The impact of the speaker's oral speech pausing on the quality of simultaneous translation

Abstract

The completeness, accuracy and quality of simultaneous interpretation are influenced by the speaker and the peculiarities of his speech, which can act as destabilizing factors for the work of a simultaneous interpreter. Such factors, in particular, include the following: the speed of speech, intonation, accent, pause, syntax of sounding speech, lexical composition. This article describes the results of the analysis of the placement of pauses by two politicians (F. Hollande and N. Sarkozy) in oral speeches to various audiences. The purpose of the study is to establish what impact a logical or illogical pause can have on the implementation of simultaneous interpretation. The author of the article came to the conclusion that a number of patterns can be identified in the arrangement of pauses by speakers: place, duration and frequency. As a result of the analysis, it was possible to show that each speaker places pauses differently during a speech, which can have a direct impact on the quality of simultaneous interpretation. The patterns listed above can be taken into account when developing a system of exercises for teaching simultaneous interpretation at the initial stage and for practicing and automating certain skills at a more advanced level or when selecting speech material for organizing intensive training.