A Study Of Live Simultaneous Interpreting On Phoenix TV From The Perspective Of Uses And Gratifications Theory

In the context of globalization of mass media, live simultaneous interpreting is becoming an increasingly important device for TV stations to enhance their competitiveness. However, China has a late start in live simultaneous interpreting, and there are many problems with China’s live simultaneous interpreting that we need to study and solve. Taking live simultaneous interpreting as a part of mass communication, this thesis attempts to analyze problems with Chinese TV programs employing live simultaneous interpreting from the perspective of the uses and gratifications theory, thereby bringing forward a number of suggestions for improving the quality of Chinese live simultaneous interpreting.This thesis starts with an introduction to the classification of live simultaneous interpreting followed by a discussion of features and constraints of each category of live simultaneous interpreting. The following chapter of this thesis is devoted to explaining main concepts of the audience-oriented uses and gratifications theory, analyzing the importance of TV audiences to mass communication, and making a comparison between audiences of TV programs and listeners of conference interpreting. It is argued that it is necessary for TV interpreters to play a dual role and meet the dual requirements for both simultaneous interpreters and broadcasters, so as to achieve better communication effect of TV programs employing live simultaneous interpreting.In order to find out how effective China’s TV programs employing live simultaneous interpreting are and whether the performance of TV interpreters meets the dual requirements, the author conducted a survey among40TV viewers. The survey, which uses the live simultaneous interpreting of the televised2012United States presidential debate on Phoenix TV as the material, had queried the audience about why they watched the live news program and how gratified they were with the program before it solicited their assessments of the TV interpreter’s performance on the basis of20criteria listed by the author.The survey reveals that the primary purpose of the audience’s media exposure to the live news program is to learn of events. Although the majority of audiences have obtained gratifications from watching the program, those who have less knowledge of simultaneous interpreting tend to have a higher level of expectation and a lower degree of gratification. About half of the audience members agreed that using TV interpreters may have a negative influence on the program and the profession of simultaneous interpreting as well, so TV programs employing live simultaneous interpreting would not be their primary choice in the future. The analysis of survey findings shows that there are problems with the TV interpreter’s performance from the perspectives of broadcasting and interpreting. Based on these findings, the author made suggestions for both TV interpreters and TV program producers. Five suggestions were generated for TV interpreters:minimize the frequency of unavoidable problems; hone reading skills; make adjustments in accordance with program styles; accumulate extra-linguistic knowledge; control psychological stress. There are also five suggestions for TV program producers to improve the quality of programs employing live simultaneous interpreting:provide stable working conditions; conduct surveys among the audience; make reasonable personnel arrangement; provide professional trainings for TV interpreters; increase the exposure of TV interpreting and TV interpreters to the public.