MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

DIPLOMATIC ACADEMY OF VIETNAM

ENGLISH FACULTY

H TRM ANH

IMPACTS OF NON-NATIVE ENGLISH ACCENTS IN SOURCE

SPEECHES ON CONSECUTIVE INTERPRETING SEEN FROM
TWO INTERPRETING TRAINING SESSIONS
(SUMMARY)

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS

Hanoi, May 2016

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

DIPLOMATIC ACADEMY OF VIETNAM
ENGLISH FACULTY

H TRM ANH

IMPACTS OF NON-NATIVE ENGLISH ACCENTS IN SOURCE

SPEECHES ON CONSECUTIVE INTERPRETING SEEN FROM
TWO INTERPRETING TRAINING SESSIONS
(SUMMARY)

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS

SUPERVISOR: ASSOC. PROF. DR. KIU TH THU HNG

Hanoi, May 2016

APPROVED BY SUPERVISOR

Assoc. Prof. Dr. KIU TH THU HNG

Date: May 18th , 2016.

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Rationale for the study
There is a great diversity in the use of English worldwide, leading to
variations of the language, notably in terms of accents. Interpreters and
interpreter-trainees usually encounter with a variety of accents from speakers
whose first languages are not English. The deviation of such accents from
what is commonly considered standard English pronunciation has been
proven to cause problems in interpreting such as communication breakdown
and severe misunderstanding. This graduation paper is conducted with the
hope that it will serve as a useful reference for those who are interested in
working as interpreters or doing reseach on interpretation regarding the
impacts of non-native accents in source speeches on interpreter-trainees
performance.
1.2 Aims and objectives of the study
Entitled Impacts of non-native English accents in source speeches on
consecutive interpreting seen from two interpreting training sessions, the
study explores the relationship between speakers non-native accents and
interpreter-trainees consecutive interpreting performance through a case study
of two training sessions among a group of eleven trainees in a specialized
interpreting course. The major objectives of this study are as follows:
Firstly, investigating and analyzing the impacts of non-native accents
in

source

speeches

on

interpreter-trainees

consecutive

interpreting

performance.
Secondly, recommending solutions for interpreter-trainees and
interpreters to overcome difficulties when working with speakers with nonnative accents.

1.3 Reseach questions

The study focuses on answering these research questions:
1. What are possible impacts of non-native accents on interpretertrainees performance regarding consecutive interpreting?
2. What are some recommendations for interpreter-trainees and
interpreters when working with speakers with non-native accents?
1.4. Research methods
The study uses qualitative, descriptive and analytic methods. The
writer has observed, recorded, analyzed and evaluated the performance of each
trainee in the sessions, in accordance with different types of accents provided
in the videos, with the active participation of the writer herself as a member of
the examined group. A naturalistic approach to collecting and analyzing data is
advisable, hence the writers choice of role and position throughout the study
as a participant/insider observer.
1.5. Significance of the study
Hopefully, this study will contribute to the knowledge of DAV
students, especially those who specialize in English and those who are
interested in becoming interpreters and want to improve their English
competence via interpreting practice. The paper also hopes to raise awareness
of the possible strategies which can be used to optimize interpreters
performance when working with accented English.
1.6. Scope of the study
Due to time constraints, lack of authentic reference materials, data
scarcity and the writers limited capacity, this study takes into consideration
only two interpreting training sessions from one interpreting course. The study
only examines the performances of interpreter-trainees since it has been

impossible to obtain data from professional interpreters performance. Only

accentual and prosodic aspects are investigated in the study, without the
examination of other related aspects that can also influence trainees
performance.
1.7. Organization of the study
The study is organized into four chapters as follows:
Chapter 1 (Introduction) introduces the rationale, objectives, research
questions, methodology, data collection and significance of the study.
Chapter 2 (Literature Review) provides a theoretical framework and
synopsis of the relevant knowledge obtained from previous studies, journals
and published works.
Chapter 3 (The Case Study) presents an overview and detailed
description of the case study and final findings related to the hypothesis.
Chapter 4 (Conclusions and Recommendations) reviews the findings,
points out the studys limitations and recommends further studies.

