This document discusses cognition and working memory in dialogue interpreting. It begins with an overview of dialogue interpreting as a mode of interpreting involving short consecutive interpreting without notes and quasi-simultaneous interpreting with few participants. It then discusses some key cognitive processes in interpreting like identifying, decoding, transferring, and producing interpretations. It emphasizes the importance of monitoring all participants' contributions and ensuring comprehension between participants. The document also discusses language proficiency models and notes asymmetries in interpreters' language skills. Finally, it examines the cognitive load of monitoring, coordination, and turn-taking in dialogue interpreting.

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Welcome to our guest presenter!
Elisabet Tiselius, PhD

5. Why cognition matters in public
service interpreting –
Becoming a better interpreter by understanding working
memory and expertise
Elisabet Tiselius
Institute for Interpreting and Translation Studies, TÖI
Department of Swedish and multilingualism
Stockholm University
NCIHC – March 16, 2022
Invisible process –
cognition and working memory of dialogue interpreting
Funded by the Swedish Research council 2016-01118

6. What is interpreting?
● “a form of Translation in which a first and final
rendition in another language is produced on the
basis of a one-time presentation of an utterance
in a source language”.
Pöchhacker 2016 (after Kade)
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius, Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

7. Dialogue interpreting
21/03/2022 /Elisabet Tiselius, Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

8. What is dialogue interpreting?
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius, Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

9. ● One mode of interpreting
21/03/2022
Dialogue interpreting
/ Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

10. ● One mode of interpreting
● Short consecutive (almost) without notes
21/03/2022
Dialogue interpreting
/ Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

11. ● One mode of interpreting
● Short consecutive (almost) without notes
● Quasi-simultaneous
21/03/2022
Dialogue interpreting
/ Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

12. ● One mode of interpreting
● Short consecutive (almost) without notes
● Quasi-simultaneous
● Used in encounters with few participants
21/03/2022
Dialogue interpreting
/ Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

13. ● One mode of interpreting
● Short consecutive (almost) without notes
● Quasi-simultaneous
● Used in encounters with few participants
● On site or remotely
21/03/2022
Dialogue interpreting
/ Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

14. Fundamentals of dialogue interpreting
● Interpreters’ renditions are a target text of a
preceding utterance and a point of departure for
the next source text
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

15. Fundamentals of dialogue interpreting
● Interpreters’ renditions are a target text of a
preceding utterance and a point of departure for
the next source text
● The interpreter
– monitors the participants’ contributions to the
dialogue,
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

16. Fundamentals of dialogue interpreting
● Interpreters’ renditions are a target text of a
preceding utterance and a point of departure for
the next source text
● The interpreter
– co-ordinates the participants’ contributions to
the dialogue,
– ensures comprehension between the two
participants,
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

17. Fundamentals of dialogue interpreting
● Interpreters’ renditions are a target text of a
preceding utterance and a point of departure for
the next source text
● The interpreter
– monitors the participants’ contributions to the
dialogue,
– ensures comprehension between the two
participants,
– deals with asymmetrical levels of their own
language knowledge in the two working
languages,
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

18. Language proficiency
● AIIC:
– A, mother tongue and the language the interpreter
works into in both consecutive and simultaneous;
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

19. Language proficiency
● AIIC:
– A, mother tongue and the language the interpreter
works into in both consecutive and simultaneous;
– B, for a language that the interpreter is perfectly
fluent in, and interpret into, but without it being a
mother tongue;
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

20. Language proficiency
● AIIC:
– A, mother tongue and the language the interpreter
works into in both consecutive and simultaneous;
– B, for a language that the interpreter is perfectly
fluent in, and interpret into, but without it being a
mother tongue;
– C, for a language that the interpreter understands
perfectly, but does not interpret into.
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

21. Language proficiency
● AIIC:
– A, mother tongue and the language the interpreter
works into in both consecutive and simultaneous;
– B, for a language that the interpreter is perfectly
fluent in, and interpret into, but without it being a
mother tongue;
– C, for a language that the interpreter understands
perfectly, but does not interpret into.
● Bilingual Studies:
– L1 is the language a person acquired first often
equated with mother tongue. A person can have
more than one L1
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

