Fluency in interpreting: a native-like quality factor

Lo studio si occupa di fluency e analizza alcuni aspetti che la definiscono (pause vuote, pause piene, segnali discorsivi, riformulazioni). Si analizzano frequenza e durata di tali fenomeni, attraverso due corpora di produzioni orali di due gruppi di parlanti della lingua inglese: gli studenti italiani del corso di Mediazione Linguistica Interculturale della Scuola di Lingue, Letterature, Interpretazione e Traduzione di Forlì, Università di Bologna, e partecipanti britannici di un programma radiofonico. Si è ritenuto utile comparare le produzioni orali di studenti della lingua inglese a quelle di oratori pubblici madrelingua. Si è cercato di bilanciare i due corpora in termini di genere. Sono stati utilzzati i software Praat, per identificare la morfologia e la durata delle variabili, e Notetab Light, per l'annotazione dei corpora. I risultati della ricerca mostrano che le differenze maggiori tra i due gruppi risiedono nella durata delle pause vuote e nella frequenza, durata e e varietà di suoni delle pause piene, oltre a sillabe aggiuntive, sillabe allungate e riformulazioni. Le sillabe aggiuntive appaiono tipiche della produzione orale degli studenti italiani, in quanto, per la maggior parte, le parole della lingua italiana terminano con un suono vocalico. E' inoltre emersa una questione di genere. Le parlanti di sesso femminile, in entrambi i corpora, impiegano maggiormente le variabili della fluency prese in esame, rispetto ai parlanti di sesso maschile. Sulla base di questa ricerca e ricerche future si potranno ideare moduli di insegnamento dell'inglese basati sulla fluency come fattore primario di competenza linguistica. Il Capitolo 1 introduce lo studio. Il Capitolo 2 presenta lo stato dell'arte sul tema. Il Capitolo 3 presenta la metodologia dello studio. Il Capitolo 4 è dedicato a illustrare e discutere i risultati della ricerca. Il Capitolo 5 presenta considerazioni conclusive e future prospettive per l'insegnamento dell'inglese e per la ricerca.

Some Remarks on Quality in Interpreting, Interpreting Modes and the Interpreter’s Role

Quality in interpreting is a hotly debated issue whose complexity is determined by a mix of factors. In this article I analyze it in the light of the role played by interpreters, stressing how the constraints imposed by the different interpreting modes, the different roles actually played by professionals (who become more or less visible, even within the same assignment) and the expectations they generate require the adoption of a flexible perspective when it comes to identifying and assessing quality criteria and drafting professional codes that are open enough to adjust to diverse communicative settings and to the dynamic character of quality.

L'influenza della preferenza manuale nell'interpretazione di conferenza: un contributo sperimentale

This study is based on a former student’s work, aimed at examining the influence of handedness on conference interpreting. In simultaneous interpreting (IS) both cerebral hemispheres participate in the decoding of the incoming message and in the activation of the motor functions for the production of the output signal. In right-handers language functions are mainly located in the left hemisphere, while left-handers have a more symmetrical representation of language functions. Given that with the development of interpreting skills and a long work experience the interpreters’ brain becomes less lateralized for language functions, in an initial phase left-handers may be «neurobiologically better suited for interpreting tasks» (Gran and Fabbro 1988: 37). To test this hypothesis, 9 students (5 right-handers and 4 left-handers) participated in a dual test of simultaneous and consecutive interpretation (CI) from English into Italian. The subjects were asked to interpret one text with their preferred ear and the other with the non-preferred one, since according neuropsychology aural symmetry reflects cerebral symmetry. The aim of this study was to analyze:1) the differences between the number of errors in consecutive and simultaneous interpretation with the preferred and non-preferred ear; 2) the differences in performance (in terms of number of errors) between right-handed and left-handed, both with the preferred and non-preferred ear; 3) the most frequent types of errors in right and left-handers; 4) the influence of the degree of handedness on interpreting quality. The students’ performances were analyzed in terms of errors of meaning, errors of numbers, omissions of text, omissions of numbers, inaccuracies, errors of nexus, and unfinished sentences. The results showed that: 1) in SI subjects committed fewer errors interpreting with the preferred ear, whereas in CI a slight advantage of the non-preferred ear was observed. Moreover, in CI, right-handers committed fewer mistakes with the non-preferred ear than with the preferred one. 2) The total performance of left-handers proved to be better than that of right-handers. 3) In SI left-handers committed fewer errors of meaning and fewer errors of number than right-handers, whereas in CI left-handers committed fewer errors of meaning and more errors of number than right-handers 4) As the degree of left-handedness increases, the number of errors committed also increases. Moreover, there is a statistically significant left-ear advantage for right-handers and a right-ear one for left-handers. Finally, those who interpreted with their right ear committed fewer errors of number than those who have used their left ear or both ears.

