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How to Do Interpreting Research?How to Do Interpreting Research?Ren Wen, Professor, PhDRen Wen, Professor, PhD

如何做口译研究如何做口译研究任文（四川大学外国语学院）任文（四川大学外国语学院）

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I. Why do we do interpreting research?

II. What is interpreting research?

III. How can budding scholars attempt interpreting research?

IV. Possible orientations for future research

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I. Why do we do interpreting research?

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1.1 Pragmatic reasons

1.2 Academic reasons: contributing to disciplinary development (Daniel Gile, 2001:2-3) :

1.2.1 Empirical contribution

1.2.2 Conceptual/Theoretical contributions

1.2.3 Methodological contributions

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Empirical contributions

-- desirable input speed for SI

-- the interpreter’s working memory span for CI without note-taking

-- anticipation and adjustment strategies for SI

-- the comfort zone of time lag in SI

-- internship as a transition from interpreting students to interpreting

professionals

…

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Information UnitsInformation Units

• 7±2 principle

2003 年 6 月 29 日 // ，中华人民共和国商务部 //安民 // 副部长 // 代表中国政府 // 与香港特别行政区 // 财政司 // 梁锦松司长 // 共同签署了 // 《内地与香港 // 关于建立更紧密经贸关系的 // 安排 // 》，总体目标包括 // 货物贸易 // 和服务贸易的 // 自由化 // ，以及贸易投资便利化三个方面 // 。

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Conceptual contributions

-- Why is interpreting quality perception by participants highly variable?

-- Why do the two primary parties tend to look at the interpreter when they are encouraged to look at each other and ignore the existence of the interpreter?

-- Why do interpreters choose to gatekeep certain information even if they are required to always produce verbatim or close renditions?

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Interpreters must relay accurately and completely all that

is said by all parties in a meeting – including derogatory

or vulgar remarks, non-verbal clues, and anything they

know that is untrue; not alter, add or omit anything from

the assigned work.

AUSIT (Australian Institute of Translators and Interpreters)

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Methodological contributions

-- new experimental designs

-- new statistical procedures

-- new models

-- new measurement tools

-- new analytical procedures

-- new categorisation tools

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II. What is interpreting research?

Research is a systematic approach to finding

answers to questions.

Hatch and Farhady, 1982, p.1

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Interpreting research is a

systematic approach to

finding answers to questions

arising from interpreting

practice, training, and research.

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Which scientific category does IS belong to?

Natural science studies

the universe or nature:

astronomy, biology,

chemistry, physics, etc.

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Social science studies

human society and

individual relationships

in society: sociology,

anthropology, political

science, economics,

linguistics, etc.

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Humanities studies

human values, spirit,

emotions, ideas:

literature, art, religion,

philosophy, ancient

and modern language,

etc.

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Nature science

Social science

Humanities

1. studies the objective existence

1. studies the society and social phenomena

1. studies the internal world of individual human beings

2. adopts logical methods and empirical methods

2. adopts logical methods and empirical methods

2. adopts analytical, critical, speculative, artistic or even imaginative methods

3. sets up general scientific theoretical system

3. proposes theories, hypothesis, laws, models, etc.

3. experiences, understands, and perceives the spiritual world of human beings.

Th

ree Scien

tific categories

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Spectrum of Interpreting StudiesNatural Sciences Social Sciences Humanities

Empirical

Logical thinking

Science

Speculative

Thinking in terms of images

Art

Interpreting studies

(Adapted from Prof. Liao Qiyi’s model in his lecture at SCU)

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III. How to do interpreting research

Choosing a research topicDeveloping research questions

Defining research purposes

Reading literature

Selecting research design

Collecting data

Analyzing data

Finding research resultsWriting research paper/thesis

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3.1 Choosing a research topic/developing research questions

3.1.1 Moving from a general topic to a specific one

* Identify a topic based on personal interest and close to baseline expertise; * Narrow down the topic by asking “who”, “what”, “how”, etc.

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e.g. General topic: Interpreter training

Who:

Who are the interpreters? SI or CI? Conference I or Liaison I?

What:

What kind of training do I wish to focus on? (classroom T? on-line

training? internship training? self training?)

What is the internship training I intend to talk about?

How:

How is internship training carried out? Is it effective?

How:

How will I go about finding internship training method and its effect?

Specific topic: A. Internship training for potential business interpreters:

forging partnership with employers

B. On-campus and off-campus internship training for would-be

consecutive interpreters

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3.1.2 Formulating a few research questions

* What is an internship training program?

