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Comprehension and error monitoring in simultaneous interpreters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2012

CAROLINA YUDES ,
PEDRO MACIZO ,
LUIS MORALES  and
M. TERESA BAJO
CAROLINA YUDES
Affiliation:
University of Granada
PEDRO MACIZO
Affiliation:
University of Granada
LUIS MORALES
Affiliation:
University of Granada
M. TERESA BAJO*
Affiliation:
University of Granada
*
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE M. Teresa Bajo, Departamento de Psicología Experimental, Universidad de Granada, Granada 18071, Spain. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

In the current study we explored lexical, syntactic, and semantic processes during text comprehension in English monolinguals and Spanish/English (first language/second language) bilinguals with different experience in interpreting (nontrained bilinguals, interpreting students and professional interpreters). The participants performed an error-detection task in which they read English texts and tried to identify lexical, syntactic, and semantic errors embedded in texts. After reading, global comprehension of the texts was assessed by means of a sentence verification task and open/ended questionnaire. The results showed that the interpreters detected more syntactic and semantic errors than monolinguals, nontrained bilinguals and interpreting students. They also had better global comprehension. We discussed the consequences of bilingualism, working memory capacity, and training in interpreting on text comprehension.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 34 , Issue 5 , September 2013 , pp. 1039 - 1057
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012 

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