Listening Comprehension Problems And Coping Strategies In English-Chinese Consecutive Interpretation

Listening comprehension is the first step of the interpretation process,beginning with information input and ending with,but serving,information storage.It is closely related to the subsequent process of interpretation.The quality of listening comprehension is important to the delivery of interpretation.In this paper,the author analyzes the causes of the listening comprehension problems in English-Chinese consecutive interpretation through literature research combined with case study analysis.The author also proposes corresponding coping strategies.The case study of this research is based on a mock conference.The material used in the mock conference is an interview with William Hazeltine at the Brookings Institution in June2013,which focuses on Singapore’s health care system,its superiority and what can be learned from it,with special reference to Singapore’s excellent cost control ability in establishing the health care system and the way of coping with the problem of an aging society.Through the analysis of the source language and the transcription of the mock case interview,the author summarizes the causes of the listening comprehension problems in the case.The causes are divided into two categories: linguistic and non-linguistic.The linguistic causes include phonological identification,lexical response and logical analysis;the causes of non-linguistic ability include lack of general knowledge,lack of relevant background knowledge and inappropriate energy allocation.In view of these problems,the author proposes corresponding coping strategies by combining literature research and her own interpretation learning experience,starting from improving listening and comprehensive ability before interpretation and strengthening coping strategies during interpretation.The specific measures include strengthening phonological and phonetic adaptation training,expanding vocabulary and supplementing extra-linguistic knowledge before interpretation,and actively sorting out logical clues,reasonably allocating energy and improving psychological quality during interpretation.