The interpreting process is a very complex process.

You can click on the picture at the right to see the

break down better. The message must be taken in and that original language is called the source
language (sL). It is then analyzed for meaning, and then produced in the language of the audience called
the target language (tL). 

What is involved in analysis of the source message and composition of the target message? Some
aspects of the context are: Setting, Participants, Languages (ASL and English), Cultures and values.

Colonomos divides the process skills needed for interpretation into analysis and composition. In
analysis, the interpreter must derive meaning from the source message by attending and blocking
distraction (side conversations, inner noise, heavy accent), storing information in short-term memory
(names of people, dates, lists of things), accessing long-term memory for things already known by the
interpreter to understand what was said conceptually.

After the message has been broken down by analysis, the interpreter must use composition to restate
the message in the target language using linguistic and cultural knowledge to state the message in a way
that is comprehensible to the audience, access short-term memory for those items stored there during
analysis, re-access long-term memory to help plan the production of the target message, and then
actually produce the interpretation.  A speaker will often do this planning before s/he presents, and will
tweak the message as s/he is monitoring him/herself and the audience, but sometimes s/he will actually
pause and gather his/her thoughts.

Process management is what an interpreter does to accomplish analysis and composition when there
are so many competing tasks to accomplish. The interpreter needs to pause at times to get a clear
picture of what the message is or what the meaning is (lag time), chunk related words or ideas together
into a manageable whole, monitor if everything is going along smoothly, make decisions about asking
for clarification or restatement of what the speaker (this includes signer) said, decide if a portion of the
target message needs to be repaired, and decide if one's team interpreter needs to offer help.

It should be obvious that one must have as deep a knowledge as possible of both languages and
cultures. Content knowledge about the world (science, history, math, religion, and so on) helps the
interpreter gain meaning from a speaker instead of having to both learn the material and "teach" the
material simultaneously in the case of educational interpreting. Interpreters prepare beforehand by
making themselves as aware and knowledgeable about the topic at hand as much as possible. This may
be specific to an assignment topic or to a speaker (reading ahead in the textbook for a class one is
interpreting) or general (learning new ideas before one "has to" interpret them).

Colonomos actually takes this idea of preparation and expands it a good deal by talking about such
things as getting enough sleep and staying healthy, cultivating confidence, managing stress, meeting
with the speaker beforehand, learning who all the participants are and what the environment will be like
(room, outdoor area, auditorium), and meeting with team members and coordinators. There is also an
internal environment inside the interpreter that can lead to "noise", that is thoughts or feelings that nag
at the interpreter while s/he is trying to work: hunger, fatigue, illness, repulsion at the topic, lack of
confidence. Working on minimizing these will lead to a better interpretation.

During concentrating, the interpreter seeks to understand the source message. While the interpreter
listens, s/he must attend and analyze how what is being said relates to the main goal. In representing,
the interpreter must analyze the representation of the source message until it is stripped of language
and remains as an idea or series of ideas beyond language. This representation can be a series of still
pictures, an on-going movie, an abstract image, a feeling of movement within the body, remembered
smells or sounds, and so on. In planning, this representation is now composed into the other language
by assigning it words or signs. The interpreter must decide how to open and close sections of the
communication, make transitions from one idea to the next, watch for red flags that may require more
thought and requests for clarification, and finally deliver the target message. The target message goal is
always an equivalent source message product that is that no meaning was lost in the process of
switching over to the audience's target language (whether that be ASL or English).