Directionality and disfluency: a corpus-based study of English–Persian simultaneous interpreting in media settings
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-7968.2026.e110064Palavras-chave:
directionality, disfluency, media interpreting, professional interpreter, simultaneous interpretingResumo
This study investigates the impact of directionality on disfluency patterns in professional English–Persian simultaneous interpreting, specifically in the context of media interpreting of presidential speeches. The study aims to analyze the prevalence of various disfluency types in simultaneous interpretation based on Bartłomiejczyk and Gumul’s (2024) taxonomy, while also exploring the impact of directionality on the incidence and distribution of these disfluencies. The data were produced by four professional interpreters, all native speakers of Persian: two interpreters (A and B) worked from English into Persian (L2→ L1, into their mother tongue), and two (C and D) worked from Persian into English (L1→ L2, into their non-native language). The research employs a corpus-based approach to examine disfluencies, including silent pauses, hesitations, and false starts, in both English-to-Persian and Persian-to-English interpreting directions. The English–Persian corpus comprised three United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) addresses by U.S. President Joe Biden (2022–2024). The Persian–English corpus included two UNGA addresses by President Hassan Rouhani (2014–2015). It also included his 2019 speech marking the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. The results indicate that hesitations are the predominant disfluency in both directions, underscoring their function as cognitive buffers during real-time speech production. False starts are more prevalent in English-to-Persian interpreting, indicating heightened self-monitoring when interpreters interpret into their mother language. Conversely, silent pauses are more frequent in Persian-to-English interpreting, suggesting increased processing difficulties in non-native language output. These findings underscore the influence of directionality on disfluency distribution and provide practical guidance for interpreting training. The research enhances comprehension of disfluency in a linguistically under-examined language pair.
Referências
Ahrens, B. (2004). Prosodie beim Simultandolmetschen. Peter Lang.
Ahrens, B. (2005). Prosodic phenomena in simultaneous interpreting: A conceptual approach and its practical application. Interpreting, 7(1), 51–76. https://doi.org/10.1075/intp.7.1.04ahr
Altman, J. (1994). Error analysis in the teaching of simultaneous interpretation: A pilot study. In S. Lambert & B. Moser-Mercer (Eds.), Bridging the gap: Empirical research in simultaneous interpretation (pp. 25–38). John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.3.05alt
Baigorri-Jalón, J., Fernández-Sánchez, M. M., & Payàs, G. (2021). Historical developments in conference interpreting: An overview. In M. Albl-Mikasa & E. Tiselius (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of conference interpreting. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429297878-3
Baker, M. (1993). Corpus linguistics and translation studies: Implications and applications. In M. Baker, G. Francis & E. Tognini-Bonelli (Eds.), Text and technology: In honour of John Sinclair (pp. 233–250). John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/z.64.15bak
Bartłomiejczyk, M. (2006). Strategies of simultaneous interpreting and directionality. Interpreting, 8(2), 149–174. https://doi.org/10.1075/intp.8.2.03bar
Bartłomiejczyk, M. (2010). Effects of short intensive practice on interpreter trainees’ performance. In D. Gile, N. K. Pokorn & G. Hansen (Eds.), Why translation studies matters (pp. 183–194). John Benjamins.
Bartłomiejczyk, M., & Gumul, E. (2024). Disfluencies and directionality in simultaneous interpreting: A corpus study comparing into-B and into-A interpretations from the European Parliament. Translation & Interpreting: The International Journal of Translation and Interpreting Research, 16(1), 38–54. https://doi.org/10.12807/ti.116201.2024.a03
Bionda, M. L., Bourlot, A., Cobianchi, V., & Villa, M. (Eds.). (1998). Lo spettacolo della politica: Protagonismo e servizio nel talk show elettorale. RAI-ERI.
