ABSTRACT
The origins of respeaking may be traced back to the experiments conducted in the early 1940s by US court reporter Horace Webb, who explains that 'the system was born in a Chicago courtroom. In Europe, the origins of respeaking are linked to those of live subtitling for deaf and hard of hearing viewers. In many companies, subtitlers are using respeaking to subtitle pre-recorded programmes in order to increase productivity. As well as on TV, respeaking is also being used in live public events such as conferences, religious ceremonies, university lectures and school classes, and in private contexts such as business meetings and telephone conversations. The training delivered by these institutions focuses on issues that are specific to respeaking, but it also includes elements from both subtitling for deaf and hard of hearing audiences and interpreting. As well as the process of respeaking and the training of respeakers, research has also focused on the reception of respoken subtitles by the viewers.
