Cognitive Processes behind the use of Gestures in Consecutive Dialogue Interpreting.

Consecutive dialogue interpreting consists in bidirectional oral translation provided for users who do not speak the same language. It is the most frequent form of linguistic mediation provided in public service interactions with migrant users who do not yet master the language of the host country. Despite a seemingly language-centered character of interpreter-mediated encounters, the act of interpreting is described as a multimodal and embodied cognitive activity where gestures facilitate participatory meaning-making processes and help to coordinate turn taking. The study aims at investigating how gestural production of interpreters influences their cognitive load and the users’ satisfaction from the interpreting performance. The research design is based on non-invasive experiments involving students of interpreting departments who perform mock dialogue interpreting tasks resembling interactions in medical, police and administrative settings. Study 1 conducted onsite in Warsaw is focused on collecting psychophysiological data such as electroencephalogram (EEG) and Hear Rate Variability (HRV) of the interpreters, parameters known to indicate cognitive load, and cross-examining them with behavioral data gathered in video recordings. Study 2 conducted abroad (France, Spain) is based on remote interpreter-mediated interactions which are video recorded and followed by questionnaires and self-reports helping to examine subjective indicators of the cognitive load (e.g. level of fatigue, perceived level of difficulty of the task) and the appraisal of the interpreting performance delivered with or without spontaneous co-speech gestures.

Funding

The project is implemented thanks to the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Fellowship awarded to Dr Monika Chwalczuk and hosted at the Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences. The individual grant for Research and Innovation is part of the PASIFIC Program supported jointly by the Polish Academy of Sciences and the European Commission with a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions grant.