22. Language proficiency
● AIIC:
– A, mother tongue and the language the interpreter
works into in both consecutive and simultaneous;
– B, for a language that the interpreter is perfectly
fluent in, and interpret into, but without it being a
mother tongue;
– C, for a language that the interpreter understands
perfectly, but does not interpret into.
● Bilingual Studies:
– L1 is the language a person acquired first often
equated with mother tongue. A person can have
more than one L1
– L2 for subsequently acquired languages
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

23. Language proficiency
● AIIC:
– A, mother tongue and the language the interpreter
works into in both consecutive and simultaneous;
– B, for a language that the interpreter is perfectly fluent
in, and interpret into, but without it being a mother
tongue;
– C, for a language that the interpreter understands
perfectly, but does not interpret into.
● Bilingual Studies:
– L1 is the language a person acquired first often equated
with mother tongue. A person can have more than one
L1
– L2 for subsequently acquired languages
– Mother tongue in some contexts is not necessarily
linked to the order of acquisition or proficiency, but
rather to a person’s cultural heritage.
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

24. Reflection time - languages
● Which of your languages do you consider your strongest?
● Which of your languages is your L1?
● Is your L1 and your strongest language the same language?
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

25. Interpreting process
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur
● A process is a series of actions that produce
something or that lead to a particular result

26. Interpreting process
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur
● A process is a series of actions that produce
something or that lead to a particular result
– Interpreting process
• Cognitive (or mental)
• Social

27. Cognition
● Conscious intellectual activity (such as thinking,
reasoning, or remembering). (Merriam-Webster)
21/03/2022 /Elisabet Tiselius, Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

28. Cognition
● Conscious intellectual activity (such as thinking,
reasoning, or remembering). (Merriam-Webster)
● The mental action or process of acquiring
knowledge and understanding through thought,
experience, and the senses. (Oxford)
21/03/2022 /Elisabet Tiselius, Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

29. Cognition
● Conscious intellectual activity (such as thinking,
reasoning, or remembering). (Merriam-Webster)
● The mental action or process of acquiring
knowledge and understanding through thought,
experience, and the senses. (Oxford)
21/03/2022 /Elisabet Tiselius, Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur
Cognitive processes
● use existing knowledge and generate new knowledge

30. Cognitive processes in interpreting
21/03/2022 /Elisabet Tiselius, Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur
● Identify (Perceiving)
● Decode (Understanding)
● Transferring
● Producing (concurrent and/or consecutive)
● Coordinating
Nida, 1964
(Dynamic & Formal equivalence)

31. Components necessary for the interpreting process
Interpreting process
Necessary sub-skills
Listening, comprehension, memory, note-
taking, public speaking, production,
transfer (into two languages) , managing
interaction (turn-taking, face threats...),
managing attentional capacity (sometimes
in simultaneous (chuchotage)), non-verbal
communication, monitoring (all
participants’) production and detecting
mistranslations, problem solving
Supporting knowledge
language knowledge
general and specific
background knowledge
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

32. Turn taking & monitoring
● Turn – the sequence of a talk when one speaker has the
exclusive right to the word
3/21/22 /Elisabet Tiselius /Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

33. Turn taking & co-ordination
● Turn – the sequence of a talk when one speaker has the
exclusive right to the word
● A coupled turn – the original turn and its subsequent
rendering as a united adjacent pair.
3/21/22 /Elisabet Tiselius /Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

34. Example of a coupled turn
78 JS mm oui c’est bien parce que vraiment je me fais du souci .hh (0.3)
mm yes that’s good because I’m really worried
[[euh
euh
79 I [[ja det är bra för jag är verkligen orolig=
yes that’s good because I’m really worried
21/03/2022 /Elisabet Tiselius /Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

35. Assumptions about cognitive
processes in dialogue interpreting
The fundamental conditions of [dialogue]
interpreting (i.e., three-party dialogue and
immediate feedback) impact the process
requirements and put more cognitive load on
monitoring, co-ordination, and ethical awareness.
Englund Dimitrova and Tiselius (2016)
21/03/2022 /Elisabet Tiselius /Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

