Investigating Paralinguistic Ability In Interpreters From The Perspective Of Interpreting Quality Assessment

As a communicative activity,interpreting is interactive in nature.Although language is the building block of interpreting,a neat and well-received interpreting can't be achieved without the support of paralanguage.As an area of non-verbal communication,paralanguage holds an integral position for many reasons:It conveys just as much thoughts and feelings as spoken words,and paralinguistic ability is crucial in both personal and professional settings;however,interpreters might easily prioritize linguistic aspects over paralanguage,overlooking the role of paralanguage or failing to capitalize on their paralinguistic ability.Hence it is more than necessary for interpreters to enhance their awareness in using paralanguage and strengthen their paralinguistic ability.This thesis focuses on several paralinguistic aspects that have implications on improving interpreting performance.One thing I would like to specifically point out is that this thesis centers around prosodic features and vocal segregates because I spotted frequent and glaring problems in those aspects in the interpreting practice.The thesis explores reasons behind problems in delivery speed,accent,intonation and pauses including inadequate language proficiency,the mental state of the interpreter,lack of background information,overwhelming information processing load,struggling in structure formation,interpreter's own delivery habits and the influence of the speaker.Solutions to those problems could be undertaking relentless and careful practice,having full preparation in advance,coping with commanding occasions with composure,strengthening note-taking skills and working memory,elevating information processing and reformulation capability,having self-monitoring all the time and reviewing thoroughly afterwards.By reviewing an interpreting practice named "FLTRP ASEAN-China-Japan-Korea Seminar on Knowing China",this thesis aims to arouse interpreting learner's attention to paralanguage and conclude useful means to improve paralinguistic ability.To better understand the impact of paralanguage on interpreting performance,I also applied interpreting quality assessment theory.