Basic Study for Semantic Constraints and Inference in Consecutive Interpreting

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K21303
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Foreign language education; Linguistics
• Research Institution: Osaka Electro-Communication University (2017-2018); Okayama Prefectural University (2015-2016)
• Principal Investigator: Minamitsu Yoshihiro 大阪電気通信大学, 共通教育機構, 准教授 (70616292)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 逐次通訳 / 推論操作 / 語用論的制約

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research aims to see what kind of semantic and pragmatic constraints should be imposed to inference in human language processing by using a consecutive interpreting with note-taking. The research conducted an experiment in which 9 professional conference interpreters with over 10 years of their experiences did consecutive interpreting between English and Japanese. The research also conducted speaking practices using the consecutive interpreter's note-taking method for students who learn to make monologue speeches. Then the study analysed at what stage interpreters and speakers did the pragmatic processing, including saturation and free enrichment. As a result, it became clear that the stage of processing depends on whether the pragmatic processing is restricted by lexical concept or not.

Free Research Field

通訳学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では、発話解析においてsaturationやfree enrichmentなどの語用論的処理がどの段階で行われているのか、プロセスを分析した。これまで理論的な検証が行われているが、実際のプロセスを検証された研究はまだ数が少ない。本研究が用いたのはノートテーキング付きの逐次通訳である。通訳とは原発言者の意図をそのまま伝えることが求められる。その中でノートテーキングは、通訳者の発話処理と訳出プランの双方を可視化させるものであり、これまで触れられてこなかった言語処理のプロセス分析の一部を解明することに可能にするものである。