36. Cognitive load and cognitive effort
COGNITIVE LOAD external conditions (either the
type of information or how the information is
presented) to which the interpreters’ working
memory is exposed
COGNITIVE EFFORT as the amount of mental
resources the interpreter uses in order to carry out
the interpreting task.
21/03/2022 /Elisabet Tiselius /Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

37. Working memory – Baddeley and Hitch 1974
21/03/2022 Elisabet Tiselius, Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

38. Monitoring….
21/03/2022 /Elisabet Tiselius /Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

39. Monitoring
● Interpreters' monitoring is a cognitive process through
which interpreters observe, evaluate and take actions
relating to their own cognitive processing and that of
the other participants in the interpreting event.
Elisabet Tiselius & Birgitta Englund Dimitrova
21/03/2022 /Elisabet Tiselius /Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

40. Monitoring
Monitoring is crucial in at least six different
cognitive (sub)processes of dialogue interpreting,
three more prominently when the interpreter listens
or and three when the interpreter speaks.
21/03/2022 /Elisabet Tiselius /Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

41. Monitoring
Monitoring is crucial in at least six different cognitive
(sub)processes of dialogue interpreting, three more
prominently when the interpreter listens or and three
when the interpreter speaks.
● When one of the primary parties speaks and the
interpreter listens, the interpreter monitors:
– a) their own comprehension of that utterance;
– b) the relation of that utterance to the
interpreter’s recent rendition (was it understood
as intended), and;
– c) their own memory and processing capacity
(ready to take the turn if necessary).
21/03/2022 /Elisabet Tiselius /Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

42. Monitoring
Monitoring is crucial in at least six different cognitive (sub)processes of
dialogue interpreting, three more prominently when the interpreter
listens or and three when the interpreter speaks.
● When one of the primary parties speaks and the interpreter listens,
the interpreter monitors:
– a) their own comprehension of that utterance;
– b) the relation of that utterance to the interpreter’s recent
rendition (was it understood as intended), and;
– c) their own memory and processing capacity (ready to take the
turn if necessary).
● When the interpreter speaks, the interpreter monitors:
– a) their own utterance (in relation to the given language);
– b) the relation between their own utterance and the primary
party’s previous utterance (if necessary, not all interpreting
utterances are renditions of a primary party’s utterance), and,
– c) verbal and non-verbal reactions of the primary parties.
21/03/2022 /Elisabet Tiselius /Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

43. I* >> gaze to C --------------------------------* *gaze aversion--------------------->* *gaze to C--------->*
51 JS vale y estoy un poquito preocupada por * * las actividades porque son son a* *tiempo completo↑*
good because I’m a little worried for those activities because are are they full time
I* *gaze aversion ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
*y: y: que pasa con los hijos porque yo tengo hijos y los cuido yo sola (.) porque su padre y yo nos
an: an: what happens with the kids because I’m alone with the children because their father and I got
I⧫ ⧫ turn tw JS--->⧫
I* ------------------------------------>* * gaze to JS------------------------------------------------->
separamos durante la huída* ⧫ y hasta el día⧫* de hoy no [sabemos (.) de]
separated during the fleeing and to this day we don’t have any news of
I⧫ ⧫L index to L ear⧫
52 I [perdona no entiendo] eso ⧫de la oída⧫=
sorry I don’t understand this with the heard
I⧫ ⧫nod------------------⧫
I* >----------* *gaze aversion-------------------------------------------->>
53 JS =la huída* ⧫[desde que huímos]⧫
the flight from the time we fled
I [a: vale vale]
[a: okay okay]
21/03/2022 /Elisabet Tiselius /Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

44. Reflection time - Monitoring
● Can you remember a situation when you
monitored during an interpreted conversation?
21/03/2022 /Elisabet Tiselius /Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

45. Professional self-concept
● The cognitive component of the self, or self-
concept, is the way we think about ourselves. The
self is not innate, nor is it a fixed, cumulative
average of successive self-images, but rather a
complex, organized and dynamic set of images,
cognitions, learned beliefs, and evaluations about
the self. Because of its huge size and internal
inconsistency, only part of the whole set is
activated in any given situation into a working self-
concept.
Muñoz-Martín, 2014
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

