Consecutive Interpreting Article
Consecutive Interpreting Article
Consecutive Interpreting
Written by:
Herryono Soegiarto, S.Kom. (2104020029)
I Gusti Bagus Dharma (2104020006)
Elly Syafitri (2104020019)
COVER
ENGLISH LITERATURE STUDY PROGRAM
FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES
BUMIGORA UNIVERSITY
MATARAM
2024
FOREWORD
There are no words that describe my feelings except gratitude right now. For
that, I thank God for His grace, I was able to write this paper well. Even though I
encountered many obstacles, I was able to overcome them so that this research
report entitled "Consecutive Interpreting" could be completed on time.
I would like to thank all parties who are involved in the process of writing
this report. Apart from that, I am very grateful to my parents, and friends. They
have provided support and prayers so that I have more strength to complete this
paper.
I realize that this proposal still has many shortcomings. As a writer, I hope
readers can provide criticism so that subsequent writing will be much better. On
the other hand, I hope readers find new knowledge from this paper. Even though
this article is not completely good, I hope that readers can get some benefits from
it. Those are a few words from me. Thank You.
ii
TABLE OF CONTENT
COVER .................................................................................................................... i
FOREWORD .......................................................................................................... ii
TABLE OF CONTENT ......................................................................................... iii
CHAPTER I ............................................................................................................ 1
A. Background of the Study .......................................................................... 1
B. Problem of the Study ................................................................................ 2
C. Purpose of the Study................................................................................. 2
CHAPTER II ........................................................................................................... 3
A. Consecutive Interpreting .......................................................................... 3
1. Process of Consecutive Interpreting ..................................................... 3
2. Consecutive Interpretation Strategies ................................................... 4
B. Definition of Interpreting ......................................................................... 6
1. Interpreting Purposes/Goals .................................................................. 7
2. Types of Interpreting ............................................................................. 7
CHAPTER III ......................................................................................................... 9
A. Respondent ............................................................................................... 9
B. Data Analysis ............................................................................................ 9
1. Data Condensation ................................................................................ 9
2. Data Display ......................................................................................... 9
3. Drawing and Verifying Conclusion .................................................... 10
C. Findings and Discussion ......................................................................... 10
1. Findings .............................................................................................. 10
2. Discussion ........................................................................................... 10
CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................... 15
REFERENCES...................................................................................................... 16
iii
CHAPTER I
INRODUCTION
1
The demand for the interpreter is rising in modern society due to the
essential services that the interpreter provides to the community. The role of the
interpreter has expanded and their services are now imperative in fields such as
education, medicine, law, and business. Interpreting helps people in the process of
exchanging thoughts and information, not only for communication between two
people in different languages but also to deliver the information. The majority of
Interpreters work for professional and educational services, conference and event
settings, courtrooms, and hospitals.
The role of the interpreter is to help establish direct communication between
the professionals in education, social worker, healthcare professional, and lawyer
with the person who is limited English proficiency. For the communication to be
truly direct, the interpreter serves strictly as a communication conduit, always
interpreting in the first person. The interpreter’s code of ethics demands that an
interpreter should be accurate, impartial, and confident when delivering his or her
services.
2
CHAPTER II
DISCUSSION
A. Consecutive Interpreting
According to Santiago in Ferryanti (2017), successive interpreting is a type
of interpreting in which interpreters begin their interpretation of the complete
message after the speaker stops speaking in the original language. Additionally,
consecutive interpreting offers major benefits in some interpreting situations since
it conveys information that is more precise, roughly equal, and thorough.
Regarding the consecutive interpreting process, the interpreter was required to
carry out an overlapping sequence of cognitive operation tasks, including paying
attention to the message, concentrating on the task at hand, remembering the
message, comprehending its meaning, scrutinizing the message for meaning,
visualizing the message nonverbally, and finally creating the message in the target
language.
1. Process of Consecutive Interpreting
According to Ferryanti (2017) The interpreter begins the process of
consecutive interpreting by sitting or standing next to the speaker, listening and
taking notes as the speaker speaks. If the speaker pauses or stops speaking, the
interpreter will then deliver the entire message in the target language.
