Strategies and capacity management in conference interpreting

The Chapter introduces the reader to the evolution of studies on strategies in interpreting studies and to the basic notions of working memory and capacity management: the cognitive underpinnings for the understanding of interpreting strategies as a research field. It analyses the scientific background best suited to a cognitive approach to the study of strategies as solutions applied by the interpreter when confronted with increased delivery speed, high information density, non-native accents, different language structures or other problem triggers. The first studies on strategies are introduced and then complemented by the recent debate about the differences between strategies and tactics. The subsequent sections present Gile’s Effort models and Kalina’s strategies model and a review of further studies ranging from those analysing strategies within the novice-expert paradigm to those investigating cognitive load through the application of strategies. Studies discussing the relevance of strategies for training further enhance the chapter.