Directionality And Its Impact On Chinese/English Simultaneous Interpreting

The present study is a simulated analysis of Al-Salman and Al-Khanji's research on the native language factor in simultaneous interpretation in an Arabic/English context in 2002. The impact of directionality on simultaneous interpreter's performance has long been a hot topic for study, and many scholars have carried out in-depth analysis in this regard, proposing various ideas and explanations. Some recent studies in this area have subverted the traditionally dominant view that simultaneous interpreters fare better when working from foreign language into native tongue. In 2002, Al-Salman and Al-Khanji published "The Native Language Factor in Simultaneous Interpretation in an Arabic/English Context",which uses questionnaires and interpreting recordings to show that Arabic interpreters have better performance when interpreting from Arabic into English, not vice versa. They adopt Labov's variability model to explain the fact, claiming the Arabic language's differentiation between formal and colloquial forms creates additional difficulties for interpreters to work from foreign language into Arabic.The aim of this paper is to find out whether the conclusion that interpreters fare better when interpreting from A language to B language is true for Chinese/English interpreters, as well as to find out the root cause for the phenomenon of directionality's influences on simultaneous interpreters'performances. Like Al-Salman and Al-Khanji's method, this study includes two parts: 1) analysis of experienced simultaneous interpreters'responses to questionnaires on their performances under circumstances of different interpreting directions and 2) analysis of audio recordings of actual international and national simultaneous conference interpreting. Open questions are also added to explore the biggest challenge in English/Chinese interpreting from interpreters' views. Based on the data collected, this study derives a similar conclusion to Al-Salman and Al-Khanji's, namely interpreters fare better when working from native language into foreign language. At the same time, some special traits are also found. The author proposes"input constraint"as the explanation for interpreters'different performances when working in different language directions. "Input constraints" are disturbances to interpreters at the stage of information input, including foreign accents, idioms and unfamiliarity to speech content, which exist frequently in foreign languages. These disturbing elements make it impossible for interpreters to adopt interpreting strategies to modify their output, thus generating more mistakes.