In this instance, the interpreter has a brief window of time to choose
equivalent phrases that have comparable meanings in both SL and TL before
sending the message to the hearer. To make it easier for him to convey the
information to the hearer (TL), the translators are able to choose to write down
notes on the key elements of the speaker's statements if the speaker (SL) pauses or
stops speaking while they wait. Furthermore, Saehu (2018, p. 57) separated the
processes of interpreting into three steps namely Pre-Interpreting, Whilst
Interpreting, and Post Interpreting.
Pre-interpreting includes contract signing, interpreters' preparation relevant
to the topic to be interpreted, and a briefing with the speaker and/or organizer.
Furthermore, the primary task involved in interpreting is interpretation. It includes
the interpreter's demeanor, such as maintaining eye contact with the audience,
acknowledging their life skills, such as their capacity to evaluate discourse based
3
on their experience and education, and maintaining the consistency of their sound
production. Note-taking technique is also covered in While Interpreting. It is
advised that the interpreter maintain professionalism and confidentiality during
the post-interpretation activity. In order to improve their skills and assess their
efficacy after interpreting, interpreters may also be encouraged to engage in self-
reflection.
2. Consecutive Interpretation Strategies
This study used Faerach and Kasper's (1983) theory of sequential
interpretive strategies. Faerach and Kasper (1983) pointed out that when
interpreting a continuous process, strategies and tricks that underpin how the
process is communicated should be supported. He agrees with Ribas (2012) that
professional interpreters need to develop strategies or tactics to deal with some
issues. Gile (1995) said that strategies in interpreting address issues such as
cognitive processing and interlingual and intercultural communication in
interpreting. This strategy helps interpreters manage the language they produce so
that it comes across correctly to the audience.
Furthermore, interpreting a new language is difficult because the interpreter
has to translate the native language into the new language. Interference between
first and second language systems is also problematic. For example, Gile (1995)
suggests that interpreters should understand the difficulties of interpreting cases
such as memory effort, production effort, listening and analysis effort, and
adjustment effort. He pointed out that we must have an effort model. Based on
Kuswoyo & Rido (2019), for non-native English speakers like Indonesians,
listening is one of the skills that needs to be mastered, as listening is often
problematic.
a. Reduction Strategy
According to Faerach & Kasper (1983), a reduction strategy is one that
changes the goal while maintaining the received message or leaving the message
uninterrupted. Commonly, the use of reduction strategies includes in message
cancellation, skipping, incomplete sentences, and filtering.
4
1) Message Abandonment
Based on Tarone (1981), Message abandonment is a strategy that leaves a
message incomplete due to language issues. This refers to cases in which the
interpreter abandons an entire utterance and moves on to interpreting the next
utterance, or attempts to interpret but immediately stops.
2) Skipping
Skipping is a strategy in which an interpreter avoids or skips individual
words or groups of words. This is vocabulary simplification that attempts to
express meaning while avoiding certain lexical items. According to Faerch &
Kasper (1983), avoidance applies to different levels of appropriateness in different
situations. This is most suitable for speakers who know what is being avoided
(skipped), but least suitable for translators whose avoidance stems from gaps in
the target language's vocabulary.
3) Incomplete Sentence
Incomplete sentence strategies are used when interpreters omit large
portions of text in the target language. In this strategy, the interpreter attempts to
interpret but stops mid-sentence (Faerach & Kasper, 1983). In other words, the
interpreter performs thinning of the source language due to some factor. The use
of incomplete sentences is different from the skipping strategy. In the case of an
incomplete sentence, the interpreter interprets the entire word but does not
complete the utterance.
4) Filtering
Filtering strategy is a type of summary that appears in longer utterances. In
contrast to the skipping strategy, with filtering, the interpreter compresses the
length of the utterance to find an economical way to express it, but on the other
hand, the interpreter selects the things that are important, and uses it as his own. It
tries to preserve semantic content by finding ways to combine it with expressions.
b. Achievement Strategy
Achievement strategy is to keep the goal constant by not developing the
message but maintaining meaning to gain the goal of interpretation. Faerach and
Kasper (1983) said that achievement strategies can be divided into two tricks such
as asking for help and careful strategy.
