外國英文口音對專業及學生口譯員辨識度及理解力之影響

Abstract

本研究旨在探討及比較專業與學生譯者對於有外國口音的英語談話之辨識度（intelligibility）及理解力(comprehensibility)異同。研究對象為5名專業譯者與10名學生譯者，針對美國口音與西班牙口音之講者發言進行跟述，並於跟述後接受理解力測驗及回溯訪談。數量與質性分析結果發現：(1) 兩組譯者因外國口音而造成的談話辨識度下降程度並無顯著差異。(2) 專業譯者在有外國口音時之理解力及產出均明顯表現優於學生譯者。(3) 據訪談資料顯示，專業譯者較能因應不同情況有效調整氣力分配及運用口譯技巧。(4) 此一差異性應係主要源自於專業譯者豐富實務經驗之累積。根據研究結果，在口譯技能習得上，學生譯者應有系統的因應不同口譯情境挑戰，有效整合及運用所學之口譯技巧。此外，口譯學校可促進專業及學生譯者之對話交流，以增進學生譯者對口譯工作實務之瞭解及所應具備及強化之技能。

This study investigates professional and trainee interpreters' intelligibility and comprehension of foreign-accented English speech in a simultaneous-interpreting like mode. Five professional interpreters (Group P) and ten trainee interpreters (Group T) who are Chinese A and English B were invited to perform shadowing tasks of three different source texts delivered by a native English (American) and nonnative English (Spanish) speaker. After the shadowing tasks, comprehension tests and retrospective interviews were conducted to verify participants' comprehension of the speech and elicit their perceptions of the process during the shadowing tasks and general comments on shadowing/interpreting for foreign-accented English speakers. The results of quantitative and qualitative analysis reveal that: a) Statistically speaking, trainees and professionals do not differ significantly in their intelligibility of a foreign-accented input. b) However, Group P performs significantly better than Group T in terms of comprehension and production under a foreign-accented speaker. c) According to retrospective interview results, Group P is more at ease with their effort management and can still efficiently utilize their interpreting skills despite encountering challenges. d) This difference may be mainly due to the accumulation of expert interpreters’ years of real work experiences. The results in this study suggest that trainee interpreters should engage in deliberate practice of coordinating their interpreting skills to meet different interpreting challenges, with foreign-accentedness being one of the problem triggers. Furthermore, schools of interpreting can facilitate more expert-novice dialogues to enable students to gain more knowledge and understanding of the actual working situation. This can also give them a better idea of which skills and competences they should focus on during their interpreting training.