Analysis and Countermeasures of Common Errors in Interpretation Examination

Analysis and Countermeasures of Common Errors in Interpretation Examination

As a means to test the interpretation ability of English lovers or related staff, the success or failure of interpretation test is influenced by many factors. The author has undertaken the work of intermediate English interpretation for many times, and made some summary and analysis on the interpretation errors caused by candidates for various reasons, which can be roughly summarized into two major factors: language and non-language. Taking the performance of the candidates in the previous interpretation test as an example (two English-Chinese translations, two Chinese-English translations, each divided into four paragraphs, *** 16, with a pause of about 15 seconds after each paragraph for the candidates to interpret), this paper analyzes the reasons for the candidates' mistakes and explains the enlightenment to the practice of interpretation teaching.

First, the language factor.

The mistranslation caused by linguistic factors comes from phonetics, semantics, syntax and discourse.

(A) listening to distinguish errors

Example 1: China's support is the source of our constant adventure in the pursuit of social and economic development goals? (? Support? Paragraph 1 .3)

Mistranslation: Some candidates mistake the word support for sports, and the goal behind it is naturally understood to be related to sports? Target? In this way, due to the wrong understanding of the subject of the sentence, the theme of the whole section is mistranslated.

Cause analysis: Because the original language is in the form of prefabricated standard phonetic materials, the language information input to candidates is basically not interfered by local accent. To a great extent, the reason for listening wrongly is that the examinee passively receives, that is, listens to words or sentences in isolation, without any context to provide clues, and pays too much attention to the language form of information. Is this an objection? Interpreters should actively monitor when receiving? That is to say, the interpreter pays great attention to the meaning of information when listening [1].

(B) the misunderstanding of the meaning of words

Thank you very much for your kind invitation to visit your great country. Although our two countries are geographically far apart, we have a lot in common. A kind invitation? Geographically far apart. There are many similarities. Paragraph 1. 1)

Thank you for your hospitality.

Although our two countries are not far apart geographically, I am very happy to visit your country. But we are still friendly neighbors.

Although our two countries are geographically far apart, our two peoples are very friendly.

Example 3:? I believe this visit will be beneficial. (? I'm sure this visit will be fruitful. Paragraph 1.4)

Mistranslation: beneficial, beneficial, helpful, beneficial and pleasant.

Example 4: In today's knowledge economy, there is no fixed and tested formula for success ... (In today's knowledge economy, there is no fixed and tested success model in any local field. ? Paragraph 2. 1)

Mistranslation 1: an economy-based society, a knowledge-based society and a rapidly changing society.

Mistranslation ②: None of the design exams succeeded.

Cause analysis: Semantic misunderstanding is the most common problem in English-Chinese translation. In the above example, candidates' mistranslated phrases are warmly invited, and the geographically distant parts have a lot in common, indicating that they are not proficient in the meaning of words, have not stored enough language plates that often appear in this style, or these plates are not activated and cannot be extracted in time;

Reward said? Useful, worthwhile, satisfying and gratifying? Most of the mistranslations of candidates are interfered by the meaning of noun rewards (reward, reward, reward), and the translation is too rigid, rigid in the dictionary meaning of words, with obvious traces of word correspondence, and the translation does not reflect the skills of choosing word meanings in dynamic background;

The structure of knowledge economy is similar to export-oriented economy, student-centered approach and service-based economy. Knowledge economy? . Besides not knowing the phrase with this structure, the reason why the examinee mistranslated it also shows that the knowledge reserve of Chinese is not rich enough, or it is not sensitive enough to some popular words. However, the mistranslation of the formula that has not been set and tested successfully is mainly due to misunderstanding the grammatical function of the tested word and the meaning of the word in this background, and not understanding that the test is used as a past participle to modify the formula, right? Have you confirmed it? Meaning, but based on another familiar meaning? A test, an exam? Translate this sentence into? Did you not succeed in the design exam? .

(C) the syntactic structure is misunderstood

As we are all developing countries with almost similar political and cultural exchanges, we welcome China's concern and understanding of the problems and positions of small countries and developing countries. As both developing countries, our political and cultural traditions are basically the same. Therefore, we welcome China's concern and understanding of the problems and positions of small countries and developing countries. ? Paragraph 1.2)

Many of us have traditionally had similar policies.

Mistranslation ②: As a developing country, China shows great interest in ethnic issues of small countries or vulnerable groups.

Cause analysis: There are great differences in syntax between English and Chinese. English sentences have distinct subject-predicate-object structures and strict grammatical requirements, while Chinese sentences are complex and changeable, which seems loose. English sentences pay attention to hypotaxis, and first construct the main frame with subject and predicate; Chinese sentences are juxtaposed, and the whole sentence is developed around the idea to be expressed [2]. In English, there are usually two forms of attributives related to subjects or objects: if the limited components of attributives are few words and belong to a fixed pattern of phrases or sentences, they usually take the form of prepositions; If there are many words in the attributive, and most of them belong to subject-predicate collocation, the postposition form is often used. Moreover, there are also classifications of post-forms, one is to use attributive clauses, and the other is to use various related means-infinitive verbs, participle phrases, prepositional phrases and so on. As for the adverbial component, whether it is preposition or postposition, it is in its position according to the need [3].

