講者手勢對英譯中同步口譯速度之影響

Abstract

許多研究探討過講者視覺訊號 (Visual Input from the Speaker, VIS) 對同步口譯的影響，但未有一致結論，這或許是因為不同情況下講者視覺訊號有所差異所致。本研究依據 Ekman 與 Friesen (1969) 之定義將講者視覺訊號範圍縮小到「實做性動作」(intrinsic kinetograph)，並依據 Gile 的氣力模型 (1995) 及相關文獻，假設實做性動作搭配英文相對動詞出現時，有助於縮短同步口譯時的反應時間 (Ear-Voice Span, EVS)。本研究分別以二十名專業口譯員為受試者進行實驗，並填寫問卷。研究結果顯示：一、特定或一般題材並未對反應時間造成顯著影響；二、實驗前半段看到實做性動作並未對後半段反應時間造成顯著影響；三、同一題材情況下，實做性動作並未對反應時間造成顯著影響；四、口譯員性別、年資亦未顯著影響反應時間。

然而受試者於開放式問卷中指出，實做性動作能否發揮效益取決於協調氣力(Coordination Effort)。此外，看到實做性動作的十五名受試者中有十一名認為該手勢有助於想出中文相對動詞。建議未來研究可進一步探索該類動作是否無助於想出中文相對動詞，亦或因協調氣力受到手勢干擾而抵銷其實際助益。Many studies have looked into the effects of visual input from the speaker (VIS) on simultaneous interpreting (SI) and no coherent conclusions could be drawn. This may be due to the variability of VIS in different contexts. This study narrows down the scope of VIS into only one kind of gesture, intrinsic kinetograph, based on Ekman and Friesen's (1969) definition and hypothesizes, using Gile's Effort Model (1995) and relevant literature, that this type of gesture, when matching English verbs, can help shorten the Ear-Voice Span (EVS) in SI. An experiment was conducted on 20 professional interpreters separately and questionnaires were filled out after the experiment. The results suggested that: 1) speech content types (general or specific topic) did not affect the EVS significantly; 2) seeing intrinsic kinetographs in the first half of the speech did not affect the EVS in the second half significantly; 3) the influence of intrinsic kinetographs on EVS was not statistically significant in either a general topic or a specific topic; 4) genders and years of interpreting experience did not affect the EVS significantly.

However, open-ended responses in the questionnaire seem to suggest that the benefits of intrinsic kinetographs are contingent on the Coordination Effort. Besides, eleven out of fifteen subjects (73%) who saw intrinsic kinetographs in the experiment rated the gesture as helpful in facilitating the thinking of Chinese corresponding verbs. Future studies are needed to corroborate whether intrinsic kinetographs do not help interpreters come up with Chinese corresponding verbs at all or whether they indeed help speed up searching for Chinese verbs but somehow the benefit is offset by the Coordination Effort.