Cognitive Load in Interpreting and Translation (CLINT)

At a glance

Project leader : Prof. Dr. Michaela Albl-Mikasa
Co-project leader : Prof. Dr. Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow, Prof. Dr. Lutz Jäncke
Project team : Katrin Andermatt, Michael Boos, Natalie Dietrich, Dr. Stefan Elmer, Birgit Fuhrmann, Dr. Anne Catherine Gieshoff, Dr. Andrea Hunziker Heeb, Matthias Kobi, Dr. Caroline Lehr, Romina Schaub-Torsello, Martin Schuler, Romy Thommen
Project budget : CHF 1'260'000
Project status : completed
Funding partner : SNSF (Sinergia / Projekt Nr. 173694)
Contact person : Michaela Albl-Mikasa

Description

English has become the first truly global lingua franca. Even in multilingual Switzerland, English as a lingua franca (ELF) is replacing the four Swiss languages not only in international but also in intra-national communication. What appears at first glance to be a practical solution to communication problems in business, science and education can come at a cost, however. Despite the obvious relevance, there has been very little research into the consequences of millions of speakers having to use a foreign language to conduct business, academic, and other professional communication. As language experts, interpreters and translators play an important role in fostering international communication and have competences and strategies that allow them to cope with speeches and texts that deviate to various degrees from Standard English. Preliminary research nevertheless suggests that the increasing volume of non-native English can lead to cognitive overload and stress for interpreters and translators. The goal of this project is to gain a better understanding of the effects of this globalisation phenomenon. An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the fields of interpreting, translation, and neuropsychology is using various methods to assess the actual cognitive demands associated with processing ELF as compared to Standard English.

Further information

Publications

Albl-Mikasa, Michaela,

2023.

Relevance of ELF speakers’ source speeches : interpreters’ interventions.

Meta.

68(2), pp. 384-405.

Available from: https://doi.org/10.7202/1109343ar
Gieshoff, Anne Catherine; Albl-Mikasa, Michaela; Hunziker Heeb, Andrea,

2023.

Effects of non-native text input on performance and perceived comprehensibility in translation, interpreting and other language processing tasks.

In:

ICTIC4 Abstract Book.

Fourth International Conference on Translation, Interpreting, and Cognition (ICTIC 4), Santiago de Chile, Chile, 5-9 September 2023.

Available from: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vmbhZB_OtKFM2GLkSUUcNpygPJnpW0Gr/view
Gieshoff, Anne Catherine; Hunziker Heeb, Andrea,

2023.

Cognitive load and cognitive effort : probing the psychological reality of a conceptual difference.

Translation, Cognition & Behavior.

6(1), pp. 3-28.

Available from: https://doi.org/10.1075/tcb.00073.gie
Albl-Mikasa, Michaela,

2023.

Do interpreters improve (English non-native) speakers’ source speeches in an effort to maximize relevance for the target audience?.

In:

The Application of Relevance Theory to Translation and Interpreting, Rome, Italy, 9-10 February 2023.
Albl-Mikasa, Michaela,

2023.

ELF und Dolmetschen.

In:

Gastvorlesung am Zentrum für Translationswissenschaft, Universität Wien, Österreich, 14. November 2023.
Gieshoff, Anne Catherine; Albl-Mikasa, Michaela; Hunziker Heeb, Andrea,

2023.

Processing spoken and written ELF material in natural translation and interpreting : what handling tactics do non-T&I multilinguals apply?.

In:

NPIT6 Book of Abstracts.

6th International Conference on Non-Professional Interpreting and Translation, Nicosia, Cyprus, 25-27 May 2023.

Available from: https://www.npit6.com/index.php/program-abstracts/book-of-abstracts
Albl-Mikasa, Michaela; Gieshoff, Anne Catherine; Hunziker Heeb, Andrea,

2023.

Strategies we live by : coping with English as a lingua franca source input.

In:

ICTIC 4 Abstract book.

Fourth International Conference on Translation, Interpreting, and Cognition (ICTIC 4), Santiago de Chile, Chile, 5-9 September 2023.

Available from: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vmbhZB_OtKFM2GLkSUUcNpygPJnpW0Gr/view
Albl-Mikasa, Michaela; Gieshoff, Anne Catherine,

2022.

ELF density : extending ELF research to monological texts and speeches.

In:

13th International Conference of English as a Lingua Franca, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan (online), 18-20 November 2022.
Albl-Mikasa, Michaela; Gieshoff, Anne Catherine,

2022.

ELF density : extending English as a lingua franca research to monological ELF texts and speeches.

Applied Linguistics.

44(3), pp. 505-526.

Available from: https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amac058
Albl-Mikasa, Michaela,

2022.

The imaginary invalid : interpreters in times of English as a lingua franca.

In:

Invited Talk at the Translation Seminar Series, Centre for Translation, Hongkong Baptist University (online), 20 October 2022.

Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N-WQybq8rY
Albl-Mikasa, Michaela; Ehrensberger-Dow, Maureen,

2022.

Fundamental concepts in translation and interpreting reconsidered in light of ELF

.

In:

Dionísio da Silva, Gisele; Radicioni, Maura, eds.,

Recharting Territories: Interdisciplinarity in Translation Studies.

Leuven:

Leuven University Press.

pp. 75-96.

Available from: https://doi.org/10.11116/9789461664716
Albl-Mikasa, Michaela,

2022.

From speaker fidelity to agency in interpreting : a relevance theory account of interpreters renditions of English as a lingua franca input [paper].

