Predicting Fluency With Language Proficiency, Working Memory, and Directionality in Simultaneous Interpreting.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Linguistics
• Translation Studies

Background:

• Simultaneous interpreting (SI) is a demanding cognitive task.
• Fluency, marked by fewer disfluencies (hesitations, repetitions), is a key SI quality indicator.
• Working memory (WM) and language proficiency are hypothesized to influence SI fluency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the roles of WM and language proficiency in SI fluency.
• To identify factors predicting fluency across different interpreting directions (Chinese-English, English-Chinese).

Main Methods:

• 22 interpreting students completed WM and language proficiency tests.
• Participants performed Chinese-English and English-Chinese SI tasks.
• Fluency was assessed using five objective disfluency indicators.
• Regression analysis modeled the relationship between predictors and fluency.

Main Results:

• Working memory (WM) significantly predicted fluency in both interpreting directions.
• WM accounted for 50% (Chinese-English) and 51% (English-Chinese) of the variation in disfluencies.
• Language proficiency and directionality also affected fluency, but WM was the primary predictor.

Conclusions:

• Working memory capability is more critical for fluent simultaneous interpreting than language proficiency.
• Interpreting performance is generally more fluent when translating into the native language.
• Findings clarify the cognitive underpinnings of SI fluency.