Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-g4j75 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-11T06:31:56.138Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Taxing the bilingual mind: Effects of simultaneous interpreting experience on verbal and executive mechanisms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2019

Adolfo M. García Open the ORCID record for Adolfo M. García [Opens in a new window] ,
Edinson Muñoz  and
Boris Kogan Open the ORCID record for Boris Kogan [Opens in a new window]
Adolfo M. García*
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience (LPEN), Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience (INCYT), INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina Faculty of Education, National University of Cuyo (UNCuyo), Mendoza, Argentina
Edinson Muñoz
Affiliation:
Departamento de Lingüística y Literatura, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Santiago, Chile
Boris Kogan
Affiliation:
Institute of Basic and Applied Psychology and Technology (IPSIBAT), National University of Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina National Agency of Scientific and Technological Promotion (ANPCyT), Buenos Aires, Argentina
*
Author for correspondence: Adolfo M. García, Ph. D., E-mail: adolfomartingarcia@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper reviews the neurocognitive particularities of subjects with sustained experience in simultaneous interpreting, a highly demanding form of bilingual processing. The literature converges into three broad empirical patterns. First, significant neurocognitive differences, including behavioral enhancements in verbal and executive domains, are observable after only one or two years of training. Second, such effects, both in interpreting students and/or professional interpreters, seem robust for crucial linguistic (e.g., translation) and executive (e.g., working memory) aspects of the activity, but not for more marginally relevant ones (e.g., conflict resolution) – suggesting that they are non-generalizable beyond directly taxed functions. Third, though more tentatively, some of the observed verbal and executive effects seem to be mutually independent and uninfluenced by other bilingual-experience-related factors (e.g., L2 competence), which could highlight their distinctive relation with interpreting practice. In sum, this particular model of expertise sheds novel light on the adaptive capacity of cognitive systems in bilinguals.

Keywords

bilingualismsimultaneous interpretingneuroplasticityverbal processingexecutive functions
Type
Review Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 23 , Special Issue 4: Interpreting: A window into bilingual processing , August 2020 , pp. 729 - 739
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aben, B, Stapert, S and Blokland, A (2012) About the distinction between working memory and short-term memory. Frontiers in Psychology 3, 301.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Antonova Ünlü, E and Sağın Şimşek, Ç (2018) Testing the impact of formal interpreting training on working memory capacity: Evidence from Turkish-English students-interpreters. Lingua 209, 78–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aparicio, X, Heidlmayr, K and Isel, F (2017) Inhibition efficiency in highly proficient bilinguals and simultaneous interpreters: Evidence from language switching and Stroop tasks. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 46(6), 1427–1451.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Babcock, L and Vallesi, A (2017) Are simultaneous interpreters expert bilinguals, unique bilinguals, or both? Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 20, 403–417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Babcock, L, Capizzi, M, Arbula, S and Vallesi, A (2017) Short-term memory improvement after simultaneous interpretation training. Journal of Cognitive Enhancement 1(3), 254–267.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bajo, M, Padilla, F and Padilla, P (2000) Comprehension processes in simultaneous interpreting. In Chesterman, A, Gallardo, N and Gambier, Y (eds), Translation in Context. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 127–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barik, H (1975) Simultaneous interpretation: Qualitative and linguistic data. Language and Speech 18, 272–298.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Becker, M, Schubert, T, Strobach, T, Gallinat, J and Kühn, S (2016) Simultaneous interpreters vs. professional multilingual controls: Group differences in cognitive control as well as brain structure and function. NeuroImage 134, 250–260.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bialystok, E, Craik, F and Luk, G (2012) Bilingualism: Consequences for mind and brain. Trends in Cognitive Science 16(4), 240–250.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bosma, E, Hoekstra, E, Versloot, A and Blom, E (2017) The minimal and short-lived effects of minority language exposure on the executive functions of frisian-dutch bilingual children. Frontiers in Psychology 8, 1453.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Button, K, Ioannidis, J, Mokrysz, C, Nosek, B, Flint, J, Robinson, E & Munafò, M (2013) Power failure: why small sample size undermines the reliability of neuroscience. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 14, 365–376.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Calvo, N, García, A, Manoiloff, L and Ibáñez, A (2015) Bilingualism and cognitive reserve: A critical overview and a plea for methodological innovations. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience 7, 249.Google Scholar
