LIU, Min-hua (Prof.)

Profile

• Journal Co-Editor, Interpreting (John Benjamins) (2012-­present)
• High impact research: My research led to the establishment of Taiwan’s “Chinese and English Translation and Interpretation Competency Examinations” certification exams in 2007.

Education

• Ph.D. in Foreign Language Education, The University of Texas at Austin, USA
• M.A. in Translation and Interpretation, Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, USA
• B.A. in German Language and Literature, Fu Jen Catholic University, Taiwan

Honours, Awards and Grants (selected)

• Performance Award in Teaching of the Faculty of Arts (2020)
• General Research Fund, University Grants Committee, Hong Kong (2019-2022)
  Project: Assessing the scope of expertise-driven advantages in bilinguals: A comparison of interpreters and translators
• Faculty Research Grant, HKBU (2017)
  Project: A survey of the reading habits of professional interpreters: Implications for quality professional practice
• Nomination for Outstanding Research Award of the Executive Yuan (the executive branch of the Taiwanese central government) (2005, 2006)
  Nominated project: Establishment of a Certification for Translators and Interpreters in Taiwan
  
• Young Scholar Award (for best dissertation), European Society for Translation Studies (2004)
  Awarded dissertation: Working memory and expertise in simultaneous interpreting

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I have trained interpreters at the MA level and taught research methodology courses to both MA and PhD students in Taiwan and in the US for a combined 15 years. Currently, I teach interpreting (including sight translation, consecutive interpreting and simultaneous interpreting) and research courses at both the BA and MA levels at HKBU. The courses that I have taught at HKBU include the following:

BA
– Interpreting III
– Interpreting IV
– Conference Interpreting
– Research Methods for Translation Studies
– Honours Projects

MA
– Introduction to Interpreting
– Consecutive Interpreting
– Advanced Consecutive Interpreting
– Simultaneous Interpreting
– Translation Seminars II
– Research Methods for Interpreting Studies

1. Nicodemus, Brenda, Liu, M. & McClure, Sandra. (2021). The reading habits of professional signed and spoken language interpreters. Translation and Interpreting Studies.
2. Pöchhacker, Franz, & Liu,  M. (2021). Editorial. Interpreting, 23(2), 165-167.
3. Pöchhacker, Franz, & Liu, M. (2021). Interpreting research in print: A quarter-century update. Interpreting, 23(1), 1-17. (full text)
4. Liu, M., Kurz, Ingrid, Moser-Mercer, Barbara & Shlesinger, Miriam. (2020). The interpreter’s aging: a unique story of multilingual cognitive decline? Translation, Cognition & Behavior, 3(2), 287-310.
5. Liu, M. (2019). In search of a cognitive model for interpreting expertise. In Z. Wen, P. Skehan, A. Biedroń, S. Li & R. L. Sparks. (Eds.), Language aptitude: Advancing theory, testing, research and practice (pp. 299-315). New York: Routledge.
6. Liu, M. (2019). Knowing what and knowing how: Teaching student interpreters research on interpreting. In Sawyer, F. Austermühl & V. Enríquez Raído (Eds.), The evolving curriculum in translator and interpreter education (pp. 301-318). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
7. Liu, M. (2016). Putting the horse before the cart – righting the experimental approach in interpreting studies. In C. Monacelli & C. Bendazzoli (Eds.), Addressing methodological challenges in interpreting studies research (pp. 87-105). Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars.
8. Liu, M., & Shao, W-C. (2016). Development of translation and translation talents in North America (in Chinese). In C-C Li (Ed.), Development of translation and translation talents in the world (pp. 55-94). Taipei: National Academy for Educational Research.
9. Liu, M. (2015). Assessment. In F. Pöchhacker (Ed.), Routledge encyclopedia of interpreting studies (pp. 20-22). New York: Routledge.
10. Liu, M. (2015). Certification. In F. Pöchhacker (Ed.), Routledge encyclopedia of interpreting studies (pp. 45-46). New York: Routledge.
11. Liu, M. (2015). Experimental research. In F. Pöchhacker (Ed.), Routledge encyclopedia of interpreting studies (pp. 150-152). New York: Routledge.

Research Interests

I am interested in the cognitive mechanisms and processes in the task of interpreting. Interpreting, particularly simultaneous interpreting, is an extremely complicated language-­processing task that involves language comprehension, language production, access to the bilingual mental lexicon, language transfer, and monitoring. Findings from research on interpreting can potentially inform research in other fields, such as bilingualism, expertise development and individual differences. Among the topics I have explored are: the interpreter’s cognitive aptitude, domain-­general vs. domain-­specific cognitive abilities that may evolve with experience in interpreting, the bilingual lexicon, and aging and cognitive decline in bilinguals and interpreters.

My second major research interest is the testing and assessment of translation and interpreting. I am a believer in developing more objective, and thus, fairer assessment mechanisms for evaluating language performance, especially in translation and interpreting. I was involved in a large-­scale research project, as the principle investigator, to develop a certification examination system for translators and interpreters for the Taiwanese Ministry of Education. The six-­year project eventually led to the establishment of Taiwan’s “Chinese and English Translation and Interpretation Competency Examinations” in 2007. In addition to high-­stake exams such as certification exams, I am also interested in developing sound formative assessment to inform the learning process.

Research Specializations

• Cognition of interpreting
• Testing and assessment in translation and interpreting
• Interpreting pedagogy

Research Projects (as PI)

1. Assessing the scope of expertise-driven advantages in bimodal and unimodal bilinguals: A comparison of signed and spoken language interpreters, GRF, The Research Grants Council, Hong Kong (2021-2024)
2. Assessing the scope of expertise-driven advantages in bilinguals: A comparison of interpreters and translators, GRF, The Research Grants Council, Hong Kong (2019-2022)
3. A survey of the reading habits of professional interpreters: Implications for quality professional practice. Faculty Research Grant, HKBU (2017-2018)
4. Establishment of a Certification for Translators and Interpreters in Taiwan – Phase I, II, and III. National Institute for Compilation and Translation, Taiwan (2004-2010)

Professional Affiliation

• Member (now Associate Member) of AIIC since 1994

Selected Interpreting Assignments

• ROC (Taiwan) President Lee Teng-hui’s International Press Conference, Taipei
• US-­China Energy Policy Dialogue, Washington DC
• 3rd & 4th Working Group Meetings for Taiwan to join GATT, Geneva
• 8th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, San Jose, Costa Rica
• Live TV broadcasts of the 1992 US Presidential & Vice-presidential debates, Taipei