DOI: 10.5255/ukda-sn-856687
title: Shaping Multilingual Access through Respeaking Technology, Project Data, 2021

description: The recent global surge in audiovisual content has emphasized the importance of accessibility for wider audiences. The SMART project addressed this by exploring interlingual respeaking, a novel practice combining speech recognition technology with human interpreting and subtitling skills to produce real-time, high-quality speech-to-text services across languages. This method evolved from intralingual respeaking, which is widely used in broadcasting to create live subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. Interlingual respeaking, which involves translating live content into another language and subtitling it, could revolutionize subtitle production for foreign-language content, overcoming sensory and language barriers.

Interlingual respeaking is defined as a type of simultaneous interpreting, producing text with minimal delay. It involves two shifts: interlingual (from one language to another) and intermodal (from spoken to written). This practice combines the challenges of simultaneous interpreting with the requirements of subtitling. Respeakers must accurately convey messages in another language to a speech recognition system, adding punctuation and making real-time edits for clarity and readability. This method leverages speech recognition technology and human translation skills to ensure efficient and high-quality translated subtitles.

Interlingual respeaking offers immense potential for making multilingual content accessible to international and hearing-impaired audiences. It's particularly relevant for television, conferences, and live events. However, research into its feasibility, accuracy, and the skills required for language professionals is still in its early stages.

The SMART project aimed to address these research gaps. It focused on the cognitive and interpersonal profiles needed for successful interlingual respeaking. The project extended a pilot study, including language professionals from interpreting, subtitling, translation, and intralingual respeaking, to explore how cognitive and interpersonal factors influence learning and performance in this field.

The SMART project's main goals were to study interlingual respeaking's complexity, focusing on the acquisition and implementation of relevant skills, and the accuracy of the final subtitles. The research involved 23 postgraduate students with backgrounds in interpreting, subtitling, and intralingual respeaking.

The research program examined three areas: process, product, and upskilling. It sought to understand the variables contributing to language professionals' performance, challenges faced during performance, and how performance can be sustained. Regarding the product, it aimed to identify factors affecting the accuracy of interlingual respeaking and the impact of various individual and content characteristics on accuracy. For upskilling, the focus was on the challenges and strengths of the training course.

Key findings included the importance of working memory in predicting high performance and the enhancement of certain cognitive abilities through training. Interpersonal traits like conscientiousness and integrated regulation were also examined. In terms of product accuracy, the average was 95.37%, with omissions being the strongest negative predictor of accuracy. High performers outperformed low performers across all scenarios.

The upskilling course was innovative, focusing on modular training and combining intralingual and interlingual practices. It addressed real-world challenges and was tailored to different professional backgrounds. The approach proved effective, with 82% of participants finding the course met their expectations and 86% acknowledging its challenging nature. The study confirmed the benefits of a modular and personalized training approach, highlighting the need for flexibility and adaptability to different skill levels and backgrounds.