Processing visual input in simultaneous interpreting

Simultaneous interpreters receive and process verbal information from auditory input and nonverbal elements from visual input. Previous studies generally suggest the complementary role of visual input in simultaneous interpreting (SI). The present research aims to explore the impact of the interaction between visual and auditory verbal information on simultaneous interpreters’ attentional resources and cognitive load.

The study will comprise a series of experiments in the visual world paradigm to explore how visual cues modulate interpreters’ shifts of attention and cognitive load when anticipating information during simultaneous interpreting. A group of professional interpreters and a group of bilingual controls will perform three tasks: listening comprehension, simultaneous interpreting of individual sentences, and simultaneous interpreting of flowing discourse. The independent variables of the experiments include the presence/absence of the visual cue, the timing of cue appearance, the restrictiveness of the verb, and the congruence between the cue and the referent noun. Both visual attention and cognitive load will be analysed using robust ocular measures such as fixations, saccades, blinks and pupil dilation.

The study will shed light on the cognitive processing of visual input during SI, the interaction between the processing of auditory and visual input and the importance and relative weight of visual cues. It will pilot a methodology with the potential of being extended to other visual world paradigm studies of SI. Findings will inform booth design and raise the awareness among SI practitioners regarding the access to necessary visual input when they interpret at a conference venue or in a separate location with the aid of digital transmission technology.