Lexical Alignment Effect of the Continuation Task on Interpreting Trainees’ English-to-Chinese Sight Translation Fluency

Abstract

The present study explored the alignment effect of the sight translation continuation task (STCT) and its possible influence on sight translation (ST) fluency. Thirty-four third-year English Education majors at a Chinese university were divided into two groups in the study. The experimental group who conducted the STCT read the English source text of a speech and its translation in Chinese, while the control group only read the English source text. Afterwards, both groups sight translated the continued source text into Chinese. The results indicated that (a) the experimental group aligned with the pre-reading text at the lexical level and (b) the continuation task improved ST fluency to some extent as the experimental group produced significantly fewer self-repairs in their ST products. The study concludes by suggesting that the continuation task can be useful in ST instruction and, hence, should be more visible in the interpreting classroom.