5
1) Appeal for Assistance
Appeal for assistance is defined by Faerch and Kasper (1983) as the concept
of asking for help when encountering difficulties during communication. From a
strategy perspective, this strategy is often used when there are many of difficult
words that is hard to find the equivalent in the language being reproduced.
Therefore, interpreter need support from dictionary, speakers of the source
language, or an audience that understands both the source and target languages,
search for the appropriate lexical item.
2) Elaboration
According to Ghaemi & Benyamin (2010), elaboration or expansion is used
when the original text or source language requires additional explanation in
translation due to cultural nuances that are not available in the target language. In
this strategy, the interpreter improves the understanding of the message when it is
difficult to translate the meaning in the source language into the target language.
This is used by the interpreter to explain or add further information to make the
utterance easier to understand in the target language.
B. Definition of Interpreting
Interpretation is a way of explaining something. However, interpretation is
not only explanation; this explanation also includes explanation and
understanding. Interpreters also play an important role in daily life. Interpreting
can help minimize misunderstandings and misunderstandings. We can interpret it
in many ways: verbally, in writing, and in action.
Interpretation includes communication by voice or sign language. Widely
used by users of different languages. An interpreter or sign language interpreter
must quickly and carefully translate not only the meaning of the original message,
but also the tone and intent into the target or interpreted language. Gentile,
Ozolins, and Vasilakakos (1996) stated that interpreting is the oral communication
of messages between speakers of different languages. Interpreting is the oral
transmission of a message from a source language to a target language.
At first glance, the difference between translation and interpretation lies in
the medium of each service. Interpreters translate spoken language orally, and
6
translators translate written language. There are also similarities between these
two professions including Deep cultural and linguistic understanding, subject
matter expertise, and clear communication skills.
1. Interpreting Purposes/Goals
The first goal of interpreting is to improve understanding. The word
interpretation is interpreted to explain objects that are still unclear. Therefore,
through interpretation, discrepancies in meaning and semantics can be minimized.
The second purpose of interpretation is to facilitate the use of data. When
interpreting, the analysis takes place in the explanation. And this analysis can only
be done if the data can be found and used correctly. In this way, since the evidence
itself is data, interpretation can facilitate the emergence of logical explanations.
After all, the purpose of interpretation is not only to explain something, but
also to minimize the occurrence of misunderstandings of something. This is
consistent with the meaning of interpretation, the art of explaining and explaining
something.
2. Types of Interpreting
Based on the mode in which the interpretation takes place, a distinction is
made between simultaneous, consecutive, whispered, and visual interpretation.
During simultaneous interpretation, the interpreter listens to the audio through
headphones and speaks the interpreted words into a microphone. Once the
interpreter understands the general meaning of the statement, he or she begins to
interpret it.
In consecutive interpretation, the interpreter speaks briefly and then takes a
break of at least 5 minutes. The interpreter takes notes during the break and then
continues communication. Moreover, an important skill required for consecutive
interpreting is note-taking.
Whispered interpretation is a type of simultaneous interpretation in which
an interpreter whispers to a small group of people at the same time. This type of
interpretation often occurs when some listeners do not speak the source language.
7
Weber (1984, p. 3) suggests that interpreting can occur simultaneously (as
the speech is being delivered) or sequentially (after the speaker has finished some
or all of the speech). Additionally, Weber (1984, p. 3) points out visual translation.
This type of interpretation allows the interpreter to move from written media (text)
to oral media (interpretation).
Similar to Weber, Pochhacker (2004, pp. 18-20) mentions three general
modes of interpretation. Consecutive interpreting (usually with notes taken),
simultaneous interpreting (using simultaneous interpreting equipment in a
soundproof booth), and whisper interpreting (only when the interpreter speaks in a
quiet voice right next to the listener). In contrast to Weber, Pocchacker counts
visual translation as a special form of simultaneous interpretation, since it
involves the visual reproduction of a written text.