* What are the differences and similarities between

classroom training and internship training?

* In what ways and to what extent can internship

training help trainees develop their interpreting skills?

* How to measure the results of internship training?

* How to forge partnership with employers?

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3.1.4 Some do’s and don’ts

A. A topic/question should be valuable (not too trivial/simple);

B. A topic/question should be original (not too old/repeatedly tackled);

C. A topic/question should be manageable/answerable (not too ambitious/unanswerable).

* The topic is too broad;

* The available resources are too limited;

* The topic is far beyond one’s research baseline expertise;

* The expected result would be too subjective/unscientific.

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Most studies “only” contribute one or a few

bricks to the building which is being erected

by many other members of the community,

and more comprehensive (albeit generally

provisional) answers generally result from the

efforts of dozens, if not hundreds of

researchers over long periods.

Daniel Gile, 2001:4)

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3.2 Define research purposes

Exploration

Description

Explanation

Prediction

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3.3 Reading literature

A. Three types of literature

a. Within the field of interpreting

b. In the related fields

c. About research methods

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3.3 Reading literature

B. Three types of reading

a. Occasional reading

b. Selective reading

c. Close reading

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Close reading/critical reading

A. Reading for comprehension

a. Understanding the author’s purposes

b. Understanding the methods used

c. Understanding the results/conclusion of the study

B. Reading for assessment

a. Assessing the author’s purposes

b. Assessing the methods used

c. Assessing the use of literature

d. Assessing the author’s inferences

Daniel Gile:, 2001:24-32

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C. Three types of notes

a. Notes for abstracts

b. Notes for critical comments

c. Notes for comments concerning

potential use

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3.4 Selecting research design

A. Deciding on a theoretical

framework

B. Choosing research methods

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A. Deciding on a theoretical framework

Theory: a judgment, conception, proposition, or formula by specula-

tion or deduction, or by abstraction and generalization from facts.

Webster’s, 1986: 2371

Only studies which are indeed carried out within a defined theoretical

framework deserve to be regarded as “research activities”.

Toury, 1991:184

“Theory” in interpreting is anything that is not practice.

Pöchhacker in Gile, 2001:200

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B. Choosing research methods

Research methodology/methods/techniques

Methodology: the systematic study of methods that are applied within a discipline.

Methods: different types of approaches to do research.

Techniques/tools: used for concretization and operationalization of a research method (also called

subtypes of research methods).

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methodology

techniques

methods

philosophical assumptionlogicparadigmobjectivity

questionnaireinterviewobservation case studycritical analysis

surveyexperimentfield workdocument study

Research m

ethodological system

(Adapted from Feng Xiaotian, 2001:8,9,13,16)

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3.5 Choosing research methods to collect data

A. Survey: In survey research, the researcher selects a sample of

respondents from a population and administers a standardized questionnaire to them.

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B. Experiment

An experiment is a method of investigating causal relationships among variables. The method involves manipulating one variable to determine if changes in one variable cause changes in another variable.

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C. Field work

Field work, or field study, is aimed at collecting raw data for qualitative research. It involves face-to-face interviewing, direct observation, and a case study.

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D. Document study

Also called secondary research. It is an indirect study by obtaining and analyzing data from existing literature, such as newspapers, diaries, memoir, autobiography, letters, historical documents, etc.

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3.6 Analyzing data

• Quantitative research is empirical research where the data are in the form of numbers.

• Qualitative research is empirical research where the data are not in the form of numbers.

K. F. Punch,1998:4

Quantitative data can only be analyzed statistically while qualitative data can be analyzed both non-statistically and statistically.

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Transcribing tape-recordings for discourse analysis-- a typical way of data analysis in interpreting

Some commonly used transcription symbols:

[ ] simultaneous or overlapping talk

e: or e::: long or lengthened vowel sound

(.) short pause

(laugh) non-verbal feature

bear stressed syllable

italics English translation of talk in other languages

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G – guest, Mr. Louton, I – interpreter, H – host, 张总

I: Uh (.), Mr. Louton, look at this dish. It’s called Peacock

Welcoming the Guests, and

G: Wow!

I: 　　　　　　　　　 and the bean-curd here is called Bear’s Paw

G: Ah::: I’m sorry, bear’s Paw?

