Putting directionality into context
The question of directionality, i.e. whether (simultaneous) interpreters should work only from their second into their first language or whether the opposite direction is equally acceptable or even preferable, remains controversial. Although the issue has received much attention, the results of e...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | Afrikaans |
Published: |
Stellenbosch University
2014-12-01
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Series: | Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://spilplus.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/625 |
Summary: | The question of directionality, i.e. whether (simultaneous) interpreters should work only from
their second into their first language or whether the opposite direction is equally acceptable or
even preferable, remains controversial. Although the issue has received much attention, the
results of empirical studies are often conflicting, as evidence in support of both interpreting
directions has been put forward. It has hence been suggested that interpreting direction may
possibly be influenced by extralinguistic factors (Gile 2005). For the study reported on in this
article, an analysis is carried out of the success with which interpreters recreate the source
language speech’s cohesive relations in their target language rendition. The results demonstrate
that interpreting direction is not merely affected by at least one such variable, namely
interpreters’ familiarity with the context of the speech to be interpreted, but may in fact be
totally outweighed by this variable. |
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ISSN: | 1726-541X 2224-3380 |