8
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Respondent
Considering the study limitations and accessibility, the respondents used in
this article are a group using focus group discussion technique. A focus group
discussion, based on Astridya Paramita and Lusi Kristiana's (2013), is a discussion
aimed at obtaining information about participants' aspirations, needs, perspectives,
beliefs, and experiences about a topic, under the guidance of a moderator or
facilitator. Furthermore, according to Yati Afiyanti (2008), the focus group
discussion method, like other data collection methods, is a data collection research
method that provides data where the end result is the result of a series of
interactions involved in the study.
B. Data Analysis
Data analysis is a process to take information that assists the researchers to
answer the research question. In this process, the researchers employed data
analysis stages advocated by Miles and Huberman (2014) as below:
1. Data Condensation
The first step in data analysis is data condensation. This is the process of
converting, honing, and selecting from a number of essays into one-page
interview transcript. The initial interview was recorded and edited, and then used
to provide verbal guidance to learn about sequential interpretation processes.
9
2. Data Display
During this phase, the researchers presented a visual presentation that
provided the procedures for analyzing the study results in an organized manner.
This also helps researchers reach final conclusions and make all reasonable efforts.
3. Drawing and Verifying Conclusion
During this stage, researchers restate the main arguments to remind readers
of the most important points related to the research object.
C. Findings and Discussion
1. Findings
This study discussed the consecutive interpreting strategies used by a group
of people from English into Indonesian on a short meeting. The data were
analyzed and interpreted based on Faerch and Kasper (1983) theory. The
descriptive qualitative was conducted to elaborate on the kinds of consecutive
interpreting strategies.
2. Discussion
a. Reduction Strategy
Using the reduction strategy, the interpreter focuses only on the main
information without conveying its full meaning. It reveals the topics, main points,
and important details that need to be communicated. This result indicates that this
group of performers used mitigation strategies. Words and phrases are ignored and
sentences containing proverbs, idioms or incomplete sentences are filtered out by
reducing the utterance structure. But message cancellation is not found.
10
1) Skipping
Skipping strategy is used when interpreters encounter difficult words in a
speaker's utterances. Therefore, to avoid misunderstandings, interpreters skip the
words that are irrelevant to their contextual meaning. According to Faerch &
Kasper, 1983, as long as the contextual meaning is preserved from the source
language to the target language, the interpreter may miss one or two words or
phrases and, as a result, the structure of the utterance may not be complete by
skipping. Thus, the interpreter wants to preserve the main message conveyed by
the speaker in the source language.
However, this strategy directly affects the meaning expressed in SL. As
explained in the previous section, a skipping strategy is the reduction of one or
two words in an utterance. This is often used when an SL speaker is having
difficulty continuing another message and the interpreter is trying to understand
what the speaker is saying by skipping over it. Therefore, this strategy allows for
sequential interpretation. For better understanding, here is an example data:
Data 1
Speaker Utterances
SL (English) It's not bad, what do you think Mr. Herry?
TL (Indonesian) Bagaimana menurutmu Pak Herry?
Data 1 shows that the case of skipping happened in the source language for
phrase It's not bad, since this phrase was not translated into target language by the
interpreter. The target language only showed the main point message without
transferring completely the meaning of it’s not bad in the target language. In other
word, the interpreter skipped the phrase It's not bad and only transferred the
source language of what do you think Mr. Herry? By doing so, the interpreter
expected that the audiences have understood the context of this dialogue.
Therefore, reducing the phrase It's not bad does not influence the information that
wanted to be delivered by the speaker. The speaker in the source language uttered
the phrase It's not bad only to give feedback or consecutive response toward the
question. Furthermore, it can be seen from the case that the skipping strategy is
used by omitting one or more words or phrases typically for the words or phrases
having less lexical meaning.
11
Data 2
Speaker Utterances
SL (English) Exactly, I’m with you.