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Concepts of conference interpreting
2.1.1. Conference interpreting
Conference interpreting is a practice which deals exclusively with
oral communication: rendering a message from one language into another,
naturally and fluently, adopting the delivery, tone and convictions of the
speaker and speaking in the first person. (European Commission, 2013).
According to Jones (2002, p.5), conference interpreting includes two different
modes: consecutive interpreting and simultaneous interpreting.
2.1.2. Consecutive interpreting
Consecutive interpreting means interpreters only start interpreting
after the speakers finish their speeches (or a part of their speeches). Jones
(2002, p.11) has then proposed three fundamental stages in the work of a
consecutive interpreter: understanding, analyzing and re-expressing.
2.2. Accents and consecutive interpreting performance
2.2.1. Accents
2.2.1.1. Concepts of accents
Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary (2005, p.7) has defined accent
as: A way of pronouncing the words of a language that shows which country,
area or social class a person comes from. Beckman (1986, p.1) has stated:
accent means a system of syntagmatic contrasts used to construct prosodic
patterns which divide an utterance into a succession of shorter phrases and to
specify relationships among these patterns which organize them into larger
phrasal groupings.
2.2.1.2. Standard English and Standard English pronunciation
A sole definition of the so-called Standard English is virtually non-

existent. It is similar for pronunciation. Quirk and Greenbaum (1976, p.5) has
proposed the Received Pronunciation (RP) in British English (BrE), which is
least far-flung from the standard and is universally accredited.
2.2.1.3. Native and non-native accents
Accents are categorized into two types: native and non-native. A
native accent is one used by people whose native tongue is English. In
contrast, non-native accent is often defined as any accent made by speakers
whose native tongue is not English. Non-native accents are often identified and
distinguished by their deviation from native or standard accent, which is
[] a reflection of our past experiences: languages known, regional and
social upbringing, educational background and affiliations with various speech
communities and social networks. (Moyer, 2013, p.12)
2.2.2. Problems with accents
2.2.2.1. Problems with non-native English phonetics and phonology
Roach (1998, p.188) has proposed two categories of differences
between accents: phonetic and phonological. The criteria used to determine the
extent of differences between native and non-native accents are intonation,
loudness, pitch, rhythm, length, juncture and stress as proposed by Moyer
(2013, p.19).
Rau and Chang (as cited in Lin, Chang & Kuo, 2003, p.3) have stated
that phonemic deviations result from ESL and EFL speakers tendency to
substitute English phonemes that do not exist in their native language with
existing ones.
There are English consonants which are unique and do not exist in
other languages. For example, the sound // is not in the inventory of
Vietnamese phonemes. Another phonemic difference between native and non-

native accents is how native and non-native speakers produce vowel sounds.
ESL and EFL speakers often replace long vowel sounds with shorter ones. As a
result, hearers find it hard to understand which vowels are being pronounced
and might even misinterpret the words.
2.2.2.2. Problems with non-native English prosody
When listening to non-native speeches, interpreters should also take
aspects such as stress, intonation, rhythm and tone into consideration. For
example, intonation often serves to express the functions of utterances as well
as the speakers emotions. Moreover, stress and rhythm are also very important
factors. Wrong stress in word level and even sentence level may cause great
deviation to the interpreters comprehension of the original speech.
2.2.3. Accents and consecutive interpreting
2.2.3.1. Giles Effort Models
Gile (2009, p.160-165) has proposed the Effort Models of Interpreting
as follows: 1. Listening and Analysis Effort; 2. Production Effort; 3.
Memory Effort and 4. Coordination Effort.
Kurz (2008, p.179) has stated: Non-native source texts which deviate
from familiar acoustic-phonetic patterns make perception more difficult for the
interpreter, who, according to Giles Effort Models, is forced to devote a
considerable part of his processing to the Listening and Analysis Effort.
2.2.3.2. Giles Comprehension Equation
Gile (1995) puts forward the Comprehension Equation, which
explains the relationship between speech comprehension, the knowledge of
language and extra-linguistic knowledge (as cited in Yiya, 2009, p.5): C =
KL + ELK