Evidence-based guidelines for interpreting change scores for the European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30

Aim: To use published literature and experts' opinion to investigate the clinical meaning and magnitude of changes in the Quality of Life (QOL) of groups of patients measured with the European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30). Methods: An innovative method combining systematic review of published studies, expert opinions and meta-analysis was used to estimate large, medium, and small mean changes over time for QLQ-C30 scores. Results: Nine hundred and eleven papers were identified, leading to 118 relevant papers. One thousand two hundred and thirty two mean changes in QOL over time were combined in the meta-analysis, with timescales ranging from four days to five years. Guidelines were produced for trivial, small, and medium size classes, for each subscale and for improving and declining scores separately. Estimates for improvements were smaller than respective estimates for declines. Conclusions: These guidelines can be used to aid sample size calculations and interpretation of mean changes over time from groups of patients. Observed mean changes in the QLQ-C30 scores are generally small in most clinical situations, possibly due to response shift. Careful consideration is needed when planning studies where QOL changes over time are of primary interest; the timing of follow up, sample attrition, direction of QOL changes, and subscales of primary interest are key considerations. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bridging the gap:exploring the cognitive impact of InterpretBank on Chinese interpreting trainees

This exploratory research project developed a cognitive situated approach to studying aspects of simultaneous interpreting with quantitative, confirmatory methods. To do so, it explored how to determine the potential benefits of using a computer-assisted interpreting tool, InterpretBank, among 22 Chinese interpreting trainees with Chinese L1 and English L2. The informants were mostly 2nd-year female students with an average age of 24.7 enrolled in Chinese MA interpreting programs. The study adopted a pretest and posttest design with three cycles. The independent variable was using Excel or InterpretBank. After Cycle I (pre-test), the sample split into control (Excel) and experimental (InterpretBank) groups. Tool choice was compulsory in Cycle II but not Cycle III. The source materials for each cycle were pairs of matching transcripts from popular science podcasts. Informants compiled glossaries out of one transcript, while the other one was edited for simultaneous interpreting, with 39 terms as potential problem triggers. Quantitative profiling results showed that InterpretBank informants spent less time on glossary compilation, generated more terms faster than Excel informants, but their glossaries were less diverse (personal) and longer. The booth tasks yielded no significant differences in fluency indicators except for more bumps (200-600ms silent time gaps) for InterpretBank in Cycle II. InterpretBank informants had more correct renditions in Cycles II and III but there was no statistically significant difference among accuracy indicators per cycle. Holistic quality assessments by PhD raters showed InterpretBank consistently outperforming Excel, suggesting a positive InterpretBank impact on SI quality. However, some InterpretBank implementations raised cognitive ergonomic concerns for Chinese, potentially undermining its utility. Overall, results were mixed regarding InterpretBank benefits for Chinese trainees, but the project was successful in developing cognitive situated interpreting study methods, constructs and indicators.

Native speakers and task performance: comparing effects on complexity, fluency, and lexical diversity

This article argues that a native-speaker baseline is a neglected dimension of studies into second language (L2) performance. If we investigate how learners perform language tasks, we should distinguish what performance features are due to their processing an L2 and which are due to their performing a particular task. Having defined what we mean by “native speaker,” we present the background to a research study into task features on nonnative task performance, designed to include native-speaker data as a baseline for interpreting nonnative-speaker performance. The nonnative results, published in this journal (Tavakoli & Foster, 2008) are recapitulated and then the native-speaker results are presented and discussed in the light of them. The study is guided by the assumption that limited attentional resources impact on L2 performance and explores how narrative design features—namely complexity of storyline and tightness of narrative structure— affect complexity, fluency, accuracy, and lexical diversity in language. The results show that both native and nonnative speakers are prompted by storyline complexity to use more subordinated language, but narrative structure had different effects on native and nonnative fluency. The learners, who were based in either London or Tehran, did not differ in their performance when compared to each other, except in lexical diversity, where the learners in London were close to native-speaker levels. The implications of the results for the applicability of Levelt’s model of speaking to an L2 are discussed, as is the potential for further L2 research using native speakers as a baseline.

