2023 Winter Research Program

Project title: 

How accurate is professional Mandarin/English interpreters' real-life telephone interpretations?

Project duration & delivery

4 weeks and applicants can work either on-site or remotely for the project, depending on their personal circumstances

Description:

This empirical research project has completed data collection and is now in the stage of analysing data and writing up findings. The applicants will mainly assist with analysing the accuracy of Mandarin/English telephone interpretation.

Background

Telephone interpreting is a particular type of remote interpreting, which has proved to be an essential language service during the COVID-19 pandemic. There are several different situations of telephone interpreting: first, an interpreter is face-to-face with one client (e.g., English speaker) but the other client (e.g., Mandarin speaker) is over the phone elsewhere; second, both clients are face-to-face in one place but the interpreter is working on the phone at another place; and third, all the three parties are remote and over the phone with the interpreter mediating the communication between the English speaker and the Mandarin speaker.

Salient advantages of telephone interpreting include but are not limited to (i) around-the-clock availability and easy access, (ii) more cost-effectiveness than on-site interpreting, (iii) saving time and travel for interpreters, and (iv) protection of clients' privacy and confidentiality in sensitive situations. Nevertheless, inherent challenges of telephone interpreting services include (i) no visual cues to facilitate mutual understanding or turn-taking, (ii) the three parties speaking at the same time, (iii) clients talking for a long time before pausing for the interpreter to start interpreting, (iv) clients having a lack of knowledge about how to work with interpreters effectively over the phone, among others.

The first telephone interpreting service in the world was established by the immigration department of the Australia government in 1973. However, partially due to the aforementioned challenges, it is still unclear if telephone interpreting is as effective as face-to-face interpreting. 

Aim

The primary goal of this study is to investigate the accuracy of meaning transfer in professional Mandarin/English interpreters' telephone interpretation.

Hypothesis

There are two hypotheses:

(i) Professional Mandarin/English interpreters' telephone interpretation is not always 100% accurate.

(ii) Factors such as the essential communicative goal and the absence of non-verbal cues influence the interpreters' accuracy of meaning transfer in telephone interpreting.

Methodology

Participants: 25 NAATI (National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters) Certified Interpreters (Mandarin/English) across Australia.

Tasks: Each participant voice-recorded 3-5 of their real-life telephone interpreting assignments. These assignments covered a wide range of topics such as utility bills, public housing, and police interview.

Data analysis: Each recording of telephone interpreting assignment has been verbatim transcribed. Data analysis will focus on assessing the accuracy of meaning transfer of the Mandarin/English telephone interpretation data. Specifically, correct renditions of source language messages will be identified, and unjustifiable omissions, unjustifiable additions, and unjustifiable substitutions will be detected. Detailed analysis of the interpretation errors and their contexts will be conducted to reveal potential reasons why interpreters made those errors.

Expected outcomes and deliverables:

Students who participate in this Winter Research Project will have first-hand experience with empirical research and thus enhance skills in the following areas:

1. Analysing the accuracy of Mandarin/English dialogue interpretation data,
2. Learning how to organise interpretation data and report findings in interpreting studies,
3. Broadening their knowledge about the nature, topics, and challenges of real-life telephone interpreting assignments,
4. Developing interest in conducting further research in interpreting and translation.

Moreover, at the end of the winter research program, students will be given an opportunity to give a short presentation to share their views on what they’ve learned from each other and from the supervisor within this research project.

No. of hours per week

36 hours/week

Suitable for:

This project is open to UQ students who have a background in Chinese language and culture and/or Chinese/English interpreting and translation. Ideal candidates would be current students in the MACTI (Master of Arts in Chinese Translation and Interpreting) program and MATI (Master of Arts in Translation and Interpreting) program at UQ who have completed at least one semester of interpreting training.

This project is for UQ enrolled students only.

Primary Supervisor:

Dr Jihong (Lily) WANG (j.wang7@uq.edu.au)

Further info:

The supervisor does not wish to be contacted by students prior to the submission of applications.