Calvo, N, Ibáñez, A and García, A (2016) The impact of bilingualism on working memory: A null effect on the whole may not be so on the parts. Frontiers in Psychology 7, 265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cowan, N (2000) Processing limits of selective attention and working memory: Potential implications for interpreting. Interpreting 5, 117–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chee, M, Soon, C and Lee, H (2003) Common and segregated neuronal networks for different languages revealed using functional magnetic resonance adaptation. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 15, 85–97.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chernov, G (1994) Message redundancy and message anticipation in simultaneous interpretation. In Lambert, S and Moser-Mercer, B (eds), Bridging the Gap: Empirical Research in Simultaneous Interpretation. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 139–153.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chernov, G (2004) Inference and Anticipation in Simultaneous Interpreting: A Probability-prediction Model. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chincotta, D and Underwood, G (1998) Simultaneous interpreters and the effect of concurrent articulation on immediate memory A bilingual digit span study. Interpreting 3(1), 1–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chmiel, A (2016) In search of the working memory advantage in conference interpreting – Training, experience and task effects. International Journal of Bilingualism 22(3), 371–384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christoffels, I, de Groot, A and Waldorp, L (2003) Basic skills in a complex task: A graphical model relating memory and lexical retrieval to simultaneous interpreting. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 6(3), 201–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christoffels, I and de Groot, A (2005) Simultaneous interpreting: A cognitive perspective. In Kroll, J and de Groot, A (eds), Handbook of Bilingualism: Psycholinguistic Approaches. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 454–479.Google Scholar
Christoffels, I, de Groot, A and Kroll, J (2006) Memory and language skills in simultaneous interpreters: The role of expertise and language proficiency. Journal of Memory and Language 54, 324–345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Darò, V (1989) The role of memory and attention in simultaneous interpretation: A neurolinguistic approach. The Interpreters’ Newsletter 2, 50–56.Google Scholar
Darò, V and Fabbro, F (1994) Verbal memory during simultaneous interpretation: Effects of phonological interference. Applied Linguistics 15, 365–381.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dillinger, M (1990) Comprehension during interpreting: What do interpreters know that bilinguals don't? The Interpreters’ Newsletter 3, 41–58.Google Scholar
Dong, Y and Liu, Y (2016) Classes in translating and interpreting produce differential gains in switching and updating. Frontiers in Psychology 7, 1297.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dong, Y and Xie, Z (2014) Contributions of second language proficiency and interpreting experience to cognitive control differences among young adult bilinguals. Journal of Cognitive Psychology 26, 506–519.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dong, Y and Zhong, F (2017) Interpreting experience enhances early attentional processing, conflict monitoring and interference suppression along the time course of processing. Neuropsychologia 95, 193–203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dong, Y, Liu, Y and Cai, R (2018) How does consecutive interpreting training influence working memory: A longitudinal study of potential links between the two. Frontiers in Psychology 9, 875. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00875CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Elmer, S, Hänggi, J and Jäncke, L (2014) Processing demands upon cognitive, linguistic, and articulatory functions promote grey matter plasticity in the adult multilingual brain: Insights from simultaneous interpreters. Cortex 54, 179–189.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Elmer, S, Klein, C, Kuhnis, J, Liem, F, Meyer, M and Jäncke, L (2014) Music and language expertise influence the categorization of speech and musical sounds: behavioral and electrophysiological measurements. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 26, 2356–2369.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Elmer, S and Kühnis, J (2016) Functional connectivity in the left dorsal stream facilitates simultaneous language translation: An EEG study. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 10, 60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elmer, S, Meyer, M and Jäncke, L (2010) Simultaneous interpreters as a model for neuronal adaptation in the domain of language processing. Brain and Research 1317, 147–156.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fabbro, F, Gran, B and Gran, L (1991) Hemispheric specialization for semantic and syntactic components of language in simultaneous interpreters. Brain and Language 41, 1–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
García, A (2013) Brain activity during translation: A review of the neuroimaging evidence as a testing ground for clinically-based hypotheses. Journal of Neurolinguistics 26, 370–383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
García, A (2014) The interpreter advantage hypothesis: Preliminary data patterns and empirically motivated questions. Translation and Interpreting Studies 9, 219–238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
García, A (2015a) Psycholinguistic explorations of lexical translation equivalents: Thirty years of research and their implications for cognitive translatology. Translation Spaces 4, 9–28.Google Scholar
García, A (2015b) Translating with an injured brain: Neurolinguistic aspects of translation as revealed by bilinguals with cerebral lesions. Meta 60, 112–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
García, A, Ibáñez, A, Huepe, D, Houck, A, Michon, M, Gelormini, C and Rivera-Rei, Á (2014) Word reading and translation in bilinguals: The impact of formal and informal translation expertise. Frontiers in Psychology 5, 1302.Google ScholarPubMed
Gerver, D (1975) A psychological approach to simultaneous interpretation. Meta 20, 119–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gerver, D (1976) Empirical studies of simultaneous interpretation: A review and a model. In Briskin, R (ed.), Translation: Applications and Research. New York: Gardner, pp. 165–207.Google Scholar
Grant, A, Fang, S and Li, P (2015) Second language lexical development and cognitive control: A longitudinal fMRI study. Brain and Language 144, 35–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Henrard, S and Van Daele, A (2017) Different bilingual experiences might modulate executive tasks advantages: Comparative analysis between monolinguals, translators, and interpreters. Frontiers in Psychology 8, 1870.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hervais-Adelman, A, Moser-Mercer, B, Michel, C and Golestani, N (2014) fMRI of simultaneous interpretation reveals the neural basis of extreme language control. Cerebral Cortex 25, 4727–4739.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hervais-Adelman, A, Moser-Mercer, B and Golestani, N (2015) Brain functional plasticity associated with the emergence of expertise in extreme language control. NeuroImage 114, 264–274.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hervais-Adelman, A, Moser-Mercer, B, Murray, M and Golestani, N (2017) Cortical thickness increases after simultaneous interpretation training. Neuropsychologia 98, 212–219.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hervais-Adelman, A, Moser-Mercer, B and Golestani, N (2018) Commentary: Broca pars triangularis constitutes a “hub” of the language-control network during simultaneous language translation. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 12, 22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hiltunen, S and Vik, G-V (2017) Interpreters – experts in careful listening and efficient encoding? Findings of a prose recall test. International Journal of Bilingualism 21(2), 194–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hiltunen, S, Paakkonen, R, Vik, G-V and Krause, C (2016) On interpreters’ working memory and executive control. International Journal of Bilingualism 20(3), 297–314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Injoque-Ricle, I, Barreyro, J, Formoso, J and Jaichenco, V (2015) Expertise, working memory and articulatory suppression effect: Their relation with simultaneous interpreting performance. Advances in Cognitive Psychology 11, 56–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klein, D, Zatorre, R, Chen, J, Milner, B, Crane, J, Belin, P and Bouffard, M (2006) Bilingual brain organization: a functional magnetic resonance adaptation study. Neuroimage 31, 366–375.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Köpke, B and Nespoulous, J (2006) Working memory performance in expert and novice interpreters. Interpreting 8, 1–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koshkin, R and Ossadtchi, A (2017) Commentary: Functional connectivity in the left dorsal stream facilitates simultaneous language translation: An EEG study. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 11, 64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lehtonen, M, Soveri, A, Laine, A, Järvenpää, J, de Bruin, A and Antfolk, J (2018) Is bilingualism associated with enhanced executive functioning in adults? A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin 144(4), 394–425.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Li, P, Zhang, F, Tsai, E and Puls, B (2014) Language history questionnaire (LHQ 2.0): A new dynamic web-based research tool. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 17(03), 673–680.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linck, J, Osthus, P, Koeth, J and Bunting, M (2014) Working memory and second language comprehension and production: A meta-analysis. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 21, 861–883.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lucas, T, McKhann, G and Ojemann, G (2004) Functional separation of languages in the bilingual brain: a comparison of electrical stimulation language mapping in 25 bilingual patients and 117 monolingual control patients. Journal of Neurosurgery 101, 449–457.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luk, G, Green, D, Abutalebi, J and Grady, C (2011) Cognitive control for language switching in bilinguals: A quantitative meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies. Language and Cognitive Processes 27, 1479–1488.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Macnamara, B and Conway, A (2014) Novel evidence in support of the bilingual advantage: Influences of task demands and experience on cognitive control and working memory. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 21(2), 520–525.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Macnamara, B and Conway, A (2016) Working memory capacity as a predictor of simultaneous language interpreting performance. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition 5, 434–444.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maguire, E, Valentine, E, Wilding, J and Kapur, N (2002) Routes to remembering: The brains behind superior memory. Nature Neuroscience 6, 90–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malt, B, Li, P, Pavlenko, A, Zhu, H and Ameel, E (2015) Bidirectional lexical interaction in late immersed Mandarin-English bilinguals. Jounal of Memory and Language 82, 86–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matusevych, Y, Alishahi, A and Backus, A (2015) The impact of first and second language exposure on learning second language constructions. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 20, 128–149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miyake, A and Friedman, N (2012) The nature and organization of individual differences in executive functions: Four general conclusions. Current Directions in Psychological Science 21, 8–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morales, J, Padilla, F, Gomez-Ariza, C and Bajo, M (2015) Simultaneous interpretation selectively influences working memory and attentional networks. Acta Psychologica 155, 82–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Padilla, F, Bajo, M and Macizo, P (2005) Articulatory suppression in language interpretation: Working memory capacity, dual tasking and word knowledge. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 8(3), 207–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paradis, M (1994) Towards a neurolinguistic theory of simultaneous translation: The framework. International Journal of Psycholinguistics 10, 319–335.Google Scholar
Pöchhacker, F (2004) Introducing Interpreting Studies. New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosiers, A, Woumans, E, Duyck, W and Eyckmans, J (2019) Investigating the presumed cognitive advantage of aspiring interpreters. Interpreting 21(1), 115–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Santilli, M, Gonzalez, M, Mikulan, E, Martorell, M, Muñoz, E, Sedeño, L and García, A (2018) Bilingual memory, to the extreme: Lexical processing in simultaneous interpreters. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. doi: 10.1017/S1366728918000378Google Scholar
Stavrakaki, S, Megari, K, Kosmidis, M, Apostolidou, M and Takou, E (2012) Working memory and verbal fluency in simultaneous interpreters. Journal of Clinincal and Experimental Neuropsychology 34(6), 624–633.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Szarkowska, A, Krejtz, K, Dutka, Ł and Pilipczuk, O (2018) Are interpreters better respeakers? The Interpreter and Translator Trainer, doi: 10.1080/1750399X.2018.1465679CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Signorelli, T, Haarmann, H and Obler, L (2012) Working memory in simultaneous interpreters: Effects of task and age. International Journal of Bilingualism 16, 198–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strobach, T, Becker, M, Schubert, T and Kühn, S (2015) Better dual-task processing in simultaneous interpreters. Frontiers in Psychology 6, 1590.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tzou, Y, Eslami, Z, Chen, H and Vaid, J (2012) Effect of language proficiency and degree of formal training in simultaneous interpreting on working memory and interpreting performance: Evidence from Mandarin-English speakers. International Journal of Bilingualism 16, 213–227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van de Putte, E, De Baene, W, García-Pentón, L, Woumans, E, Dijkgraaf, A and Duyck, W (2018) Anatomical and functional changes in the brain after simultaneous interpreting training: A longitudinal study. Cortex 99, 243–257.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yudes, C, Macizo, P and Bajo, M (2011) The influence of expertise in simultaneous interpreting on non-verbal executive processes. Frontiers in Psychology 2, 309.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yudes, C, Macizo, P and Bajo, M (2012) Coordinating comprehension and production in simultaneous interpreters: Evidence from the Articulatory Suppression Effect. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 15(2), 329–339.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yudes, C, Macizo, P, Morales, L and Bajo, M (2013) Comprehension and error monitoring in simultaneous interpreters. Applied Psycholinguistics 34, 1039–1057.CrossRefGoogle Scholar