Candidates' understanding of sentences depends on their grasp of the subject-predicate-object structure of English sentences. In this long sentence, the subject-predicate-object structure is that we welcome interest and understanding and serve as an adverbial clause that leads to the reason. Preposition phrases with almost similar political and cultural transactions in clauses are postattributives of developing countries. In the main sentence, China's expression is also an attributive clause, which modifies the interest and understanding of the object, while adjusting the problems and positions of small countries and developing countries is a prepositional phrase, which is used as the attributive of interest and understanding because of its large number of words. Candidates are familiar with the analysis of various written sentence structures and sentence patterns, but without a solid grammatical foundation, they can't understand this fleeting long sentence discourse information well when they improvise. They only capture sporadic words and phrases, and they don't have a general understanding of the whole sentence structure, let alone do any grammatical analysis. It is not surprising that these mistranslations occurred after they were taken out of context.

(D) Discourse failure analysis

In today's knowledge-based economy, there is no established and tested formula for success anywhere. Generally speaking, I think our employees need enough flexibility to cope with frequent changes. Besides, we need to be able to create new opportunities for ourselves. In universities, teachers must improve students' innovative ability and enhance their confidence in bold dreams and taking risks. A university teacher needs to set an example and lead his students on the long road to academic achievement. In the process of development, students often don't know where the next step is. By suggesting a new way forward, teachers create a sense of adventure and allow students to catch a glimpse of the frontier of knowledge. This is where teaching and learning become exciting. (second paragraph)

Cause analysis: According to the relevance theory of Sperber and Wilson, the goal of human cognitive activities is always to get the maximum cognitive effect with the least investment in the cognitive process [4]. Explanations usually revolve around a theme. Due to time constraints, it is easier for interpreters to focus on the most relevant information. From linguistic aspects such as speech discrimination and grammatical analysis to initiating background hypothesis according to the theme, background and related knowledge of the source language, they are all seeking and realizing the correlation between background hypothesis and discourse itself, so as to achieve the purpose of correct understanding. However, if the interpreter associates the wrong prediction with what he has heard, it will lead to misunderstanding and deviation in information search.

The above analysis is the language factors that affect the candidates. In addition, many non-linguistic factors, such as test anxiety, physical noise and physiological noise, audience factors, cultural differences, memory and note-taking ability, encyclopedia knowledge of candidates and other comprehensive qualities also affect candidates' improvisation. Limited by space, this paper does not analyze them one by one, but focuses on the role of non-verbal factors in interpretation examination from three aspects: test anxiety, physical noise and physiological noise, and audience factors.

Second, non-linguistic factors.

(A) test anxiety

Ellis classified test anxiety as a part of situational anxiety [5]. Generally speaking,? Moderate anxiety? Will mobilize all kinds of positive factors of their own physiology and psychology to deal with emergencies, but what if? Excessive anxiety? Self-regulation will be out of control, the body and mind will be depressed or even completely disordered, and mistakes in perception, memory and thinking will occur, and inappropriate reactions will be made, which will affect the examination results. ? Excessive anxiety? Many candidates have stage fright during the exam. Afraid? Paying too much attention to personal expression leads to upset and translation errors, which are mainly manifested in two aspects: heavy ideological burden, lack of confidence, excessive tension and inattention. It can also be manifested in listening to the original text, because of poor memory and improper notes, the translated content is defective, resulting in unprepared on the spot. Does the lack of self-confidence make candidates passive or worried, or worry about insufficient vocabulary and incorrect expression, or will they get stuck in the translation process, leading to temporary brain problems? Blank? Translation in this state cannot guarantee continuity and correctness. Individual candidates are very nervous. They said that my name is being confirmed by personal information today. Unreasonable self-introduction, as well as the examinee's severe physiological reactions such as sweating, voice and body trembling.

(2) Physical noise and physiological noise

As a linguistic term, noise refers to? All annoying interference that occurs when transmitting information, which does not come from the information source [6]. Noise can be divided into physical noise (external interference, speaker failure, etc.). ), physiological noise (hearing impairment, fatigue, etc. ) and psychological noise (mentioned in the analysis of language factors). The strict work arrangement of interpretation test requires the examination room to minimize physical noise. However, individual examination rooms facing the street, computer-controlled class bell and passing vehicle noise from time to time will still have a certain impact on the already nervous candidates. The students who are seriously affected by physiological noise are mainly the candidates who are behind in each examination room. Waiting in the waiting room for a long time (about 18 candidates in each examination room, each taking an exam for 15 minutes) makes them physically and mentally tired, restless and exhausted in patience. In the examination room, you are slow to respond, lose concentration, forget what you said before, and encounter places that are difficult to hear, understand and express, and you are prone to mood swings or simply give up.

