Does Intonation Matter? The impact of monotony on listener comprehension

Abstract

The study described in this paper aims to investigate whether monotony has a negative impact on audience comprehension. Whereas in previous research intonational deviations were produced mainly through voice acting, the present study employs digital audio editing to produce two versions of one and the same simultaneous interpretation. This method allows the researcher to modify intonation leaving other speech parameters unchanged. The material thus produced was validated by a pool of experts and submitted to several randomised groups of listeners in a simulated conference setting. Analysis showed that monotony can have a negative impact on both comprehension and the assessment of the interpreter’s performance. These findings have major implications for both interpreting theory and practice.