The Influence of Pre-task Preparation on Cognitive Load in English to Chinese Consecutive Interpreting Process

Abstract

Existing studies have revealed that sufficient pre-task preparation enhances interpreting task performance by improving accuracy and reducing information omissions. However, its influence on interpreters’ cognitive load remains underexplored. Given that disfluency features in target speech can serve as key indicators of interpreters’ cognitive load during the process, this study explores how disfluency patterns differ between interpreter groups employing different pre-task preparation approaches for an English to Chinese consecutive interpreting. We investigated the occurrence of filled and silent pauses, repairs, repetitions, and false starts in the target speech among three groups of interpreting trainees. One group was instructed to employ extra-linguistic knowledge-directed preparation strategies, another utilized linguistic knowledge-directed preparation strategies, while the third was prohibited from task preparation. The results indicate that the choice of preparation strategy can affect preparation efficacy, and sufficient preparation before the task can alleviate cognitive load as evidenced by reduced frequency of disfluency features. These findings offer invaluable insights into interpreting training, practice and research, providing evidence-based recommendations on effective pre-task preparation strategies and demonstrating how targeted preparation can alleviate cognitive load.