SCIENTIFIC SERIES
“COGNITIVE STUDIES OF LANGUAGE”
Author: Iriskhanova O.K., Makoveyeva A.I., Tomskaya M.V.
Abstract: The paper presents the results of an empirical study of gestures produced by simultaneous interpreters during speech dysfluencies (difficulties). The quantitative analyses of the video recordings, annotated in ELAN, have shown absence of significant differences in the amount of dysfluencies with gestures that occurred in the groups of less experienced and more experienced interpreters. This might suggest that gestures play an important role in offloading cognitive pressure in this type of professional activity irrespective of experience. The study has also revealed the prevalence of self-adaptors and pragmatic gestures, which indicates that interpreters are not only involved in multimodal construal of objects, but reproduce the intentions and imagined bodily movements of the speakers as well.
Keywords: simultaneous interpretation ◆ speech dysfluencies ◆ gestures ◆ representational gestures ◆ self-adaptors ◆ pragmatic gestures