The Kintsch and Van Dijk Model of Discourse Comprehension and Production Applied to the Interpretation Process

Abstract

Some contemporary models of conference interpretation (CI) are examined & a detailed discussion is given to W. Kintsch's & T. Van Dijk's model ("Toward a Model of Text Comprehension and Production," Psychological Review, 1978, 85, 363-394). The applicability of the model is discussed relative to data drawn from a corpus of consecutive & simultaneous interpretation. The model is a semantic processing model that specifies three sets of operations & posits organization on a series of levels from micro- to macrostructure. The model is found to fit processes involved in consecutive interpretation & to provide a good theoretical explanation of processes of comprehension & production in translation. 15 References. B. Annesser Murray