Translation interference and speech errors made by students in simultaneous interpreting in the B → A language combination

Abstract

Today, simultaneous interpreting is an integral part of international conferences, fora, negotiations and training programs. The specific character of simultaneous interpreting shows that one of the most significant reasons for interpreters’ mistakes is interlingual and translation interference. Interference and its pressure on the target language increase due to tight time constraints, a rapid pace of the speaker’s delivery and the interpreter’s mental strain which are all common with simultaneous interpreting. Interference influences all levels of the target language: phonetic, lexical, morphological, syntactic and stylistic. In order to find speech errors made by students during simultaneous interpreting (the B→A English­Russian language combination), we analyzed the interpreting records of 15 students at the Higher School of Translation and Interpreting of Lomonosov Moscow State University. The students in question interpreted two different speeches. Altogether 30 records were analyzed. Such analysis of speech errors is indispensable in order to reveal blind spots and find solutions to the aforementioned problems.

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