ABSTRACT
Chapter 6 addresses the second and third research questions by exploring cognitive overload and coping strategies regarding numbers in signed-to-spoken language simultaneous interpreting. When Auslan sentences featuring numbers occurred in a row, few professional Auslan/English interpreters rendered all these sentences accurately into English. When successfully dealing with adjacent Auslan sentences each containing a number in the middle, one interpreter generally used long onset processing time and free interpretations, the other interpreter consistently used short onset processing time and literal interpretations. Furthermore, interpreters used the following four strategies to cope with challenges (numbers, dense information, and syntactical differences between source language and target language) of adjacent Auslan sentences containing numbers near or at the end: (i) using long onset processing time and conveying the signed messages accurately by using idiomatic and concise English sentences; (ii) using moderate onset processing time, starting interpreting after seeing the topic of the Auslan sentence, utilising strategies (e.g., stalling, pausing) to absorb more information, and finally saying the number near or at the end of the English sentence; (iii) using short onset processing time, starting interpreting after seeing a few initial signs of the Auslan sentence, using strategies (e.g., stalling) to receive more information, and uttering the number near or at the end of the English sentence; and (iv) using moderate onset processing time, adhering to the pseudo-cleft (rhetorical question) structure, and finally providing an answer containing the number. Interestingly, interpreters’ strategic omissions of redundant information sometimes enabled them to avoid cognitive overload. Interpreters’ strategic additions and aspiration to produce highly accurate interpretations occasionally resulted in cognitive overload and their unjustifiable omission of subsequent information.
