Notions of Interpreting Interpreting
simultaneous interpreting. While the simultaneous interpreter is working in a soundproof booth, the whispered interpreter is
“sitting behind a participant at a meeting
and simultaneously interpreting … only for that person” Nolan, 2005: 4. d
Sight Translation According to Gile in Schäffner, 2004: 11, in this mode, the ST is written
and the TT is spoken. The interpreter reads the written text first and then translates it into spoken text. In addition, according to Pöchhacker 2004: 19, this mode is a
variant of „simultaneous interpreting’ and if it is immediately practiced in real
time it should be called „sight interpreting’.
2 Types of Interpreting in Terms of „Setting’
According to the setting, interpreting can be classified into six types as follows.
a Community Interpreting
According to Wadensjö in Baker and Saldanha, 2009: 43, community interpreting usually takes place in the public service environment, such as
“police department, immigration departments, social welfare centres, medical and mental
health offices, schools and similar institutions, ” in which the interpreter acts as the
facilitator between officials and lay people. b
Conference Interpreting According to Gile in Schäffner, 2004: 11, the work environment of this
form is “mostly at meetings organised by international organisations, by large
industrial corporations, by government bodies at a high level and for radio and television.” It is mostly conducted in formal situations and it is considered to be
the most prestigious form of interpreting. Therefore, the interpreter is demanded to have a high-quality performance in using both consecutive interpreting CI and
simultaneous interpreting SI al-Zahran, 2007: 19. c
Court Interpreting According to Gile in Schäffner, 2004: 11, the work environment of court
interpreting is “essentially at court proceedings.” However, it is not always used
in courtrooms, but it can also be used in “law offices or enforcement agencies,
prisons, police departments, barrister s’ chambers or any other agencies to do with
the judiciary ” Mikkelson 2000: 1; Gamal 2001: 53; al-Zahran, 2007: 19.
d Escort Interpreting
According to Mikkelson cited by al-Zahran, 2007: 20, escort interpreting is usually occurring
“during on-site visits made by official figures, business executives, investors, etc.
” and the interpreter may deal with either formal or informal situations.
“CI is mostly used in this type of interpreting and is usually limited to several sentences at one time
” Gonzalez et al. 1991: 28; al-Zahran, 2007: 20.
e Media Interpreting
According to Pöchhacker, 2004: 15, media interpreting refers to interpreting used in various broadcasts including television and radio and it is also
called „broadcast interpreting’ and „television interpreting’. It demands the
interpreter to have a good performance during the interpreting activity since it would be listened and watched by various audience. In addition, the interpreter
should interpret quickly to save time and to keep the audience ’s attentions.