I: (laugh) Well, the answer is both yes and no. My boss may explain

this to you. (to H) 张总，客人想知道这道菜为什么叫“熊掌豆　　腐” , 是不是真的有熊掌在里面．还有，嗯，比方说，那道菜　　为什么叫“孔雀迎宾”？跟孔雀有什么关系吗？

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3.7 Finding resultsWriting research paper/thesis

Research results are the answers to the research questions and the findings yielded from your study.

A thesis/dissertation is an argument in which different parts are logically related and all centered around research question.

Wen Qiufang, 2008:251

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IV. Possible orientations for future research

4.1 Paradigm shifts:

Social turn in China?

Sociological turn?

Ethical turn?

Technological turn?

Liaison interpreting turn in China?

Sign language interpreting turn in China?

China’s minority language interpreting turn?

Interpreting turn in translation studies?

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4.2 Research methods/techniques

-- sizeable audio-visual recordings of a specialized

interpreting setting (medical, business, legal, etc.),

transcriptions and critical analysis of data

-- user investigations (possibly in exchange for no-pay)

-- Experiments

…

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A sample research project

Research topic:

The non-verbal communication features of

conference interpreters and liaison interpreters

in consecutive mode.

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Step 1:

Please formulate 3-5 questions based on the topic.

Q1:

Q2:

Q3:

Q4:

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Step 1:

Please formulate 3-5 questions based on the topic.

A. What is NVC and how many types of NVC do we usually observed in daily interaction?

B. What are the most common NVC features observed in consecutive interpreters?

C. To what extent does the specific setting affect the interpreter’s NV behaviours?

D. Can the main differences between the NV features of conference interpreters and those of liaison interpreters be identified? If so, how?

E. How will these differences be interpreted?

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Main types of NVC observed in daily interaction:

A. Kinesics (facial expression, gesture, posture, eye gaze,

blinking, etc.)

B. Paralanguage (tone of voice, volume, rate of speaking, voice quality, coughing, laughing, throat clearing, pet phrases, chuckling, etc.)

C. Appearance or object language (clothing, hairstyles, choice of color, etc.)

D. Time and space

E. Touch

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X – 小向 , a local guide, C – a Chinese local official, I –

Interpreter, A – an American businessman

X: 你跟他讲，这个，如果他喜欢的话，我就送他了。一件 小礼物吧．C ：这可是小向花了几个月的时间画的，别人管他要，他还 不给呢。I: If you like it, Mr. Xiang would like to give it to you as a

small gift. He spent months painting it. Normally he doesn’t

give it away even if asked for.

A: Don’t bother. (Walk away)

I: 　 (Smile, softly) 不用了，不过非常感谢你的好意 .

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Step 2:

Define your working hypothesis and research

Purposes (exploration, description, explanation).

Hypothesis:

Liaison interpreters and conference interpreters

demonstrate different NVC features

Research purposes:

2 or all of the 3

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Step 3:

Specify the categories of the related literature

that you may need to read and study in order to

complete the project.

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Step 4:

Work out your research plan: think of the

possible theoretical framework for your

research topic and the research methods that

are likely to be adopted.

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Step 5:

Think of the research techniques or tools that

you may use for data collection.

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Step 6:

How would you do data analysis based on the

research techniques/tools that you’ve chosen?

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Step 7:

What are the possible research results that you

may draw from your research work? Are there

any possible implications to future interpreting

practice/training /research?

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Possible results/findings:

A. Liaison interpreters demonstrate more evident and

more varied NVC features than conference interpreters;

B. Liaison interpreters are more likely to exert more impact on the process and outcome of the interaction.

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References:

Gile, Daniel, et al. eds. Getting Started in Interpreting Research [C]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2001.

Hansen, Gyde, et al, eds. Efforts and Models in Interpreting and Translation Research [C]. Amsterdam/Philadelphia, 2008.

Hatch, E. & Farhady, H. Research Design and Statistics for Applied Linguistics [M]. Rowley: Newbury House Publishers, INC., 1982.

Pöchhacker, Franz. Working within a theoretical framework [A] in Daniel Gile, ibid. 199-219.

Pöchhacker, Franz. Introducing Interpreting Studies [M]. London: Routledge, 2004.

Punch, K. F. Introduction to Social Research: Quantitative & Qualitative Approaches [M]. London: Sage, 1998.

Wen Qiufang. Applied Linguistics: Research Methods and Thesis Writing [M], Beijing: FLTRP, 2008.

风笑天．社会学研究方法 [M] ．北京：中国人民大学出版社， 2001.

林聚任等．社会科学研究方法 [C] ．济南：山东人民出版社， 2004.

www.wikipedia.org

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Thank You!