TABLE OF CONTENT ABSTRACT 3  LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 5  INTRODUCTION 6  Background 6  Research aims 7  Methodology and scope 7  Outline 8  1  CHAPTER I 10  A REVIEW OF CONFERENCE INTERPRETING RESEARCH 10  1.1  1.1.1  Definition 10  1.1.2  Classification of interpreting 12  1.1.3  Interpreting Quality 20  1.2  INTERPRETING RESEARCH 24  1.2.1  Paradigms in interpreting studies 25  1.2.2  Areas of Interpreting studies 31  1.3  2  INTERPRETING 10  PRAGMATICS, COGNITIVE SCIENCE AND RESEARCH IN CONFERENCE SI 42  1.3.1  Conference (simultaneous) interpreting as the object of research 42  1.3.2  Pragmatics 48  1.3.3  Pragmatics in conference interpreting 61  1.3.4  Cognitive science and SI research 64  CHAPTER 67  THE COGNITIVE PRAGMATIC MODEL FOR SI ANALYSIS 67  2.1  2.1.1  Inputs to discourse comprehension 72  2.1.2  Assembly: syntax, lexicon and context 74  2.1.3  The Executive 76  2.1.4  Speech production in SI 77  2.2  3  THE COGNITIVE PRAGMATIC MODEL OF SI 68  APPLICATION OF THE MODEL 79  CHAPTER 82  RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 82  3.1  THE HYPOTHESES AND ASSUMPTIONS 84  3.2  THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS 85  3.3  THE DATA SET 87  3.3.1  The subjects in the study 88  3.3.2  Selection of sample speeches 89  3.3.3  Data collection 90  3.3.4  Data processing 91  3.4  4  THE DATA ANALYSIS METHOD 94  CHAPTER 97  RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 97  4.1  SIMULTANEITY 97  4.1.1  Ear-Voice-Span (EVS) 97  4.1.2  Syllable counts 107  4.2  ANTICIPATION AND INFERENCE IN MEANING ASSEMBLY 113  4.2.1  Semantic structure and message comprehension 113  4.2.2  Redundancy and anticipation 118  4.2.3  Inference in SI 127  4.3  COORDINATION STRATEGY IN SI 139  4.3.1  Judgment 140  4.3.2  Late elaborations and afterthoughts 144  4.3.3  Compensation 145  4.3.4  Compression 151  4.4  CAUSES OF FAILURE IN SI 155  4.4.1  Problems in primary assembly 155  4.4.2  Information density in the rheme 159  4.4.3  Loss of information due to a missed rheme 160  CONCLUSIONS 163  Summary of findings 163  Implications for training 170  Further research 171  REFERENCES 173  ABSTRACT The study analyzes the transcripts of recorded conference speeches and interpreter’s versions (in both live and simulated situations) to explore the anticipation and coordination efforts by the simultaneous interpreter in action This is based on the theoretical framework of the cognitive pragmatic model developed by Setton and the pragmatic anticipation theory modeled by Chernov According to the model, the interpreter makes use of the pragmatic principles to assemble meanings through anticipation and inferences and then to deliver the interpretation with judgement, compensation and elaboration It is found out that: The average EVS is second and if the EVS accumulates to longer than this, the interpreter tries to compress the SL output to reduce it to normal, failure to this may result in failure (omissions or distortions) The speed of the SL Speaker dictates the rate of delivery by the Interpreter There is no difference in the normal speed of speech between the Vietnamese and English speakers and that of the interpreters among the subjects of the study (calculated to be around 180 syllables per minute) The SI interpreter continuously makes anticipation and formulates inferences on the basis of partial meanings, either because the utterance is still incomplete or because, not being the addressed, she receives less than the full meaning available to the Addressees One of the indicators for successful anticipation is the shorter EVS (1-2 seconds, or even negative) This is possible thanks to sufficient discourse redundancy (both objective and subjective) as well as cues from the environment The interpreter consciously makes judgement of implausible inputs, compression of the theme of discourse, and compensation for the late change and afterthoughts of the Speaker This includes elaborations, reiteration or additions by the interpreter in order to achieve pragmatic fidelity of the interpretation Apart from comprehension failure, some interpretation errors are the results of the coordination problems faced by the interpreter Failure to deal with longer EVS or acceleration of SL speech by the Speaker may lead to boggle effects and distortions or omissions of the subsequent utterances, unless proper compensation and coordination strategies are applied Insufficient discourse redundancy (both objective and subjective) may also lead to errors, either distortions or omissions LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EVS ear – voice - span IT interpreted text RT relevance theory SI simultaneous interpreting SL source language ST source text T&I translation and interpreting TL target language INTRODUCTION Background Translation and interpreting (T/I) have become increasing important activities in the international integration process that is occurring in Vietnam Vietnam needs to open up to the world, learn from the experiences of other developed countries, and further develop economic, political and cultural relations with other nations The past few years have seen a dramatic increase in the number of events and settings requiring the service of translators and interpreters, including but not limited to international conferences, business meetings, cultural events, etc The need for quality interpreting and translation services in these contexts is therefore immense Studies on T/I, especially interpreting, will contribute to the improvement of interpreting quality on the one hand, and of the training of professional interpreters, on the other Conference Simultaneous interpreting (SI) provides an interesting field for research SI research started in the mid 70s of the last century has developed greatly ever since and has now become a multidisciplinary subject of academia, a convergence of cognitive psychology and linguistics, built upon the foundations of the Paris School with a new conception of with a new conception of linguistics informed by Relevance Theory, that is, cognitive pragmatics, as developed by Setton There have been different approaches to look at interpreting: as a form of translation; a cognitive process; a dialogic interaction; or a neuro-linguistic