A Relevance Theoretical Approach To Problems And Strategies In The Process Of Machinery Terminology Interpreting

China is renowned as one of the greatest powers of machinery manufacturing. The implementation of the “bring in” and “go global” strategies by more domestic businesses at present require a large number of application-oriented translators with machinery manufacturing knowledge and proficiency in both translating and interpreting. For an interpreter, a smooth machinery terminology interpreting comprises a large part of his/her quality language service. Based on the author’s two interpreting practices at Suzhou Heroic Automation Technology CO., Ltd., this practice report aims to offer some insights into how to handle difficulties in machinery terminology interpreting. This report starts from classifying the author’s failures in her first interpreting practice and analyzing their causes. From the relevance theoretical approach, the author argues that machinery terminology interpreting is a dual ostensive-inferential process, and accordingly, proposes a set of strategies to cope with those failures, namely, memory enhancement strategies, omission avoidance strategies, and compensation strategies, all of which aim to either extend the interpreter’s cognitive environment to seek optimal relevance or help the audience to achieve it with the least processing effort. Later, the author employs the proposed strategies in her second interpreting practice, and verifies them by means of self-assessment and the users’ evaluation, and those strategies are proven effective.