An empirical study of temporal variables and their correlations in spoken and sign language relay interpreting

Abstract

This study describes the temporal aspects of relay interpreting by a mixed team of spoken and sign language interpreters in order to identify the characteristics of spoken and sign language relay interpreting and to help spoken language interpreters better understand the difference between the two types. The study quantitatively analyzes five time variables (speaking time, word count, ear-voice-span (EVS), tail-to-tail span (TTS), and pause), and their correlations. The temporal aspects of spoken and relay interpretation in sign language are as follows: (1) sign language interpretation requires more words to transfer the same amount of information as spoken language interpretation; (2) sign language interpreters have a shorter EVS than spoken language interpreters; (3) the simultaneity of spoken and relay sign language interpretation is more affected by TTS than by EVS, because spoken language TTS has a high correlation with speech time and word count in sign language interpretation; 4) sign language interpreters actively use the pauses between sentences of spoken language interpreters for target language (TL) production; 5) sign language interpreters produce more words for a shorter period of time than spoken language interpreters.