Factors Affecting Consecutive Interpretation: An Investigation From L2 Learners’ Perspectives

Abstract

As people in the world are more interconnected, the need to communicate with each other, especially with those who do not share the same language, increases exponentially.  The role of an interpreter, therefore, becomes more crucial than ever. A growing body of research on interpretation aspects has been conducted, especially those related to the obstacles learners usually face when orally translating from one language to another. However, very few works, or even none, have focused on the problems that have the most influential effect on learners’ interpretation quality. This study aims to fill in such a gap by employing a survey design, with the participation of 82 Vietnamese undergraduates who were taking interpretation courses at a private university. The results from the descriptive analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and linear regression analysis showed that listening comprehension, unfamiliar contents and time pressure were the most challenging issues that the participants faced. Recommendations for students and teachers as well as for future researchers were also presented.