Page 57 - Translation Journal July 2015
P. 57
From Being a Translator to a Facilitator:
Role Exchange of an Interpreter Working for Intergovernmental Communication
By: Simei Liao
A Practice Report on an Interpreting Assignment for the Fifth Guangdong-Stockholm Civil Servant Training Workshop
Abstract
This practice report reviews a consecutive interpreting assignment for one of the Guangdong-Stockholm civil servant training
workshops. The review highlights the importance of early preparation of both glossary building and knowledge structuring, and of
final preparation of a “mind-map” that allows immediate associations and contextualization. In the assignment, three dimensions
of an interpreter’s responsibility were brought to light, suggesting a role exchange from a mere translator to a facilitator. The author
argues that formality, intelligibility and coherency are the essential measurements for interpreting assessment. In the review of the
assignment, the report particularly focuses on problematic or referable cases that either violate or follow the three principles. Case
analysis is presented to discuss practical solutions to the problems of inappropriateness in register, “untranslatability” in meaning and
incoherency in delivery. To be register-conscious, the interpreter is expected to the match her diction to that of the speaker with regards
to the subject, the audience and the occasion as well; to get the meaning across, she needs to seek beyond “untranslatability” flexible
expressions in the form of paraphrasing, describing, keeping the terms in their original or skipping them; to achieve coherency in
delivery, the interpreter could re-organize the speaker’s utterances through putting in logical links, cutting off dispensable expressions
and reversing the sequence of speech notes.
Key Words: facilitator, formality, intelligibility, coherency, register, untranslatability
Translation Journal - July 2015 | 57
Role Exchange of an Interpreter Working for Intergovernmental Communication
By: Simei Liao
A Practice Report on an Interpreting Assignment for the Fifth Guangdong-Stockholm Civil Servant Training Workshop
Abstract
This practice report reviews a consecutive interpreting assignment for one of the Guangdong-Stockholm civil servant training
workshops. The review highlights the importance of early preparation of both glossary building and knowledge structuring, and of
final preparation of a “mind-map” that allows immediate associations and contextualization. In the assignment, three dimensions
of an interpreter’s responsibility were brought to light, suggesting a role exchange from a mere translator to a facilitator. The author
argues that formality, intelligibility and coherency are the essential measurements for interpreting assessment. In the review of the
assignment, the report particularly focuses on problematic or referable cases that either violate or follow the three principles. Case
analysis is presented to discuss practical solutions to the problems of inappropriateness in register, “untranslatability” in meaning and
incoherency in delivery. To be register-conscious, the interpreter is expected to the match her diction to that of the speaker with regards
to the subject, the audience and the occasion as well; to get the meaning across, she needs to seek beyond “untranslatability” flexible
expressions in the form of paraphrasing, describing, keeping the terms in their original or skipping them; to achieve coherency in
delivery, the interpreter could re-organize the speaker’s utterances through putting in logical links, cutting off dispensable expressions
and reversing the sequence of speech notes.
Key Words: facilitator, formality, intelligibility, coherency, register, untranslatability
Translation Journal - July 2015 | 57
