framed and has had ample time to make revisions and edit the target text. This is not the case for interpreters, who operate in the heat of the moment, making split-second judgments and decisions, while processing information and managing all the other complex demands associated with interpreting.

Significant cognitive resources are invested in the interpreting process, as interpreters receive a message in the source language, comprehend that message, process and analyze it with a view to finding a semantic equivalent in the target language, reformulate the message in the target language ensuring that linguistic and cultural norms are incorporated, and finally produce the target language. If interpreters are working simultaneously rather than consecutively, then while producing the target utterance, [Page 519]interpreters are continuing to receive and process the next message from the source language while they continue to monitor and repair the last target utterance as needed and consciously make coherent links to the next utterance yet to be conveyed. Thus, interpreting is a continuous process that is highly complex and cognitively demanding.

As well as managing the cognitive tasks involved in interpreting, interpreters meet several other concurrent demands due to the interactive nature of an interpreted event. Robyn Dean and Robert Pollard adapted a theory drawn from organizational psychology and applied it to interpreting in recognition of the complex factors involved in an interpreted event. They referred to their framework for understanding the elements of interpreting as demand control schema (DC-S). They contended that interpreters face four major demands in their work: environmental, interpersonal, paralinguistic, and intrapersonal demands. Environmental demands suggest that the interpreter consciously or unconsciously responds and reacts to the idiosyncrasies of the physical setting that may impact the interpretation (Is the technical equipment working? Is the room too hot? What jargon is specific to this work environment?).

Further, interpreters are participants in a communication interaction, in the sense that they are present in an interchange between other parties. This means they are exposed to the interpersonal dynamics of the interaction. Thus, they may need to appreciate the power disparity in the relationship, the turn-taking protocols, any differing cultural views, and the communication style and emotional tone of the participants.

Paralinguistic factors, such as volume, pace, and accent, can present challenges for interpreters. In addition, the nature of live interaction with other human beings means that there are intrapersonal demands on the interpreter. That is, the interpreter is a human being present in the interaction who may feel or think something about the event being interpreted, or who may have a physical or psychological response to the content or the setting (e.g., feeling uncomfortable when interpreting in a child protection matter or getting nauseous at the sight of a medical procedure).

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