This study investigated cognitive aspects of sight translation by analysing the reading behaviour in the process and the output. In our empirical study, two groups of participants—interpreting trainees and untrained bilinguals—carried out three tasks: (a) silent reading, (b) reading aloud, and (c) sight translation. The results show that the two groups were almost identical in the first two tasks, further substantiating the similarity of their language command, but were drastically different in how they tackled sight translation. Interpreting trainees provided much more accurate, fluent, and adequate renditions with much less time and fewer fixations. However, their efficiency at information retrieval was statistically similar to that of the untrained bilinguals. Thus, interpreting trainees were more efficient by being more “economical” during reading, rather than by reading ahead faster, as some would intuitively expect. Chunking skills seem to have also been at play behind their remarkable performance.

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Translation and interpreting are different in many aspects. For the former, the source and target text remain available and communication between participants happens asynchronously; the latter demands immediate interaction and speech signals are fast fading. The two activities and their respective contexts, including working conditions, are also dissimilar in the professional world. A quick glance may leave an impression that entirely different training is in order. However, translation and interpreting as a profession also share tremendous similarities — the European Master’s Translation competence framework adequately applies to interpreting. This action research study aimed to motivate beginning interpreting students to overcome challenges in interpreting practice via translation activities. A two-stage translation workshop was designed, and the results show that students became more engaged in the workshop when the authenticity of the tasks and the relevance between translation practice and interpreting performance were elucidated. Keywords: motivation, situated translation, simulated training, project-based learning, entrepreneurship, action research

This study investigated the impact of professional experience on the process and product of sight interpreting/translation (SiT). Seventeen experienced interpreters, with at least 150 days’ professional experience, and 18 interpreting students were recruited to conduct three tasks: silent reading, reading aloud, and SiT. All participants had similar interpreter training backgrounds. The data of the SiT task have been reported here, with two experienced interpreters (both AIIC members) assessing the participants’ interpretations on accuracy and style, which includes fluency and other paralinguistic performance. The findings show that professional experience contributed to higher accuracy, although there was no between-group difference in the mean score on style, overall task time, length of the SiT output, and mean fixation duration of each stage of reading. The experienced practitioners exhibited more varied approaches at the beginning of the SiT task, with some biding their time longer than the others before oral production started, but quality was not affected. Moving along, the practitioners showed better language flexibility in that their renditions were faster, steadier, and less disrupted by pauses and the need to read further to maintain the flow of interpretation.