Abstract:
In his talk, the speaker will relate how he became aware of fundamental cognitive challenges in conference interpreting as a student and how he theorized them later into explanatory ‘Effort Models’, with simple cognitive processes and cognitive problem triggers that account for recurring performance weaknesses in the interpreters’ output. He will explain the concept of language availability and how both comprehension availability and production availability are central to interpreting performance. This will lead to a discussion of performance improvement over time, which involves the build-up of linguistic and extra-linguistic knowledge, the improvement of language availability including the availability of trans-linguistic correspondences, strategies and tactics. A link will be established between observational facts and constructs and theories from cognitive science, including automatic and controlled operations, automation of the latter, working memory and long-term memory, semantic networks and the representation of knowledge in the brain.
About the Speaker:
Professor Daniel Gile is Professor Emeritus at Universite Paris 3 Sorbonne Nouvelle. His initial training was in mathematics. He also has a PhD in Japanese and a PhD in linguistics. He has been an AIIC conference interpreter for over three decades. He has extensive experience in interpreter and translator training and in training and supervising researchers in various parts of the world. Daniel Gile has published widely on conference interpreter training and on research into translation and interpreting. He is the author of three books, including Basic Concepts and Models for Translator and Interpreter Training, the co-editor of several collective volumes, a guest-editor of several special issues of translation journals and the author of a large body of research articles. He is the founder of the CIRIN network which is devoted to research into interpreting and which has been publishing semesterly Bulletins over 25 years (see www.cirinandgile.com). He is also a founding member and former president of the European Society for Translation Studies, and a member of editorial boards of several translation journals.