Nicodemus Brenda, Emmorey Karen
Brenda Nicodemus, Department of Interpretation, Gallaudet University, 800 Florida Avenue NE, Washington, DC 20002, USA.
Karen Emmorey, Laboratory for Language and Cognitive Neuroscience, San Diego State University, 6495 Alvarado Road, #200, San Diego, California 92120 USA.
Interpreting (Amst). 2015;17(2):145-166. doi: 10.1075/intp.17.2.01nic.
Among spoken language interpreters, a long-standing question regarding directionality is whether interpretations are better when working into one's native language (L1) or into one's 'active' non-native language (L2). In contrast to studies that support working into L1, signed language interpreters report a preference for working into L2. Accordingly, we investigated whether signed language interpreters actually perform better when interpreting into their L2 (American Sign Language) or into their L1 (English). Interpretations by 30 interpreters (15 novice, 15 expert), delivered under experimental conditions, were assessed on accuracy (semantic content) and articulation quality (flow, speed, and prosody). For both measures, novices scored significantly better when interpreting into English (L1); experts were equally accurate, and showed similar articulation quality, in both directions. The results for the novice interpreters support the hypothesis that the difficulty of L2 production drives interpreting performance in relation to directionality. Findings also indicate a disconnect between direction preference and interpreting performance. Novices' perception of their ASL production ability may be distorted because they can default to fingerspelling and transcoding. Weakness in self-monitoring of signing may also lead novices to overrate their ASL skills. Interpreter educators should stress misperceptions of signing proficiency that arise from available, but inappropriate, strategies.
在口语口译员中，一个长期存在的关于口译方向的问题是，当译入母语（L1）还是译入“常用”非母语（L2）时，口译效果会更好。与支持译入L1的研究相反，手语口译员表示更倾向于译入L2。因此，我们调查了手语口译员在译入第二语言（美国手语）或母语（英语）时，实际表现是否更好。在实验条件下，对30名口译员（15名新手，15名专家）的口译进行了准确性（语义内容）和表达质量（流畅性、速度和韵律）评估。对于这两项指标，新手在译入英语（L1）时得分显著更高；专家在两个方向上的准确性相当，表达质量也相似。新手口译员的结果支持了这样一种假设，即第二语言产出的难度会影响口译表现与口译方向的关系。研究结果还表明，方向偏好与口译表现之间存在脱节。新手对手语产出能力的认知可能会被扭曲，因为他们可以默认使用手指拼写和转码。手语自我监控能力的薄弱也可能导致新手高估自己的手语技能。口译教育工作者应强调因现有但不适当的策略而产生的对手语熟练程度的误解。
