A Study Of Interpreter’s Flexibility In Liaison Interpreting From The Perspective Of Skopos Theory

Liaison interpreting is the oldest and most widely used form of interpreting in theworld, but by contrast research on it is far from sufficient. As the globalization developsdeeper and deeper, communications between different nations, regions and peoples areincreasingly frequent, and the demand for liaison interpreters is amounting accordingly.With the huge gap between theory research and practice need, the author of this thesisbelieves there is academic value and practice significance to study liaison interpreting.Traditionally, faithfulness is regarded as the top standard for judging the qualityof translation, but in practice, few interpreters can achieve absolute faithfulness. Besidesin liaison interpreting particularly, there are plenty of cases against this standard andthey are proved to be acceptable or even beneficial to communication. As a result,interpreters should not be confined to this norm but instead, be encouraged to flexiblycope with all language as well as nonlanguage situations.Under the guidance of Skopos Theory, the core of German Functionalism, theauthor is intended to explore interpreters’ flexibility in liaison interpreting. In general,there are three major aspects, namely, flexibility in sending information, transmittingcultural connotations and other unexpected situations. In this dynamic communication,interpreters could employ a variety of strategies to flexibly transmit message, solveconflicts and assist a successful communication. Besides, interpreters need to handle thedegree of flexibility properly, especially avoid overusing it. To help with a successfulintercultural communication, apart from solid bilingual and bicultural competence,interpreters are also required to improve their communicative ability as well as morality.