口譯員專業背景對表現與策略之影響:以法律領域為例

Abstract

過去研究發現，許多隸屬專業領域的企業或是客戶偏好使用具有相關專業知識的 人員負責口譯，然而口譯亦是一種專業，對於未曾受過口譯訓練的人員而言，擔 任口譯實屬不易。本研究旨在比較口譯員的專業背景如何影響口譯的表現及策 略，實驗材料為一篇法律相關的演講與一篇一般性質的演講，方法則是針對兩篇 演講進行逐步口譯，實驗對象為兩位具有口譯經驗的法律專家與兩位非法律背景 的專業口譯員。本研究也請二十位法律系的學生聆聽兩組實驗對象的口譯產出， 進行比較後發現其中十七位偏好專業口譯員的版本。此外，藉由分析兩組的口譯 產出品質與專業知識的應用，結果發現專業口譯員的產出品質相對較好，不僅正 確度及流利度較高，也較少添加錯誤資訊。因兩位法律專家均表示逐步口譯的段 落過長，無法有效記筆記，研究結果反映口譯專業訓練頗有價值，並且顯示專業 口譯員的產出不只品質較佳，也更加受到觀眾認可。

Past studies have shown that companies or clients, particularly those in a professional field, highly value background knowledge and would often hire an individual with related expertise to interpret for them. However, interpreting is also a profession requiring expertise, and is not an easy task for those without interpreting training. The present study examines how two different groups of interpreters perform when interpreting a speech of a professional domain—law. The data were collected from two participants with a master’s in law and who regularly interpret in the market, and two participants with a master’s in conference interpreting and who have some experience interpreting legal matters. The four participants were asked to interpret a speech of a legal nature and a speech of a general topic in the consecutive mode to compare their performance and use of strategies. Finally, a group of listeners were invited to rate the interpreters and were asked to select their preference. Results revealed that professional interpreters were able to produce an interpretation with higher accuracy and fewer erroneous additions and disfluencies. As well, seventeen of the twenty listeners preferred the professional interpreter over the legal expert. This was mainly because professional interpreters were able to make use of skills acquired in interpreting training, such as note-taking and generalization. Furthermore, skills such as delivering their interpretation fluently and concisely were also appreciated by listeners. Thus, results suggest that even if the speech is of a technical subject, professional interpreters possess an advantage if they are given adequate time to prepare.