Short—term Memory Training in Business English Interpreting

Liu Hong Wang Yingdan

【Abstract】This paper starts from the introduction of short-term memory （STM） in interpreting process， analyzes its working mechanism and suggests some memory training methods to improve short-term memory in business English interpreting， with an aim to further sharpen the interpreting skills for business English interpreters.

【Key words】business English interpreting； short-term memory； memory training

【作者簡(jiǎn)介】Liu Hong， Wang Yingdan， Dalian University of Finance and Economic.

I. Introduction

Interpreting is an oral bridge for the gap between people who speak different languages and plays a critical role in international business communication. Mahmoodzadeh （1992） offers a detailed definition： Interpreting consists of presenting in the target language， the exact meaning of what is uttered in the source language either simultaneously or consecutively， preserving the tone of the speaker. Interpreting is also a mental activity. Gile （1995） emphasizes that “the memory effort is assumed to stem from the need to store the words of a proposition unit the hearer receives the end of that proposition”. As a special language processing activity， interpreting and translation are very different activities. Due to the instantaneous characteristics of the interpreting information， interpreters may not have the opportunity to repeatedly understand the original information； rather， they may have to listen to the information once and for all with the help of notes， even without any external assistance， to complete a series of processing tasks of inputting， encoding， retaining and recalling of information. In this way， the role of short-term memory is particularly important in the storage and processing of information in business English interpretation.

II. Short-term Memory

Memory is normally divided into three types： sensory memory （SM）， short-term memory （STM）， and long-term memory （LTM）. In his Effort Models， Gile （1991） proposes two phases for the interpreting， showing the difficulties and efforts involved in interpreting tasks and strategies needed to overcome them. STM is listed in the phase one as an essential part in the process of interpreting. Zhong （2003） argues that “the idea of STM simply means that you are retaining information for a short period of time without creating the neural mechanisms for later recall”. Therefore， STM should act as a working memory （WM）， which is defined by Baddeley （1986） as “temporary storage of information that is being processed”. So STM can also be called working memory.

Compared with sensory memory and long term memory， one of the characteristics of short-term memory is that the information is stored for a rather short time， typically 20 seconds. However， if much attention is taken， the information can be held much longer than 20 seconds in short-term memory. Another feature of short-term memory is the limited memory capacity. American psychologist Miller （1956） thinks the memory capacity is variable and can be measured by a variable， called a unit of memory， or a chunk. Miller claims that the information capacity of short-term memory consists 7±2 chunks， which is relatively constant. Many factors affect the breadth of short-term memory. The size， complexity and familiarity of chunks can affect the capacity of short-term memory. As chunk complexity increases， short-term memory capacity tends to decrease gradually. The short-term memory capacity of high-frequency words is larger than low-frequency words. The complexity has a significantly negative correlation with memory retention. Short-term memory capacity is also influenced by ones knowledge and experience.

III. Role of Short-term Memory in Interpretation

As a verbal communication with the purpose of information transmission， interpreter must be faithful and effective to transmit the information expressed by the speaker to the target audience in the target language within a limited time. Gile （1995） defines the interpreting as the process of coordination of three basic tasks： listening comprehension and analysis， short-term memory and translation output. Of these three tasks， short-term memory is particularly important. During the process of interpretation， short-term memory first directly accepts the original information after sensory screening. Not all sensory information can enter the short-term memory， and only part of it can enter into the short-term memory to be processed meaningfully if it is noticed or perceived. And within the duration of short-term memory， if the information can not be fully input， they are forgotten before they are organized. The effect depends on the recipients interest， purpose and expectation of the information material and the level of familiarity with the information material. Interest in speech material can proactively activate existing knowledge and experience in memory， while purpose and expectations promote the effectiveness of this activation process； having a level of familiarity with the information can also provide direct help. The nature of the task of interpreting determines that the interpreter is “intentionally” listening and understanding in the process. At the time of speech comprehension， the stronger the interpreters purpose and direction are， the faster the derivation and analyses of information are. The stronger the motivation of the interpreter， the better understanding of the original information and the better organization of the interpreter are， and the more satisfactory the memory effect will be. Due to its limited capacity， short-term memory enables interpreters to subconsciously filter and select the original material for further processing， thus avoiding excessive memory burden.