Bortfeld, H., Leon, S. D., Bloom, J. E., Schober, M. F., & Brennan, S. E. (2001). Disfluency rates in conversation: Effects of age, relationship, topic, role, and gender. Language and Speech, 44(2), 123–147. https://doi.org/10.1177/00238309010440020101
Castro, T. C. (2017). Applications of simultaneous-interpreting corpora in terminology research. New Voices in Translation Studies, 17(1), 31–51. https://doi.org/10.14456/nvts.2017.12
Cecot, M. (2001). Pauses in simultaneous interpretation: A contrastive analysis of professional interpreters’ performances. The Interpreters’ Newsletter, 11(1), 63–85.
Chen, S. (2017). The construct of cognitive load in interpreting and its measurement. Perspectives, 25(4), 640–657. https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2016.1278026
Christoffels, I. K., De Groot, A. M., & Kroll, J. F. (2006). Memory and language skills in simultaneous interpreters: The role of expertise and language proficiency. Journal of Memory and Language, 54(3), 324–345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2005.12.004
Dayter, D. (2021). Variation in non-fluencies in a corpus of simultaneous interpreting vs. non-interpreted English. Perspectives, 29(4), 489–506. https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2020.1718170
Eftekhar, E., Ferdowsi, S., & Azad, S. B. (2024). Exploring expectations of Iranian audiences in terms of consecutive interpreting: A reception study. Cadernos de Tradução, 44(1), 1–30. https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-7968.2024.e96718
Falbo, C. (2021). Media conference interpreting. In M. Albl-Mikasa & E. Tiselius (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of conference interpreting (pp. 90–103). Routledge.
Flores, G., Laws, M. B., Mayo, S. J., Zuckerman, B., Abreu, M., Medina, L., & Hardt, E. J. (2003). Errors in medical interpretation and their potential clinical consequences in pediatric encounters. Pediatrics, 111(1), 6–14. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.111.1.6
Gerver, D. (1969). The effects of source language presentation rate on the performance of simultaneous conference interpreters. In E. Foulke (Ed.), Proceedings of the 2nd Louisville Conference on Rate and/or Frequency Controlled Speech (pp. 162–184). University of Louisville.
Gierszal, S., & Łyda, A. (2023). Exploring the impact of directionality on disfluencies in simultaneous interpreting. East European Journal of Psycholinguistics, 10(2), 21–32. https://doi.org/10.29038/eejpl.2023.10.2.gie
Gilquin, G. (2008). Hesitation markers among EFL learners: Pragmatic deficiency or difference? In J. Romero-Trillo (Ed.), Pragmatics and corpus linguistics: A mutualistic entente (pp. 119–150). De Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110199024.119
Gósy, M. (2001). The double function of disfluency phenomena in spontaneous speech. In Proceedings of the ITRW on disfluency in spontaneous speech (DiSS’01) (pp. 57–60).
Gósy, M. (2003). Co-occurrences and frequency of disfluencies in Hungarian spontaneous speech. Govor, 20(1–2), 79–97.
Gósy, M. (2004). A spontán magyar beszéd megakadásainak hallás alapú gyűjteménye [An auditory-based collection of disfluencies in spontaneous Hungarian speech]. In M. Gósy (Ed.), Beszédkutatás (pp. 6–18). MTA Nyelvtudományi Intézet–Kempelen Farkas Beszédkutató Laboratórium.
Gósy, M. (2005). Pszicholingvisztika. Osiris Kiadó.
Gumul, E. (2021). Explicitation and cognitive load in simultaneous interpreting: Product- and process-oriented analysis of trainee interpreters’ outputs. Interpreting, 23(1), 45–75. https://doi.org/10.1075/intp.00051.gum
Han, C., & An, K. (2021). Using unfilled pauses to measure (dis)fluency in English-Chinese consecutive interpreting: In search of an optimal pause threshold(s). Perspectives, 29(6), 917–933. https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2020.1852293
Hellweg, M. (2023). Overlap and turn competition in speaker-assigned simultaneous interpreting of a televised debate [Master’s thesis, University of Vienna].
