Abstract
For bilinguals, research suggests that both languages are constantly active and competing in the mind, even when only using one. However, this body of work has reported inconclusive results on the long-term effects of the constant parallel activation and use of more than one language on the brain. This has mostly been due to inconsistent comparisons between groups of bilinguals and monolinguals. Not all bilingualisms are the same. The investigation of the use of more than one language over a lifetime offers the opportunity to better understand the consequences of bilingualism on the brain. However, few studies have specifically looked at the long-standing effects of being an interpreter. In this paper, we review theories from the field of Translation and Interpreting Studies and provide a critical review of work that offers insight on the cognitive and neurocognitive effects that seem to arise from the unique, highly-cognitive-demanding practices experienced by interpreters.
Highlights
Translation and interpreting are two special subtypes of bilingual communication
The results showed that consecutive interpreting (CI) entails heavier cognitive demands than simultaneous interpreters (SIs) because it “requires a non-simultaneous, but sequential alternation between listening and speaking” (p. 7)
We have established that the language experiences of SIs are unique from other bilinguals, but do these experiences offer additional cognitive and/or neurocognitive benefits above and beyond typical bilingualism? If so, is this because of their intensive training to become an interpreter, their years of experience being an interpreter, or both? Here we briefly describe some studies that have investigated the effects that training in interpreting has on cognition and on working memory (WM) and shifting
Summary
While translation is conveyed through written language – from one text into another – interpreting involves the immediate verbal communication from one language to another Do these two differ in what they accomplish, but each of them has its own subfields. Research has shown that for bilinguals, both languages are active (to different degrees) in the mind, even when only using one (Marian and Spivey, 2003) This body of work has reported inconclusive results with respect to how this constant parallel activation and use of more than one language affects cognition and the brain. Different bilingual cohorts including simultaneous interpreters (SIs), consecutive interpreters, among others, possess different skill sets that are unique to the needs of their professions The investigation of their language use over a lifetime offers the opportunity to better understand.
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