To better retain the information， short-term memory conducts further processing of the information entered. There are many cognitive processing strategies for short-term memory， including rehearsal strategy， chunk strategy and organizational strategy. The rehearsal strategy refers to the use of internal language in the brain to reproduce learning materials or information stimulus， in order to maintain the attention of learning materials and keep it in short-term memory. The memory volume of information stimulus is proportional to the frequency of repetition of the message. In interpretation， short-term memory is not a simple recitation of information because interpretation is the transmission and expression of the meaning and thought of original information， not the mechanical memory and reproduction of source language information. In essence， it is based on the understanding of source language with memorizing and processing of main idea and key words. The use of chunking strategy can increase the information load on individual unit， thereby expanding the short-term memory capacity. Generally speaking， interpreters can hardly memorize every word in the brain in full sequence after listening to a passage， nor can they write all content down in shorthand. The memory of interpreters follows the meaning of discourse. The reorganization of information in units of discourse meaning or textual meaning greatly increases the capacity of short-term memory. Organizational strategy refers to the memory of materials is categorized into a variety of topics or reorganized into other forms according to different meanings. Through a certain means of retrieval， the previously stored knowledge of the type and subject of discourse reserved for the discourse is extracted from the long-term memory， and the two are combined to process and store the discourse information. Qualified interpreters should have memories that include discourse mode knowledge， situational knowledge and encyclopedic knowledge. Therefore， short-term memory plays a vital role in interpretation. In fact， short-term memory ability should be trained as one of the specific skills in the early stages of interpreting training practice.

IV. Training Methods of Short-term Memory in Business English Interpreting

The study of short-term memory provides a strong theoretical basis for improving the memory of interpreting training. Short-term memory can be trained， and after effective training， short-term memory capacity can be greatly improved. Therefore， the training of short-term memory should be an important part in business English Interpreting.

1.Logical Analysis Exercise

Logic analysis in interpretation refers to the vertical and horizontal analysis of the speech. Vertical analysis is to distinguish the key information and auxiliary information， with an aim to find the logical levels； horizontal analysis is to clarify the logical relationship among the various kinds of information. Logical analysis exercise requires trainees to conduct the logical analysis of the information while listening. After listening， trainees are supposed to summarize the main idea of the speech， describing the main body of the original text and logical relationship. The purpose of the exercise is to practice logical thinking. Under the premise of understanding， trainees can better grasp the logical relationship of information， make the information regular and orderly， and combine the information into larger units to increase the capacity of short-term memory. In practice， trainees should not only find logical clues， but also find keywords， so the content of memory has become the main meaning of speech and interrelated memories. In the stage of interpretation output， as long as the logic clues and keywords are used to activate related information according to the logical relationship， all the main information can be recovered to complete the interpretation. The texts of analysis， argumentation and reasoning are most suitable for cultivating trainees logical thinking ability. The improvement of logical thinking ability has a great benefit in helping memory.

2.Shadowing Exercise

Shadowing exercise is also called source language or monolingual repetition exercise by using the same language with almost simultaneous reading speakers speech or pre-recorded business news recording， conference materials and so on. The purpose of the exercise is to enable trainees to maintain a high degree of attention and develop the ability of distributing their attention. The literature on shadowing exercise shows that it is closely related to the concentration on listening comprehension and attention. At the same time， trainees need to complete a variety of tasks such as listening， memorizing and repeating in the practice， which helps to improve the ability to properly distribute attention and coordinate various tasks. When doing a shadowing exercise， trainees can start with the native speakers materials and start synchronizing with the speech. After a period of practice， trainees can lag behind the original sentence by about half of or a full sentence. After reading a 5-8 minute length of speeches or news， trainees should be able to outline the main contents of the source language. After a period of shadowing practice， the materials to be read should also be changed from the mother tongue to target language. The way of practice should also be changed from the complete repetition of all the words to the summary and review of the speech. Shadowing exercise can alleviate the memory burden of interpreters， leaving more energy for the listening comprehension and the organization of target language.

3.Source Language Summary Exercise

The source language summary exercise is a continuation of the shadowing exercise. After shadowing a speech in source language， trainees are supposed to summarize the core idea of the content without the help of notes. At the beginning of such exercises， the interval can be relatively short， only requiring students to summarize the main idea of the speech. After a period of such practice the interval can be gradually increased and the accuracy of the details will also be required to pay attention to. The purpose of the source language summary exercise is to cultivate the habit of speaking and thinking while listening to enhance both short-term memory and attention distribution ability.

V. Conclusion

Interpreting is a demanding job that has extremely high requirements on the Interpreters ability of bilingual Interpretation， memory and psychology. The short-term memory training in interpreting is just one part of whole training system. This article analyzes the nature and characteristics of short-term memory system and its role in the process of interpretation， and introduces some training methods of short-term memory in interpretation， hoping to help trainees build solid foundation in interpreting， so as to further sharpen the interpreting skills for business English interpreters.

References：

[1]Miller G.A.，The Magical Number Seven，Plus or Minus Two，Some Limits on Our Capacity of Processing Information，The Psychological Review，1956.

[2]Baddeley，AD.，Working memory，Oxford，Oxford University Press， 1986.

[3]Mahmoodzadeh K.，Consecutive Interpreting，Its Principles and Techniques Teaching Translation and Interpreting.Amsterdam，Philadephia，John Benjamins Company，1992.

[4]Gile，D.，Basic Concepts and Models for Interpreter and Translator Training，Amsterdam & Philadelphia：John Benjamins，1995.

[5]Zhong，W.，Memory Training in Interpreting，Translation Journal and the Author，http：//www.accurapid.com/journal/25interpret.htm，2003.