46. C
o
g
n
i
t
i
v
e
L
o
a
d
Monitoring
Professional self-concept
Self-awareness, situation
awareness, self-efficacy
Perceiving Understanding Transferring Producing Coordinating
Interpreted event
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur
Interpreting process

47. Expertise
Talent vs practice
(ex. Ericsson 1991, 2000)
Regardless of field performers use the same
strategies to reach the absolute top
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

48. Expertise
1) Regular outstanding performance within a particular
field.
2) Access to expert knowledge when needed.
3) Deliberate practice.
4) Clear goals.
5) Openness to feedback from colleagues and coaches.
6) Long experience
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

49. Deliberate practice ≠
(skill development focused practice SDFP)
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

50. Deliberate practice
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

51. Reflection time practice
● If you wanted to study deliberate practice in
interpreting would be your starting definition of
deliberate practice in interpreting ?
● Can you an example of play in the context of
interpreting?
21/03/2022 /Elisabet Tiselius /Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

52. Why cognition matters in public service interpreting
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

53. 21/03/2022 /Name Name, Institution or similar
I⧫II
I⧫
⧫lifts pen----------------------------------------⧫
I* *gaze to C---------------------------------------------* *gaze to pad-------------------------------------->*
*gaze to C>
94 C =*okej då är det på det här sättet att när du deltar i* *⧫ aktiviteterna som vi kommer överens
om⧫* * i din
okay then it is like this that when you participate in the activities that we agree
on in your
I* > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------->
etableringsplan så får du etableringsersättning och du får den ersättningen för fem
kalenderdar i veckan ↓
establishment plan you get settlement allocation and you get that allocation for five calendar
days per week
I⧫ ⧫RH-PALM UP > C⧫
⧫(0.8)⧫
I* *avert gaze---------------------------------------------------------* *gaze to JS--------------------->*
95 I *e entonces es así que cuando usted participa en el plan de* *actividades en las actividades*
and it is like this that when. you participate in the plan of activities in the activities
I* *avert gaze----------------–------>* *gaze to JS-------------------------------------------------->*
*e: le vamos a dar (0.5) un e (.)* *subsidio para establecerse para cinco días a la semana*
e: we will give you an e allocation for settlement for five days per week

54. Becoming a better interpreter by
understanding working memory and expertise
Language asymmetry:
● Both inexperienced and experienced interpreters show
more signs of increased cognitive effort when interpreting
into a language they identified as weaker
(Tiselius & Sneed 2020)
● Both inexperienced and experienced interpreters use
more strategies when interpreting into their weaker
language
● But experienced interpreters make less use strategies
overall
(Thomsen 2017 cf. Arumi Ribas & Vargas-Urpi 2017)
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

55. Professional self-concept and expertise
● Experienced interpreters are faster at interpreting the coupled turn
(they encounter fewer problems) than inexperienced interpreters
● Experienced interpreters seem to be better at handling longer turns
than inexperienced interpreters
● Experienced interpreters reduce less of the message than
inexperienced interpreters
BUT
● The mean length of the coupled turn does not differ between
experienced and inexperienced interpreters. This suggest a
cognitive constraint i.e. there is a limit for what our working
memory can handle
21/03/2022
Becoming a better interpreter by
understanding working memory and expertise
/ Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

56. Impact on education and practice
● Meta-cognitive awareness of:
– Turn-taking
– Monitoring
– Language asymmetry
– Gaze
– Working memory
– Professional self-concept
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

57. Reflection time terminology
● Cognition
● Working memory
● Monitoring
● Professional self-concept
● Expertise
● Deliberate practice
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

58. Thank you!
21/03/2022 / Elisabet Tiselius. Tolk- och översättarinstitutet, Stockholm University @tulkur

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Elisabet Tiselius, PhD
@tulkur
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You can access the recording of
the live webinar presentation at
www.ncihc.org/trainerswebinars
Home for Trainers Interpreter Trainers Webinars Work Group
An initiative of the Standards and Training Committee
www.ncihc.org/home-for-trainers