Cognitive behavior during consecutive interpreting: Describing the notetaking process

Abstract

Digital pen technologies have enabled new forms of interpreting and provided new ways to train interpreting students in consecutive interpreting; however, digital pens also provide an opportunity to collect interpreting process data that can serve as a proxy for cognitive behavior. This article examines the extant literature on notetaking and cognition to advocate for using digital pens to document the notetaking process and describes several ways in which this notetaking data can be analyzed to understand interpreter behavior. In addition, several potential research avenues are outlined to enhance the methodological tools available to undertake interpreting process research in dialogue and consecutive interpreting.

Keywords

• notetaking; metacognition; triangulation; process-oriented research; cognitive behavior; consecutive interpreting.