Re-conceptualising interpreting strategies for teaching interpretation into a B language

Abstract

© 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Despite a cognitive disadvantage when interpreting into one’s B language, strategy use and awareness of norms allow interpreters to be resourceful and efficient in achieving communicative goals. There is a need to incorporate strategy training in interpreter education, especially when teaching into-B interpreting. However, strategy taxonomies proposed by different scholars are incompatible, causing confusion in teaching. Furthermore, strategies are not meaningfully represented in a model that justifies their use. This paper aims to re-conceptualise production-related interpreting strategies for pedagogical purposes, accommodating trainers’ suggestions about into-B interpreting. Taking cognitive and temporal constraints as well as interpreting norms into account, we create a trainee-friendly strategy model and a taxonomy that help students understand how strategies fit into a larger picture. Interpreting strategies are re-categorised into three main types: problem-solving, problem-preventing, and message-enhancing. Strategies are streamlined, adjusted, renamed, and grouped under four catchy principles: BE FLEXIBLE, ONE CHUNK AT A TIME, BE CLEAR, and BE CONCISE. For pedagogical application of this strategy taxonomy, we adopt an instructional framework that activates cognitive, metacognitive, and social-affective aspects of learning.