language and renders it orally, consecutively or simultaneously, in the target language.
” To gain more specific definitions of interpreting, it is needed to bring the
definitions into further explanations covering various types of interpreting.
b. Types of Interpreting
Al-Zahran, in his Doctoral thesis 2007: 16, mentions some classifications of interpreting based on four criteria:
„mode’, „setting’, „directionality’, and „language modality’.
1 Types of Interpreting in Terms of „Mode’
There are at least four modes of interpreting as follows. a
Consecutive Interpreting Consecutive interpreting is defined as a type of interpreting in which the
interpreter “listens to the speaker, takes notes, and then reproduces the speech in the target language
” and “this may be done all at one go or in several segments” Nolan, 2005: 3. In consecutive interpreting, the interpreter
“starts to interpret when the speaker stops speaking, either in breaks in the source speech
… or after the entire speech is finished
” Christoffels and de Groot in Kroll and de Groot, 2005: 45. In this mode, the interpreter deals with at least two phases: first
listening to the SL speaker for a view minutes and then reformulating the speaker’s speech into TL Gile in Schäffner, 2004: 11-12. In this mode, the
interpreter should wait, listen to what the speaker speaks, and then interpret it soon after the source-text speaker stops speaking. The interpreter should translate
the whole speech segment by segment. The interpreter is required to take notes while the ST speaker is speaking, for example, during 15 minutes approximately.
b Simultaneous Interpreting
Unlike the consecutive interpreting, the simultaneous interpreting does not have any time to wait; instead, she should interpret continuously at the same time
the speaker speaks so she does not need to memorize large segment of the original text. Gile in Schäffner, 2004: 11 defines simultaneous interpreting as
“a mode in which the interpreter reformulates the source speech as it unfolds,
generally with a lag of a few seconds at most .” It implies that it is almost
impossible for the interpreter to interpret the SL segment without a lag at all. Another statement comes from Paneth 1957: 32 stating that
the “interpreter says not what he hears, but what he has heard.
” It is clear that the interpreter could only interpret if she has heard the SE message. If she is able to say what she
hears or even what she does not hear yet, the possibility is that she does not interpret but predict the words or messages the speaker is going to say. In
additions, in simultaneous interpreting, the interpreter, usually “sitting in a
soundproof booth, listens to the speaker through earphones and, speaking into a microphone, reproduces the speech in the target language as it is being delivered
in the source language” Nolan, 2005: 3. c
Whispered Interpreting According to Pöchhacker 2004: 19, whispered interpreting is considered
to be a variation of Simultaneous Interpreting. Although in whispered interpreting the interpreter is actually interpreting simultaneously, it is rather different from
