Listeners’ Expectations And Feedbacks In Interpreting Quality Evaluation

Since the late1980s, the field of interpreting studies has been experiencing an ever-growing interest in the issue of interpreting quality, both in academia and in professional circles. Although quality in interpreting is not a simple issue and there is still not a general consensus on the criteria that make up good quality interpreting, researchers and scholars never stop their attempts to research in this aspect. More scientific researches in this field appear and studies on this issue tend to be conducted from more comprehensive perspectives. Studies, especially empirical studies on interpreting quality during the past two decades, have come up with valuable findings both at home and abroad, shedding light upon further researches and discussions on this issue.This thesis mainly focuses on quality in interpreting from the perspective of listeners. Achievements and research findings of previous studies in this field are reviewed and discussed. The paper is dedicated to explore listeners’ expectations and feedbacks toward the interpreting event, and investigate how listeners’ topic-related background knowledge influences their expectations and perceptions. An experimental research is carried out, where thirty subjects, either with or without topic-related background knowledge, are asked to attend a simulated conference, complete a questionnaire and answer questions in follow-up interviews. Data and information is gathered, and then results are analyzed to find out differences and similarities in expectations and feedbacks among the two different listener groups. Results indicate that there are discrepancies of expectations and attitudes toward interpreting quality, among which logical consistency is the most noticeable. However, some similarities between the two groups are also found. It is hoped that the research will prompt further studies and discussions on this issue, and the results and findings may shed light for interpreters to improve their performance and provide more user-oriented and listener-friendly interpreting services.