Speech and Gesture in the Booth – A Descriptive Approach to Multimodality in Simultaneous Interpreting

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2009

Authors

Galvão, Elena (Author) FLUP

Journal

Title: Translation and the (Trans)formation of Identities, Selected Papers of the CETRA Research Seminar in Translation Studies 2008.

ISSN: http://www.kuleuven.

Publisher: Centre for Translation Studies, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

Scientific classification

FOS: Humanities > Languages and Literature

CORDIS: Humanities > language sciences > Linguistics

Other information

Resumo (PT): Starting from the observation that speech and gesture constitute one system, this paper proposes an approach to the analysis of spontaneous co-verbal gestures in a very communicative situation: simultaneous interpreting. Its main objective is to demonstrate how a descriptive approach can be devised and implemented to compare a speaker’s verbal and non-verbal modalities to his/her simultaneous interpreter’s verbal and non-verbal modalities. The paper presents a brief overview of the major studies on non-verbal communication and interpreting and illustrates the methodology proposed through examples from a case study. It concludes that this methodology, used within a carefully planned research design, could help researchers find possible answers to questions related to interpreters’ use of the gestural medium while interpreting in the simultaneous mode.

Abstract (EN): Abstract Starting from the observation that speech and gesture constitute one system, this paper proposes an approach to the analysis of spontaneous co-verbal gestures in a very communicative situation: simultaneous interpreting. Its main objective is to demonstrate how a descriptive approach can be devised and implemented to compare a speaker’s verbal and non-verbal modalities to his/her simultaneous interpreter’s verbal and non-verbal modalities. The paper presents a brief overview of the major studies on non-verbal communication and interpreting and illustrates the methodology proposed through examples from a case study. It concludes that this methodology, used within a carefully planned research design, could help researchers find possible answers to questions related to interpreters’ use of the gestural medium while interpreting in the simultaneous mode.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific