Simultaneous interpreters’ gestures as a window on conceptual alignment
Terry Janzen, Lorraine Leeson & Barbara Shaffer
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Title
Simultaneous interpreters’ gestures as a window on conceptual alignment
Abstract
In this qualitative study we examine relationships between gestural alignment and conceptual alignment between speakers’ source texts and simultaneous interpreters’ target texts. We find that interpreters’ gestures provide a window into their conceptualizations of source text elements, but also that gestural-conceptualization relationships are complex. We report on spoken-to-spoken language data, taken from a larger study, where interpreters interpreted from English to French, Spanish, Navajo, and Ukrainian. Each interpreter was video-recorded interpreting two English texts into their target language, followed by a video-recorded Stimulated Recall where they discussed whether their visualizations of the source text aided in how they understood the text. We find evidence of multi-level cognitive blends, where the interpreter’s own subjective experiences blend with their assessment of the speaker’s viewpoint, rather than the interpreter fully assuming the speaker’s viewpoint. The data reveal instances of gestural alignment and corresponding conceptual alignment, gestural and conceptual non-alignment, and less-clear cases that suggest a complex relationship between gesturing and conceptualization. As a result, we propose a typology of gestural and conceptualization alignment/non-alignment in the interpreters’ target texts
Keywords
Conceptual alignment, gestural alignment, visualization, subjectivity, simultaneous interpreting