(C) the audience factor

Interpretation test is different from on-site interpretation, and its audience is not ordinary audience (people who appear in banquets, ceremonial celebrations, speech reports, publicity and promotion, etc.). ), professional audience (people who appear in large-scale international conferences, seminars, lectures, reports, negotiations, factories, laboratories and other places, including experts and scholars, enterprise executives, professional and technical personnel) or special audience (leading guests, bilingual audience or during the examination period) are prohibited from giving feedback on the candidates' performance in any way, but the two examiners should score each part of the candidates' performance in time. In such an interpretation atmosphere without any echo and feedback, it is difficult for candidates to correct their own translations, and they can only express them according to their personal understanding, which is very stressful.

The analysis of the above examples shows that both linguistic factors and non-linguistic factors will affect the candidates' improvisation in the process of interpretation examination, and the targeted analysis has the following enlightenment to interpretation teaching practice.

1. Consolidate the basic language skills and screen the teaching targets of interpretation.

Solid basic language skills are a prerequisite for successful interpretation. Interpretation courses in colleges and universities are generally offered at the senior stage of undergraduate courses. Theoretically, they have a good language foundation and have good language skills such as phonetic listening, grammatical level analysis, semantic and discourse analysis. However, in teaching practice, we find that there are great differences in intelligence level and language level among students who have not been screened. Moreover, individual students have no interest in interpretation and do not have other conditions for receiving interpretation training, which undoubtedly sets up congenital obstacles for the next study, and the result is not worth the candle [7]. The obvious reason why some candidates fail in the exam is that they do not have the basic quality and potential of interpreters.

2. Eliminate the interference of psychological noise and correctly identify the prediction questions.

Mastering the skills of topic identification directly affects the quality of interpretation. Help students to eliminate the influence of psychological noise, and train them to combine the internal and external knowledge related to various themes and backgrounds to predict what the original speaker will say, and apply these predicted information to listening comprehension, so as to filter and absorb the meaning of the dialogue. For example, a keynote speech can be used to train students to try to figure out the speaker's psychology through logical reasoning, sum up the speaker's thoughts and predict the content of the speech. In addition, extensive reading and familiarity with various styles are of great benefit to scientific prediction of themes.

3. The organic combination of brain notes can effectively reduce the memory burden.

In the process of interpretation, notes are necessary, but not unique. Without good mental memory, only notes are not enough. Therefore, it is always the basic principle to combine brain memory with notes in interpretation, with brain memory as the main part and notes as the supplement. Digital translation and proper nouns bring great information and memory burden to interpretation, so it is necessary to train students systematically and scientifically in teaching. Notes can focus on recording numbers and proper nouns, plus keywords, conjunctions, the first sentence and the last sentence. The recording is incomplete, because the interpretation notes are not shorthand and can be used for expression; There are not many notes, but it can activate passive memory when expressing. So, take notes in the most recognizable way, both in Chinese and English, which can arouse short-term memory. The purpose of recording is not to read the notes when expressing, but to make the notes play a prompting role [8].

4. Memorize a large number of fixed expressions and actively look for language intelligence plates.

Using language intelligence module to remember and sit in the right position is one of the ways of efficient and accurate interpretation. Skahan [9] mentioned in his book Cognitive Methods of Language Learning that many languages are based on redundant organizational memory systems. Moreover, speakers often need to avoid internal processing of clauses by using memorized language blocks (which require real-time processing). The use of language blocks in interpretation is to cross the bridge between bilinguals on the premise of acknowledging the differences between them, and to find the corresponding components of the target language and the source language, which appear in the form of words, phrases or sentences. Students are required to memorize a large number of language sections on weekdays, especially political comments, current affairs news, diplomatic reception and other specific contents, styles and idioms with repeated words and structures. When making sentences, these plates can be moved to their own positions according to grammatical rules. This can not only reduce the memory burden, but also enhance the predictability of the theme of the text, shorten the interpretation time and improve the efficiency and accuracy of interpretation.

5. Pay attention to psychological training and cultivate students' psychological quality.

Psychology in interpreting activities is closely related to environment, rest, physical condition, translation theme and preparation before translation. Teachers must attach great importance to the cultivation of students' psychological quality, so as to train students to perform language conversion fluently and accurately in the intense atmosphere of interpretation examination room or site. Help students get rid of ideological burdens, make full preparations before translation, ensure abundant energy, overcome psychological anxiety, correct examination motivation, build self-confidence, and cultivate the ability of resisting pressure and interference throughout interpretation teaching. Public speaking and interpretation simulation training are both effective training methods.

Interpretation is a highly stressful and creative mental work. Interpreters need to quickly analyze and integrate the information received from the source language and then express it in a fluent translation language. An example analysis of candidates' mistakes in interpretation examination can better serve interpretation training, improve interpretation quality and train more and better qualified interpreters.

;