activity Nevertheless, not much research on SI has been done in Vietnam, or on the language pair English – Vietnamese This offers a challenging but interesting area for this research to explore Research aims The study aims to explore the mechanisms that allow the simultaneous interpreter to make different efforts: inputs processing, meaning assembly, formulation and articulation in a highly coordinated manner In particular, based on the theoretical framework of the cognitive pragmatic model, the study will attempt to provide explanations for the on-going anticipation and inference process during the comprehension stage, as well as the continuous coordination, judgment and compensation in the delivery stage of the SI interpreter In order to achieve the aims, the research project seeks to answer the following questions: - What is the normal time lag (ear-voice-span or EVS) for interpreting English propositions into Vietnamese and vice versa? - What strategies are normally used by the SI interpreter to deal with the difficult situations and characteristics of simultaneous interpreting? - What are the causes of common failures in SI from the pragmatic perspective? and - Are there any noticeable differences between various interpreting situations: live vs simulated; SL discourse modes: semi-rehearse vs spontaneous oral input; and language directions: Vietnamese into English and vice versa? Methodology and scope As this study aims to describe the cognitive operations in SI and correlate them with texts, a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods have been used It is necessary to combine both top-down (application of theoretical models) and bottom-up (recording and commentary of speech products) approaches because the database only is insufficient to make progress towards a real explanatory theory The primary design of the study is the application and testing of the pragmatic cognitive model of Setton in the English – Vietnamese language pair The quantitative data on the simultaneity of the interpreting process (which includes recordings and synchronized transcripts of the live interpretations versions as well as two other versions in a mock situation) will provide useful signals for in-depth analysis of the strategies successfully used by the interpreter, as well as evidence for the causes of errors and failures in interpreting The scope of study is confined to “conference simultaneous interpreting in the Vietnamese context”, which means interpreting in the simultaneous mode, in formal conference settings, and importantly, involving only the two languages: English and Vietnamese Therefore other forms of conference interpreting (consecutive, chuchotage) and multilingual simultaneous interpreting not fall within the scope of this study The study does not, however, try to answer the big questions of immediate interest to SI research, such as how to assess quality or what are the mental, neurological processes behind interpreting Rather, the scope of the study is confined only to the cognitive pragmatic aspects of the SI process, for example the visible use of the Speaker’s intentionality and other pragmatic indicators, such as anticipation and inference, or the economy of SI processing through the evidences of judgment, compensation and coordination Outline The thesis is organized into chapters, besides the introduction and conclusions After this chapter of introduction, Chapter presents a review of the current state of SI research by introducing different paradigms and research areas in SI study Chapter goes on to discuss the components of the proposed theoretical framework for this study, i.e the cognitive pragmatic model Chapter provides a detailed description of the data set, research methodology and procedures Chapter discusses the quantitative results on the simultaneity (ear-voice-span and syllable counts) which provide useful information for the analysis of the SI process, which focuses more on the strategies and cues employed by the interpreter, especially anticipation and inference in the comprehension stage and the relative autonomy in the production stage, evidenced by judgments and compensations made in the original version CHAPTER I A REVIEW OF CONFERENCE INTERPRETING RESEARCH 1.1 INTERPRETING  1.1.1 Definition  1.1.1.1 Interpreting vs translation Interpreting is generally regarded as a translational activity, as a special form of ‘Translation' (the capital initial is used to indicate that the word appears in its generic sense, as opposed to ‘written translation’, also a form of Translation) Therefore, in order to understand the concept of interpreting, it is necessary to explore the concept and definitions of Translation provided by well-known authors in the field There are various definitions of Translation, looking at different conceptual dimensions, as summarized by Pochhacker (2004:12): “an activity consisting (mainly) in the production of utterances (texts) which are presumed to have a similar meaning and/or effect as previously existing utterances in another language and culture” According to most common dictionaries, ‘interpreting' is usually equated with ‘oral translation’ or, more precisely, with the ‘oral rendering of spoken messages’ However, following this definition would exclude interpreting in signed (rather than spoken) languages from our purview, and would make it difficult to account for the less typical manifestations of interpreting, such as sight translation or on-line (written) translation of Internet chats occasionally used in the European Commission, among others Instead, by elaborating on the feature of immediacy, one can distinguish interpreting from other forms of 10 ... Definition  1.1.1.1 Interpreting vs translation Interpreting is generally regarded as a translational activity, as a special form of ‘Translation'' (the capital initial is used to indicate that the. .. interpreting, also referred to as public service interpreting (mainly in the UK) and cultural interpreting (in Canada), emerged as a wide new field of interpreting practice, with healthcare interpreting. .. Translation and interpreting (T/I) have become increasing important activities in the international integration process that is occurring in Vietnam Vietnam needs to open up to the world, learn