The Cognitive Neural Mechanism of the Interpreter’s Information Processing: An Embodied Cognition Approach

The interpreter in interpreting is engaged in language perception, storage, retrieval, conversion and output of information. Information processing is an essential area in interpreting studies. This research aims to explore the cognitive neural mechanism of the interpreter’s information processing, in both embodied and disembodied contexts, from an Embodied Cognition perspective. The data was collected from interpreting corpora, Think Aloud Protocols (TAPs) and fMRI. The findings show that the interpreter trainees in the experimental group, due to embodied experience, outperformed the interpreter trainees in the control group in information processing and output. In addition, the two contrastive groups show a regular pattern of mental effort in processing the source textual structures. The best interpreted coherent section is the semi-embodied information, followed by the section representing embodied concepts, finally by the section representing non-embodied concepts. It may shed light on the theoretical research and pedagogical practice in interpreting, and especially on the cultivation of interdisciplinary translation talents for the Belt and Road Initiative.