Field Consecutive Interpreting For "Exchange Program Of University Of Puget Sound" From The Perspective Of Relevance Theory

With the evolution of economic globalization and the demand to deepen cooperation,exchanges in politics,economy,and culture among countries are conducted on a more frequent basis.Interpreting,as a special form of communication,makes it possible for people with different languages and cultural backgrounds to communicate with each other.As an integral branch of interpreting,consecutive interpreting plays an increasingly significant role in this process.In 1986,the Relevance Theory was put forward by Dan Sperber,a French social cognitive scientist,and Deridre Wilson,a British linguist,in their co-authored book Relevance: Communication and Cognition.They believe that verbal communication is an ostensive-inferential process.Since consecutive interpreting is also a kind of verbal communication,the Relevance Theory undoubtedly provides a new cognitive perspective for the study of consecutive interpreting,which has the capability to explain and guide the practice of interpreting.Based on the Relevance Theory,this report combines the Relevance Theory with the interpreting practice of “Exchange Program of University of Puget Sound” completed by the author.By analyzing the practice under the framework of the Relevance Theory,the author aimsto find out the general principles that guide consecutive interpreting and ways to improve the quality of interpreting practice.From the perspective of the Relevance Theory,interpreting comprises two rounds of ostension-inference.In the first round,interpreters should not only grasp the contextual clues left by the speaker,but also seek the optimal relevance of the source languagebased on their own cognitive environments.In the second round,interpreters should also take into account various factors such as the cognitive environments,cultural backgrounds of target audience,and then,by minimizing the effort of inference of the audience to understand the speaker,a better communication effect could be achieved.