This experimental study investigated the relationship between signed language interpreters’ working memory capacity (WMC) and their simultaneous interpreting performance. Thirty-one professional Auslan (Australian Sign Language)/English interpreters participated: 14 native signers and 17 non-native signers. They completed simultaneous interpreting tasks from English into Auslan and vice versa, an English listening span task and an Auslan working memory span task; each interpreting task was followed by a short semi-structured interview. Quantitative results for the sample as a whole showed no significant correlations between bilingual WMC and overall simultaneous interpreting performance in either direction. The same trend was established for both the native signers and the non-native signers, considered as two separate groups. The findings thus suggest that professional signed language interpreters’ WMC as measured by complex span tasks is not closely associated with the overall quality of their simultaneous interpreting performance. Data regarding educational and professional background showed mixed patterns in relation to participants’ interpreting performance in each language direction. In the interviews, participants reported various triggers of cognitive overload in the simultaneous interpreting tasks (e.g. numbers, lists of items, a long time lag, dense information, fatigue) and mentioned their coping strategies (e.g. strategic omissions, summarization, generalization, adjusting time lag).

中文翻译：

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工作记忆能力与同声传译之间的关系：专业澳大利亚/英语口译员的混合方法研究

这项实验研究调查了手语译员的工作记忆能力（WMC）与其同声翻译性能之间的关系。共有31位专业的澳大利亚手语（澳大利亚手语）/英语口译员参加：14位本地签名者和17位非本地签名者。他们完成了英语同声传译到澳大利亚的翻译任务，反之亦然，英语听力跨度任务和澳大利亚的工作记忆跨度任务；每次口译任务后都会进行简短的半结构化访谈。整个样本的定量结果表明，双语WMC与任一方向的整体同声传译性能之间无显着相关性。对于本地签名者和非本地签名者都建立了相同的趋势，这被视为两个独立的组。因此，调查结果表明，通过复杂跨度任务衡量的专业手语口译员的WMC与他们同声传译性能的整体质量并没有紧密联系。有关教育和专业背景的数据显示出与参与者在每种语言方向上的口译表现有关的混合模式。在访谈中，参与者报告了同声传译任务中认知超负荷的各种触发因素（例如，数量，项目清单，长时间滞后，密集信息，疲劳），并提到了他们的应对策略（例如，战略遗漏，总结，概括，调整时间）落后）。