• 2.

Adjustment/Re-expression skill

It is a vital step in the interpreting process.

The interpreter should adjust

structure, correct mistakes and add
the missing information with the
new content he receives.

Three types of adjustment:

1. Timely adjustment
2. Adding information
3. Reconstructing the segmental information in context
 Adjustment
/Re-expression skill
Zhang Weiwei (1999) has asserted that
interpreters can follow the principle of
syntactic linearity during interpreting.

It means that the interpreters follow the

order of the source language, segmenting
the input sentences into sense groups,
concepts or information units and then
naturally linking them together by some
techniques so as to interpret the original
meaning of the whole discourse.
 But, how if there are
differences in expressing
adverbial modifiers
about time and place ?
 Timely Adjustment

In English, the adverbial modifiers about

time and place are usually placed in the
end of a sentence, which is quite
different from the Indonesian structure
Based on the original structure, such sentence ―I
went to Holiday Inn // for a seminar // at 10
o’clock // yesterday.‖ will be: Saya ke hotel Holiday
// untuk seminar // jam 10 // kemarin

Here, adjustment will play an

important role in making the target
version better. In fact, such sentence
will be handled like this:
Saya ke hotel holiday // untuk mengikuti
seminar// seminarnya diadakan pukul 10
kemarin pagi.
Then, how about if there
is culture difference?
 Timely Adjustment

Due to the difference in culture and habits,

sometimes, interpreters need add some
words or change the sentence
Based on the original structure, such sentence
structure to express the speaker’s meaning.
―Especially in the middle and lower reaches of
the river, the water energy is concentrated, the
transportation is convenient, the engineering
volume is small, and the geographical position is
good, so it is listed as one of the top ten
Terutama pada bagian tengah dan hilir sungai ditandai oleh air hydropower bases by the country.
yang terkonsentrasi energi, transportasi yang nyaman, jumlah
konstruksi yang kecil, serta situasi geografis yang baik sehingga
terdaftar sebagai salah satu dari sepuluh tenaga air terbesar di
negara ini.
 Lastly, how if the
interpreter fails to hear
or understand certain
segmental information?
 Reconstructing the segmental information in context

When the interpreter fails to hear or

understand certain segmental information in
the discourse, he can try to reconstruct it
His knowledge of language, his understanding of
with the help of the context.
the subject and the situation he is in may also help
him to reconstruct.

If it is successful, the reconstruction can result in full

recovery of the information

However, since we need to allocate time and processing capacity

on reconstruction, which may increase time pressure on the
interpreter, reconstruction from the context can be used only if
needed, but it should not be considered as a highly priority tactic.