Effects of note-taking on the accuracy and fluency of consecutive interpreters' immediate free recall of source texts: A three-stage developmental study

Abstract

Note-taking for consecutive interpreting (CI) is a special type of note-taking in that selective notes are taken in a highly multi-tasking condition under time pressure during a CI speech segment but are used to enable a complete recall of the source speech immediately. Given the specialty of interpreters' note-taking, it is still unclear in what ways note-taking affects interpreters' memory performance. Moreover, the effect of note-taking is theoretically assumed to depend on interpreting expertise, which has not been substantiated by empirical research. This study addresses these questions by investigating the effect of note-taking on the accuracy and fluency of interpreters' memory of the source text at different training stages. An oral recall experiment was administered to student interpreters at three critical note-taking training stages: the initial stage (with one-month training in note-taking), after the critical development stage (with six-month training in note-taking), and the advanced stage (with two-year training in note-taking), with a sample size of 53, 53 and 35 at each stage respectively. Participants listened to and immediately recalled speech segments consecutively in two note-taking conditions: with and without note-taking. Recall accuracy was measured by completeness of information recalled, and recall fluency was measured by oral fluency during recall. Results showed that note-taking significantly enhanced both accuracy and fluency of interpreters' recall of the source text at all the three stages, revealing a facilitative effect of note-taking on source text memory. The size of the note-taking effect increased as interpreting training experience accumulated, indicating that interpreting training enhanced the facilitative role of note-taking. However, the developmental trajectories of the note-taking effect on recall accuracy and fluency differed. As interpreting training proceeded, the note-taking effect on recall fluency was first improved (from Stage 1 to Stage 2), and later was the note-taking effect on recall accuracy (from Stage 1 to Stage 3). The findings shed light on the cognitive mechanisms of how note-taking functions for consecutive interpreters. A potential practical implication for interpreter training is that a step-by-step note-taking training approach may be beneficial.