TL (Indonesian) Aku setuju denganmu
Data 2 shows that the case of skipping happened in the source language for
word exactly. The target language only showed the main point message without
transferring completely the meaning of exactly in the target language. In other
word, the interpreter skipped the word exactly and only transferred the source
language of I’m with you. By doing so, the interpreter expected that the audiences
have understood the context of this dialogue. Therefore, reducing the word
Exactly does not influence the information that wanted to be delivered by the
speaker. The speaker in the source language uttered the phrase Exactly only to
give feedback or consecutive response. Furthermore, it can be seen from the case
that the skipping strategy is used by omitting one or more words or phrases
typically for the words or phrases having less lexical meaning.
2) Incomplete Sentence
The incomplete sentence strategy occurs when the interpreter is faced with
long sentences from the speaker. So, to preserve the meaning of the message, the
translator turned it into an incomplete sentence. This can be seen from the
structure or element used in the statement. Here is the example data:
Data 3
Speaker Utterances
SL (English) I agree with that, but for the budget price is too expensive, isn’t
it?
TL (Indonesian) Iya saya setuju, tapi untuk biayanya cukup mahal ya.
In data 3, the case of incomplete sentence occurred in the phrase I agree
with that, and isn’t it? It makes the structure of the sentence to be an incomplete
sentence because of the reduction of the main pattern of the sentence. It could
occur, when the interpreter only focused on the important information without
obeying the grammatical construction of the sentence that uttered orally by the
12
speaker. It is because speakers and audiences have understood each other in the
context of communication. So, the incomplete sentence strategy that was done by
the interpreter did not make an influence on other main meaning of the sentence.
In this case, the interpreter omitted a large unit or element in the sentence
structure, then rendering only the action seen in the utterance. This strategy occurs
because the interpreter needed to keep the main point of the text, but still in the
contextual meaning.
3) Filtering
The filtering strategy is used when the interpreter only takes into account
the important points of the text that the speaker said without paying attention to
the grammatical structure of the sentences in the utterance, so it is like
summarizing the text in sentences but only convey the meaning of the sentence.
main point on target. language (Faerach and Kasper, 1983). Such a strategy is
used by summarizing the spoken messages in long statements without interrupting
the meaning as it retains the contextual meaning. So, the goal of filtering itself is
to create effective sentences using words from SL to TL. To better understand how
to use this strategy in a sequential strategy, the following examples have been
given below.
Data 4
Speaker Utterances
SL (English) I’m in complete agreement.
13
b. Achievement Strategy
According to Faerch & Kasper, 1983, this strategy is different from the
mitigation strategy. To achieve the goal of meaning in the target language, this
strategy can be used by elaboration or calling for other help, but this only happens
when difficult conditions are encountered such as a very difficult word like jargon
or another unknown registered word by the interpreter. Both strategies are usually
only used to find difficult words. Then, the translator tries to use difficult words to
express the meaning clearly in the TL. This strategy considers modulation because
it can change the position of the sentence structure.
1) Elaboration
Elaboration is like expanding the vocabulary of the speaker's pronunciation,
but in elaboration, the interpreter cannot go outside the context of the text,
meaning they cannot break the meaning of the text. This strategy often occurs
when interpreting rhetorical words, which can be explained by a long explanation
using many different vocabulary words. To gain a deeper understanding of how
interpreters use this strategy during consecutive interpreting, the following data
examples are given below.
Data 5
Speaker Utterances
SL (English) Ok… is there more needs to be discussed?
TL (Indonesian) Oke… apakah masih ada yang perlu atau harus
dibicarakan?
The interpreter in data 5 used the elaboration strategy. It can be seen from
the result of meaning in the target language when the speaker uttered the word
needs, the interpreter interpreted the word by using a synonym that giving another
lexical meaning of the word need to be harus. In that case, the word need is not
difficult but it indicates the general word. However, the interpreter used the
elaboration strategy to that word because the interpreter tried to find out the most
acceptable meaning that has related to the context of that communication.
14
CONCLUSION
15
REFERENCES
16
Tarone, E. 1981. Some thoughts on the notion of communication strategy. TESOL
Quarterly, 15(3), 285-295.
17