(C: Comprehension, KL: Knowledge of Language, ELK: Extralinguistic Knowledge)

In order to achieve full comprehension of the source speech,
interpreters are advised to possess both the knowledge of language and
background knowledge.
2.2.3.3. Accents and Interpreting
Pochhacker (2004, p.129) asserted: What interpreters loosely refer to
as foreign accent goes far beyond the non-standard pronunciation of
individual phonemes and extends to deviations at supra-segmental as well as
lexical and syntactic levels. There is an undeniably close relationship between
the various types of accents used by speakers and interpreters performance.
Ng Quang Anh has stated that non-native accents can have profound
impacts on the quality of a consecutive interpretation in terms of amount of
delay, interruption of thoughts and analysis and short-term memory efficiency
(personal communication, April 26, 2016).
CHAPTER 3: THE CASE STUDY
3.1. Methodology
3.1.1. Context of the study and research design
The study has been conducted at the English Faculty, the Diplomatic
Academy of Vietnam. Eleven students from TA39C (including the writer) with
the highest English scores and similar English proficiency have participated in
the interpreting course. The lessons took place regularly and each session
lasted for approximately 2 hours. During each session, trainees were required
to consecutively interpret fragments of a source speech from a video prepared
by the lecturers.

3.1.3. Data collection and analysis procedure

The data have been collected thoroughly through class observation,
note-taking and interviewing. The notes taken during the abovementioned
sessions serve as assets for the evaluation of the trainees performance. The
interview with Mr. Ng Quang Anh Deputy Director General of the National
Interpretation and Translation Center (MOFA) was conducted in order to
reinforce the writers hypotheses. The notes were analyzed in order to find the
recurring themes for the trainees performance and help identify difficulties
that these interpreter-trainees meet while giving their renditions of the nonnative source speeches. Qualitative, descriptive and analytic approaches are
utilized in the data analysis procedure.
3.2. Results and Discussion
3.2.1. Results
3.2.1.1. Session 1: Child Marriage video
The session took place on 1 October 2015, with Ms. N.T.P
(professional interpreter of MOFA) as the lecturer. The trainees were asked to
take turns and give a consecutive interpretation of a part of the speech. The
video in this session consists of both native and non-native speakers. The
video summarizes the child marriage issue around the world. Trainees
completed the task with the assistance of note-taking and with the lecturers
guidance.
The interpreting performance of interpreter-trainees indicates that the
majority of trainees did not have much trouble interpreting from native speakers
whose accents are considered standard and are familiar to them. In contrary, nonnative accents have posed considerable challenges to the process of listening
comprehension and analysis, making it much more difficult for trainees to give a

punctuate, fluent, adequate and accurate rendition of the source speeches.

3.2.1.2. Session 2: Farewell speech to the Director General of WTO by
Chairman Shahid Bashir
The session took place on 10 December 2015, with the instruction of
Ms. N.H.Y (part-time interpreter, lecturer at DAV). The trainees were asked to
take turns and give a consecutive interpretation of one part of the speech in the
video. The speech was made by Mr. Shahid Bashir, Chairman of the WTO
General Council meeting on 24 July 2013, as a farewell speech to WTOs
former Director General, Mr. Pascal Lamy.
The speakers non-native (Pakistani) accent profoundly influenced the
interpreter-trainees performance, distorting their attention and short-term
memory, disrupting their listening comprehension and causing information
loss as well as inaccurate interpretation. His non-native accent also compelled
trainees to put more effort into listening comprehension, thus less effort is
placed on other processes such as memorizing and note-taking. The more nonnative accents deviated from the native accent, the more difficult it is for
interpreter-trainees to interpret.
3.2.2. Discussion
Firstly, all participants of the case study found it hard to listen to and
comprehend speeches given by non-native English speakers. Secondly, there is
a great gap between the participants interpretations of native speakers and that
of non-native speakers. Thirdly, the non-native accents compelled interpretertrainees to place the majority of their mental capacity on the Listening
Comprehension Effort. Finally, the inexperience of interpreter-trainees and the
fact that they are largely unfamiliar with different types of accents and their
diversity also contributes to the low quality of their performance.

CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION
4.2 Major findings
1. Interpreter-trainees performed consecutive interpreting better when
they interpret from speakers of native accent than from speakers of non-native
accent. Their performance decreased significantly when they interpreted from
non-native speakers.
2. Non-native accents interfere with interpreter-trainees cognitive
processes in consecutive interpreting, thus demand them to put more effort into
the listening and analyzing. The deviated accents either (i) distracted their
attention, (ii) disrupt their train of thoughts or (iii) distorted their ability of
listening comprehension.
3.

Non-native

accents

can

cause

misunderstanding

and

misinterpretation of the source speeches. Interpreter-trainees were unable to

give a successful rendition of the source speeches; there was omission of
important information and misinterpretation.
4.2. Suggested solutions
4.2.1. Solutions
4.2.1.1. Listening to source speeches with non-native accents and
practicing interpreting from them
Ng Quang Anh has claimed that the interpreter-trainees and
interpreters exposure to English in general and to non-native English accents
in particular plays an important role in determining their performance
(personal communication, April 26, 2016). Therefore, listening to non-native
speeches and practicing interpreting from non-native speakers can be
considered a helpful solution for interpreters and trainees to get accustomed to
different types of accents and enhance their comprehension capacity.

10

4.2.1.2. Accumulating background knowledge and expanding vocabulary

range
Ng Quang Anh has argued that most interpreter-trainees and novice
interpreters have not had adequate exposure to extra-linguistic in-depth
knowledge, and as a result they have had difficulties with tackling non-native
speeches about highly professional topics such as medical, health, information
technology, etc. It is advisable for interpreter-trainees and interpreters to enrich
their knowledge on various fields and enhance the proficiency of their active
languages.
4.2.2. Strategies while interpreting from non-native speakers
4.2.2.1. Anticipation, inference and guesswork
Many professional

interpreters

and

scholars

have

suggested

anticipating and guessing as effective strategies to cope with difficulties cause

by non-native accents. According to Ng Quang Anh, it is advisable that
anticipation, inference and guesswork are based on the context where the
speeches are being given, on the relevance to previous expressions, on the
topics of the speeches, etc.
4.2.2.2. Omission
According to Ng Quang Anh, interpreting is about comprehending
and rendering the broad message, not the supporting details. Therefore, it is
not obligatory for interpreters and interpreter-trainees to interpret everything
from the source speech.
4.3 Implications
This graduation paper provides several implications in both theoretical
and practical aspects:

11

1. For interpreter-trainees, the study may provide useful guidance on

working with non-native accents in source speeches while practicing
consecutive interpreting and overcoming non-native accents difficulties in
authentic contexts.
2. For interpreting lecturers, this paper may offer some suggestions to
teaching consecutive interpreting from non-native source speeches.
3. For professional interpreters, the study may serve as a brief
reflection of the theories and interpreter-trainees actual experience regarding
the phenomenon.
4.4 Limitations and Suggestions for further research
The studys limitations are presented as follows:
1. The collection, analysis and evaluation of the data are carried out in
a highly subjective manner with the writer herself being one of the
participants.
2. The deterioration of participants performance could also stem from
their lack of background knowledge, the interpreting environment, their lack of
experience, etc., in other words non-verbal factors, without the actual influence
of non-native accents
These limitations may also become useful suggestions for further
studies. Firstly, future studies of the impacts of accents on interpreting will
take into consideration not only the consecutive interpreting model but also
simultaneous model. More studies could also be conducted on interpreting
from English speeches given by Vietnamese speakers and the impacts of
Vietnamese speakers distinctive deviated accent on interpreters performance.
A thorough, holistic study of Vietnamese English accent and its influence on
interpreters performance would be very useful for interpreters and trainees.

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