Hu, K. (2016). Corpus-based translation studies: Problems and prospects. In K. Hu, Introducing Corpus-based Translation Studies (pp. 223–233). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-48218-6_9
Kurz, I. (1990). Overcoming language barriers in European television. In D. Bowen & M. Bowen (Eds.), Interpreting: Yesterday, today, and tomorrow (pp. 168–175). John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/ata.iv.29kur
Lickley, R. (2017). Disfluency in typical and stuttered speech. Studi AISV, 3, 373–387. https://doi.org/10.17469/O2103AISV000019
Macías, M. P. (2006). Probing quality criteria in simultaneous interpreting: The role of silent pauses in fluency. Interpreting, 8(1), 25–43. https://doi.org/10.1075/intp.8.1.03pra
Martin, A. (2016). La formación en interpretación en España: Pasado y presente. MonTI: Monografías de Traducción e Interpretación, (2), 87–110. https://doi.org/10.6035/MonTI.2015.ne2.3
Mirzaee, A., & Razavi, M. S. M. (2021). Directionality and error typology in English–Persian simultaneous interpreting: A descriptive-analytic corpus-based study. New Voices in Translation Studies, 25(1), 54–80. https://doi.org/10.14456/nvts.2021.13
Neuberger, T., & Gósy, M. (2014). A cross-sectional study of disfluency characteristics in children’s spontaneous speech. Govor, 31(1), 3–27.
Niemants, N. S. A. (2008). 2001 Unomattina: A case study in media interpreting [Master’s thesis, Università di Bologna, Sede di Forlì].
Petite, C. (2005). Evidence of repair mechanisms in simultaneous interpreting: A corpus-based analysis. Interpreting, 7(1), 27–49. https://doi.org/10.1075/intp.7.1.03pet
Pio, S. (2003). The relation between ST delivery rate and quality in simultaneous interpretation. The Interpreters’ Newsletter, 12, 69–100.
Plevoets, K., & Defrancq, B. (2016). The effect of informational load on disfluencies in interpreting: A corpus-based regression analysis. Translation and Interpreting Studies, 11(2), 202–224. https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.11.2.04ple
Pöchhacker, F. (2007). Coping with Culture in Media Interpreting. Perspectives, 15(2), 123–142. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050802153798
Pöchhacker, F. (2011). Researching TV interpreting: Selected studies of US presidential material. The Interpreters’ Newsletter, 16, 21–36.
Pöchhacker, F. (2016). Introducing Interpreting Studies. 2nd ed. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315649573
Rennert, S. (2010). The impact of fluency on the subjective assessment of interpreting quality. The Interpreters’ Newsletter, 15, 101–115.
Russo, M., Bendazzoli, C., & Defrancq, B. (Eds.). (2018). Making way in corpus-based interpreting studies. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6199-8
Serrano, O. J. (2011). Backstage conditions and interpreter’s performance in live television interpreting: Quality, visibility and exposure. The Interpreters’ Newsletter, 16, 115–136.
Setton, R. (2011). Corpus-based interpreting studies (CIS): Overview and prospects. In A. Kruger, K. Wallmach & J. Munday (Eds.), Corpus-based translation studies: Research and applications (pp. 33–75). Continuum.
Shlesinger, M. (1998). Corpus-based interpreting studies as an offshoot of corpus-based translation studies. Meta, 43(4), 486–493. https://doi.org/10.7202/004136ar
Straniero Sergio, F. (2003). Norms and quality in media interpreting: The case of Formula One press conferences. The Interpreters’ Newsletter, 12, 135–174.
Tissi, B. (2000). Silent pauses and disfluencies in simultaneous interpretation: A descriptive analysis. The Interpreters’ Newsletter, 10(4), 103–127.
Viezzi, M. (2013). Simultaneous and consecutive interpreting (non-conference settings). In C. Millán & F. Bartrina (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of translation studies (pp. 377–388). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203102893
Downloads
Publicado
Como Citar
Edição
Seção
Licença
Copyright (c) 2026 Cadernos de Tradução
Este trabalho está licenciado sob uma licença Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Autores têm autorização para assumir contratos adicionais separadamente, para distribuição não exclusiva da versão do trabalho publicada nesta revista (ex.: publicar em repositório institucional ou como capítulo de livro, com reconhecimento de autoria e publicação inicial nesta revista).