Evaluation of regional climate simulations for air quality modelling purposes

In order to evaluate the future potential benefits of emission regulation on regional air quality, while taking into account the effects of climate change, off-line air quality projection simulations are driven using weather forcing taken from regional climate models. These regional models are themselves driven by simulations carried out using global climate models (GCM) and economical scenarios. Uncertainties and biases in climate models introduce an additional “climate modeling” source of uncertainty that is to be added to all other types of uncertainties in air quality modeling for policy evaluation. In this article we evaluate the changes in air quality-related weather variables induced by replacing reanalyses-forced by GCM-forced regional climate simulations. As an example we use GCM simulations carried out in the framework of the ERA-interim programme and of the CMIP5 project using the Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace climate model (IPSLcm), driving regional simulations performed in the framework of the EURO-CORDEX programme. In summer, we found compensating deficiencies acting on photochemistry: an overestimation by GCM-driven weather due to a positive bias in short-wave radiation, a negative bias in wind speed, too many stagnant episodes, and a negative temperature bias. In winter, air quality is mostly driven by dispersion, and we could not identify significant differences in either wind or planetary boundary layer height statistics between GCM-driven and reanalyses-driven regional simulations. However, precipitation appears largely overestimated in GCM-driven simulations, which could significantly affect the simulation of aerosol concentrations. The identification of these biases will help interpreting results of future air quality simulations using these data. Despite these, we conclude that the identified differences should not lead to major difficulties in using GCM-driven regional climate simulations for air quality projections.

Interpreters’ perception of linguistic and non linguistic factors affecting quality: a survey through the World Wide Web

This paper will present and discuss the results of an empirical study on perception of quality in interpretation carried out on a sample of 286 interpreters across five continents. Since the 1980’s the field of Interpreting Studies has been witnessing an ever growing interest in the issue of quality in interpretation both in academia and in professional circles, but research undertaken so far is surprisingly lacking in methodological rigour. This survey is an attempt to revise previous studies on interpreters’ perception of quality through the implementation of new Information Technology which allowed us to administer a traditional research tool such as a questionnaire, in a highly innovative way; i.e., through the World Wide Web. Using multidimensional scaling, a perceptual map based upon the results of the manner in which interpreters ranked a list of linguistic and nonlinguistic criteria according to their perception of importance in the interpretative process,was devised.

Mini-Mental State Examination sentence writing among community-dwelling elderly adults in Brazil: text fluency and grammar complexity

Background: In normal aging, the decrease in the syntactic complexity of written production is usually associated with cognitive deficits. This study was aimed to analyze the quality of older adults' textual production indicated by verbal fluency (number of words) and grammatical complexity (number of ideas) in relation to gender, age, schooling, and cognitive status. Methods: From a probabilistic sample of community-dwelling people aged 65 years and above (n = 900), 577 were selected on basis of their responses to the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) sentence writing, which were submitted to content analysis; 323 were excluded as they left the item blank or performed illegible or not meaningful responses. Education adjusted cut-off scores for the MMSE were used to classify the participants as cognitively impaired or unimpaired. Total and subdomain MMSE scores were computed. Results: 40.56% of participants whose answers to the MMSE sentence were excluded from the analyses had cognitive impairment compared to 13.86% among those whose answers were included. The excluded participants were older and less educated. Women and those older than 80 years had the lowest scores in the MMSE. There was no statistically significant relationship between gender, age, schooling, and textual performance. There was a modest but significant correlation between number of words written and the scores in the Language subdomain. Conclusions: Results suggest the strong influence of schooling and age over MMSE sentence performance. Failing to write a sentence may suggest cognitive impairment, yet, instructions for the MMSE sentence, i.e. to produce a simple sentence, may limit its clinical interpretation.

Le disfluenze e la percezione degli ascoltatori. Valutazione di tre interpretazioni consecutive.

This study aims at exploring listeners’ perception of disfluencies, i.e. ungrammatical pauses, filled pauses, repairs, false starts and repetitions, which can irritate listeners and impede comprehension. As professional communicators, conference interpreters should be competent public speakers. This means that their speech should be easily understood by listeners and not contain elements that may be considered irritating. The aim of this study was to understand to what extent listeners notice disfluencies and consider them irritating, and to examine whether there are differences between interpreters and non-interpreters and between different age groups. A survey was therefore carried out among professional interpreters, students of interpreting and people who regularly attend conferences. The respondents were asked to answer a questionnaire after listening to three speeches: three consecutive interpretations delivered during the final exams held at the Advanced School of Languages, Literature, Translation and Interpretation (SSLLTI) in Forlì. Since conference interpreters’ public speaking skills should be at least as good as those of the speakers at a conference, the speeches were presented to the listeners as speeches delivered during a conference, with no mention of interpreting being made. The study is divided into five chapters. Chapter I outlines the characteristics of the interpreter as a professional communicator. The quality criterion “user-friendliness” is explored, with a focus on features that make a speech more user-friendly: fluency, intonation, coherence and cohesion. The Chapter also focuses on listeners’ quality expectations and evaluations. In Chapter II the methodology of the study is described. Chapter III contains a detailed analysis of the texts used for the study, focusing on those elements that may irritate listeners or impede comprehension, namely disfluencies, the wrong use of intonation and a lack of coherence or cohesion. Chapter IV outlines the results of the survey, while Chapter V presents our conclusions.

