How does interpreting experience enhance working memory and short-term memory: A meta-analysis

The Impact of Interpreting Training Experience on the Attentional Networks and Their Dynamics

Interpreting, a complicated and demanding bilingual task, depends heavily on attentional control. However, few studies have focused on the interpreters' advantages in attention, and the findings so far have been inconsistent. Meanwhile, the connection between attentional networks and other cognitive abilities, such as working memory (WM), has rarely been explored in interpreters. The present study investigated whether interpreting experience (IE) contributed to the attentional networks of bilinguals and explored the link between interpreters' attention and WM. Three groups of Chinese-English bilinguals, differing only in their duration of interpreting training (the More-IE group, the Less-IE group, and the No-IE group), completed the Attention Network Test (ANT). Results showed that only the alerting network was more efficient in the More-IE group than in the Less-IE and No-IE groups; moreover, the dynamics between the alerting and executive networks were significant only in the More-IE group. Furthermore, we found a negative correlation between the executive effect and the working memory capacity (WMC) in the More-IE group. Our study validated and provided empirical support for the Attentional Control Model, stimulating further research into neurocognitive mechanisms of advanced second language learning.

Momentary engagement in simultaneous versus consecutive interpreting: through the lens of translanguaging and CDST

Through the lens of translanguaging theory and the complex, dynamic system theory (CDST) approach, the interpreting process is considered a highly complex and dynamic activity that engages the interpreter's cognition, emotion, and action during successive "translanguaging moments" of meaning-making. Meanwhile, the two dominant types of interpreting, namely, simultaneous interpreting, and consecutive interpreting are assumed to entail distinct time sensitivity and consume different amounts of cognitive resources at different stages. Based on these assumptions, the present study analyzes interpreters' momentary engagement during the distinct workflow tasks associated with these two modes of interpreting, with a view to probing their underlying non-linearity, self-organization and emergence dynamics from a micro-level perspective. Furthermore, we triangulated the textual description with multimodal transcription to portray these "translanguaging moments," which are augmented with a follow-up emotional survey that corroborated our findings.

A Synthetic Review of Cognitive Load in Distance Interpreting: Toward an Explanatory Model

Distance Interpreting (DI) is a form of technology-mediated interpreting which has gained traction due to the high demand for multilingual conferences, live-streaming programs, and public service sectors. The current study synthesized the DI literature to build a framework that represents the construct and measurement of cognitive load in DI. Two major areas of research were identified, i.e., causal factors and methods of measuring cognitive load. A number of causal factors that can induce change in cognitive load in DI were identified and reviewed. These included factors derived from tasks (e.g., mode of presentation), environment (e.g., booth type), and interpreters (e.g., technology awareness). In addition, four methods for measuring cognitive load in DI were identified and surveyed: subjective methods, performance methods, analytical methods, and psycho-physiological methods. Together, the causal factors and measurement methods provide a multifarious approach to delineating and quantifying cognitive load in DI. This multidimensional framework can be applied as a tool for pedagogical design in interpreting programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. It can also provide implications for other fields of educational psychology and language learning and assessment.

Neural correlates of contributions of interpreting training to second language semantic integration

How interpreting training may enhance semantic integration in general language processing (instead of language processing during interpreting) was not clear, and its neural correlates remained unexplored. Two groups of university students with different amounts of interpreting training experience (more-IE and less-IE) performed a second language (L2) reading task, in which the target sentence ended with three types of lateralized words: expected words, words of related semantic violation (related violation), and words of unrelated semantic violation (unrelated violation). N400 responses elicited by the final words were used to index semantic integration. Two major findings suggested potential contributions of interpreting training to L2 semantic integration. First, the more-IE group exhibited smaller N400 amplitudes than the less-IE group for expected words, and no group differences were obtained for the two violations. Second, N400 amplitudes for related violations were generally smaller than those for unrelated violations in the right visual field, and this difference was more fully captured (more broadly distributed over the scalp) in the more-IE group than in the less-IE group. Therefore, smaller N400 amplitudes for expected words but not for violations, and broader scalp distribution of the differences between related and unrelated violations constitute the neural correlates for the potential contributions of interpreting training to general L2 semantic integration. The results also suggest possible connections between different types of language experience.