In:

10th Congress of the European Society for Translation Studies (EST22), Oslo, Norway, 22-25 June 2022.
Gieshoff, Anne Catherine; Hunziker Heeb, Andrea,

2022.

Cognitive load and mental effort : is there a difference and does this difference matter for task performance in T&I? [paper].

In:

1st BTS Symposium on Cognitive Research in Translation and Interpreting. A Marcus Wallenberg Symposium, Stockholm, Sweden, 15-17 June 2022.
Gieshoff, Anne Catherine; Albl-Mikasa, Michaela,

2022.

Interpreting accuracy revisited : a refined approach to interpreting performance analysis.

Perspectives.

Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2022.2088296
Hunziker Heeb, Andrea; Gieshoff, Anne Catherine,

2022.

Non-native source texts : a stress factor for students of translation and interpreting?.

In:

10th Congress of the European Society for Translation Studies (EST22), Oslo, Norway, 22-25 June 2022.
Hunziker Heeb, Andrea; Gieshoff, Anne Catherine,

2021.

Processing ELF : how do language professionals reflect on it? [paper].

In:

3rd ICTIC, Forlì, Italy, 2 - 5 November 2021.

Università di Bologna.

pp. 72.
Gieshoff, Anne Catherine; Andermatt, Katrin,

2021.

Meaning-making in interpreting ELF input – the amplified role of context.

In:

The Łódź-ZHAW Duo Colloquium on Translation and Meaning : Book of Abstracts.

The Łódź-ZHAW Duo Colloquium on Translation and Meaning, Winterthur (online), 2-3 September 2021.

Winterthur:

ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften.

pp. 17.

Available from: https://www.zhaw.ch/storage/linguistik/institute-zentren/iued/upload/forschung/duo-colloquium-book-of-abstracts.pdf
Albl-Mikasa, Michaela; Ehrensberger-Dow, Maureen,

2021.

Basic principles of interlingual mediation : relevance in ELF contexts [paper].

In:

17th International Pragmatics Conference (IPrA), Winterthur (online), 27 June - 2 July 2021.
Andermatt, Katrin,

2021.

A relevance-theoretic approach to interpreting ELF input.

In:

YLMP 2021 : Book of Abstracts.

7th Young Linguists’ Meeting in Poznań : Rethinking language and identity in the multilingual world, Poznań, Poland, 23-25 April 2021.

Poznań:

Adam Mickiewicz University.

pp. 22-23.

Available from: http://ylmp2021.amu.edu.pl/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/BoA_YLMP2021.pdf
Albl-Mikasa, Michaela; Gieshoff, Anne Catherine,

2021.

English as a lingua franca-induced effects on cognitive load and interpreting quality.

In:

Programme Handbook of the 2nd Hong Kong Baptist University International Conference on Interpreting.

2nd HKBU International Conference on Interpreting : Cognitive Approaches, online, 8-9 April 2021.

pp. 41-42.
Gieshoff, Anne Catherine,

2021.

Interpreting quality and effort in expert and novice interpreters.

In:

YLMP 2021 : Book of Abstracts.

7th Young Linguists’ Meeting in Poznań : Rethinking language and identity in the multilingual world, Poznań, Poland, 23-25 April 2021.

Poznań:

Adam Mickiewicz University.

pp. 47-48.

Available from: http://ylmp2021.amu.edu.pl/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/BoA_YLMP2021.pdf
Hunziker Heeb, Andrea; Lehr, Caroline; Ehrensberger-Dow, Maureen,

2021.

Situated translators : cognitive load and the role of emotions

.

In:

Muñoz Martin, Ricardo; Sun, Sanjun; Li, Defeng, eds.,

Advances in Cognitive Translation Studies.

Singapore:

Springer.

pp. 47-65.

Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2070-6_3
Ehrensberger-Dow, Maureen; Albl-Mikasa, Michaela; Andermatt, Katrin; Hunziker Heeb, Andrea; Lehr, Caroline,

2020.

Cognitive load in processing ELF : translators, interpreters, and other multilinguals.

Journal of English as a Lingua Franca.

9(2), pp. 217-238.

Available from: https://doi.org/10.1515/jelf-2020-2039
Albl-Mikasa, Michaela; Ehrensberger-Dow, Maureen; Hunziker Heeb, Andrea; Lehr, Caroline; Boos, Michael; Kobi, Matthias; Jäncke, Lutz; Elmer, Stefan,

2020.

Cognitive load in relation to non-standard language input.

Translation, Cognition & Behavior.

3(2), pp. 263-286.

Available from: https://doi.org/10.1075/tcb.00044.alb
Ehrensberger-Dow, Maureen; Albl-Mikasa, Michaela,

2019.

Challenges of non-standard input for translation and interpreting.

In:

Book of abstracts : EST congress 2019.

9th Congress of the European Society for Translation Studies (EST 2019), Stellenbosch, South Africa, 9 - 13 September 2019.

Stellenbosch University.

pp. 171.
Hunziker Heeb, Andrea; Lehr, Caroline; Ehrensberger-Dow, Maureen,

2019.

Cognitive load in translation : the role of emotions.

In:

Translation Process Research: Workshop 6, Murcia, Spain, 21-23 January 2019.
Albl-Mikasa, Michaela; Ehrensberger-Dow, Maureen,

2019.

ITELF – (E)merging interests in interpreting and translation studies

.

In:

Dal Fovo, Eugenia; Gentile, Paola, eds.,

Convergence, contact, interactions in translation and interpreting studies.

Frankfurt am Main:

Peter Lang.

pp. 45-62.

Available from: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-13492

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