Code-mixing and simultaneous interpretation training

Abstract

According to the 1996 government census, 89% of Hong Kong residents claim Cantonese as their first language.However, the form of Cantonese that is used in Hong Kong has been labeled as the most Westernized Chinese dialect (Zhuang 1996).This study considers the influence of English code-mixing on Cantonese in the simultaneous interpretation (SI) of student interpreters.The impact of English on the Cantonese lexicon has been widely discused from historical, commercial, political and pedagogical perspectives.Yet the issue of codemixing in SI with a focus on Cantonese has been virtually ignored in the literature.The two major reasons for this are that most interpreters in Hong Kong are not engaged in conference interpreting research (CIR) and that the Cantonese dialect is only used extensively in Hong Kong and is therefore of less concern to CIR communities in China, Taiwan or the West.Code-mixing between Cantonese and English is pervasive among Hong Kong university students (Li 1996).Although English is the medium of instruction in most local secondary schools, teachers tend to use a mixture of English and Cantonese in classes as they find it more effective (Bauer and Benedict 1997).Students therefore become familiar with this form of codemixing and use it from the early stages of their secondary education (Tung 1997).Moreover, knowledge is introduced to university students in English, which is the designated medium of instruction at all tertiary institutions in Hong Kong.However, as Cantonese is the major linguistic vehicle for communication among students, they tend to develop code-mixing habits (Pennington et al. 1992). The Gravitational Model of linguistic availability, the Effort Model and SI training in Hong KongThe Gravitational Model of linguistic availability breaks down an individual's command of a language into variable and invariable aspects.The invariable aspect is comprised of "language elements the availability of which is assumed to be constant or to vary very slowly, including most basic rules of grammar and