SERVICE QUALITY MODEL &; EXPECTATION ANALYSIS OF CONFERENCE INTERPRETING

• Main Authors: Vivienne Hsiaowen Lin, 林曉汶
• Other Authors: Dr. Tze-wei Chen
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2014
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/79315488339062649325

碩士 === 國立臺灣師範大學 === 翻譯研究所 === 102 === Since 20th Century, the conference interpreting community has been dedicating efforts in the search of “what it takes for excellence” in the profession. Regardless of the endeavors, frustrations have been experienced by the community in the pursuit of quality. With emerging efforts dedicated to understanding users, in absence of a valid quality measurement instruments that can be applied across the board, empirical studies in the field has limited comparability. In addressing this issue, this study develops a service quality model and service quality measurement instrument to measure clients’ expectations in conference interpreting service. This model and instrument is confirmed with high validity, and can be used to learn clients’ expectations on service quality in different countries for comparison. It can also be expanded by adding/revising service dimensions or attributes for interpreting services in different settings. With this model and instrument, this study goes beyond the existing quality attributes embraced by the interpreting community which focus mainly on linguistic and interpreting skill related attributes, and introduces a new dimension of conference interpreting quality—the functional quality, then proves with findings that it is equally important as the technical quality to the clients’ perception of service quality. As the first empirical study on client expectation regarding both the functional and technical quality attributes of conference interpreting, this study finds that though a “satisfactory level” of technical quality in conference interpreting is the prerequisite to positive quality perceptions and satisfaction of clients, beyond that level, functional quality starts to play a vital role. Interpreters who wish to advance their business should acknowledge the significance of functional quality, particularly the attributes related to attitude and communication. In proving the advantages of service quality in the context of conference interpreting, this study finds that the perceived service quality of conference interpreting has a positive correlation with client satisfaction, repurchase willingness, word of mouth, and price premium. These findings signify the critical role service quality plays in clients’ decision making process and imply that, to ensure client retention and gain referrals, conference interpreters need to deliver satisfactory service quality in terms of both technical and functional quality.