Evaluating minimal important differences for the FACT-Melanoma quality of life questionnaire

Objectives. Minimal Important Differences (MIDs) establish benchmarks for interpreting mean differences in clinical trials involving quality of life outcomes and inform discussions of clinically meaningful change in patient status. As such, the purpose of this study was to assess MIDs for the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy–Melanoma (FACT-M). ^ Methods. A prospective validation study of the FACT-M was performed with 273 patients with stage I to IV melanoma. FACT-M, Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS), and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status (ECOG-PS) scores were obtained at baseline and 3 months following enrollment. Anchor- and distribution-based methods were used to assess MIDs, and the correspondence between MID ranges derived from each method was evaluated. ^ Results. This study indicates that an approximate range for MIDs of the FACT-M subscales is between 5 to 8 points for the Trial Outcome Index, 4 to 5 points for the Melanoma Combined Subscale, 2 to 4 points for the Melanoma Subscale, and 1 to 2 points for the Melanoma Surgery Subscale. Each method produced similar but not identical ranges of MIDs. ^ Conclusions. The properties of the anchor instrument employed to derive MIDs directly affect resulting MID ranges and point values. When MIDs are offered as supportive evidence of a clinically meaningful change, the anchor instrument used to derive thresholds should be clearly stated along with evidence supporting the choice of anchor instrument as the most appropriate for the domain of interest. In this analysis, the KPS was a more appropriate measure than the ECOG-PS for assessing MIDs. ^

Administration routes affect the quality of immune responses:a cross-sectional evaluation of particulate antigen-delivery systems

Particulate delivery systems such as liposomes and polymeric nano- and microparticles are attracting great interest for developing new vaccines. Materials and formulation properties essential for this purpose have been extensively studied, but relatively little is known about the influence of the administration route of such delivery systems on the type and strength of immune response elicited. Thus, the present study aimed at elucidating the influence on the immune response when of immunising mice by different routes, such as the subcutaneous, intradermal, intramuscular, and intralymphatic routes with ovalbumin-loaded liposomes, N-trimethyl chitosan (TMC) nanoparticles, and poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) microparticles, all with and without specifically selected immune-response modifiers. The results showed that the route of administration caused only minor differences in inducing an antibody response of the IgG1 subclass, and any such differences were abolished upon booster immunisation with the various adjuvanted and non-adjuvanted delivery systems. In contrast, the administration route strongly affected both the kinetics and magnitude of the IgG2a response. A single intralymphatic administration of all evaluated delivery systems induced a robust IgG2a response, whereas subcutaneous administration failed to elicit a substantial IgG2a response even after boosting, except with the adjuvanted nanoparticles. The intradermal and intramuscular routes generated intermediate IgG2a titers. The benefit of the intralymphatic administration route for eliciting a Th1-type response was confirmed in terms of IFN-gamma production of isolated and re-stimulated splenocytes from animals previously immunised with adjuvanted and non-adjuvanted liposomes as well as with adjuvanted microparticles. Altogether the results show that the IgG2a associated with Th1-type immune responses are sensitive to the route of administration, whereas IgG1 response associated with Th2-type immune responses were relatively insensitive to the administration route of the particulate delivery systems. The route of administration should therefore be considered when planning and interpreting pre-clinical research or development on vaccine delivery systems.

Translation, transcription, interpreting?

In this talk I discuss some of the problems involved in the transcription and translation of poor quality and/or covertly made recordings. My focus is on how Speech Act Theory can help inform transcription practice. I argue that transcribers should have a good understanding of the pragmatic level of language communication; I illustrate with real case examples how the lack of this understanding can lead to flawed interpretations (and thus potentially miscarriages of justice). I also discuss the problems inherent in forensic translation, where, given the evidential status of the material being translated, the translator’s linguistic choices are often circumscribed by elements of the legal context s/he may not be familiar with.

How Do Tourist Guides Add Value to An Ecotour? Interpreting Interpretation in the State of Amazonas, Brazil

In Ecotourism, interpretation by a guide creates or shapes the experience for the tourist, differentiating one episode from another. As such, the guide S interpretation adds value to the tourism product and contributes to the visitor S experience. This paper discussed the role of interpretation by guides in the State of Amazonas, Brazil, finding in them patterns from which lessons may be drawn. Given the intangibility of the Ecotourism product, this paper argues that it is the guide who defines the quality of the product. The guide may draw the tourist toward or away from sustainable practices, and significantly contributes to the success or failure of the escotouristic venture. The State of Amazonas in Brazil already has guides, but this study questions their education and training in interpretive skills as well as their professional organization and working conditions