The Impact Of Linguistic Errors In Chinese–english Interpreting By Non-native English Speakers

Due to a chronic shortage of native English speakers who are competent in Chinese, thevast majority of interpreters on the market today working between Chinese and Englishare native Chinese speakers. This market reality presents a unique challenge tointerpreters in China compared to interpreters working with European languages, whoare required only to work into their mother tongue. This paper aims to address theissues that Chinese interpreters face when working into English and examine the impactof linguistic errors on the native English listener by comparing the English output ofnative English interpreters with non-native English interpreters. The conclusion thenprovides a series of tactics and recommendations for non-native English interpretersand suggests how these could be rectified.