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The Impact of Professional Experience on Simultaneous Interpreting Fluency and Terminology Fidelity: An Experimental Study within the Context of Saudi Vision 2030 Events

  1. 1. Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature, Department of English, College of Arts & Applied Sciences, Amran University, Amran, Yemen.
  2. 2. Associate Professor of English Literature & Comparative Studies, Department of English, College of Arts, University of Ha’il, Ha'il, Saudi Arabia.
  3. 3. A professor of English Literature, Department of English, Albaydha University, Al Bayda, Yemen.
Issue: Vol. 8 No. 4 (2026)
Published: 2026-11-13
DOI: 10.53286/3wbesf52

Abstract

Saudi Vision 2030 positions the Kingdom as a regional hub for international conferences, increasing demand for high-quality Arabic–English simultaneous interpreting. This study examines the effects of professional experience and elapsed time on interpreters’ performance, focusing on fluency, terminology fidelity, comprehension equivalence, and delivery naturalness. A quasi-experimental design was employed with 60 conference interpreters: 30 experienced professionals with at least three years of elite conference experience and 30 novices with less than one year of postgraduate conference experience. Participants completed a 25-minute simultaneous interpreting task based on technology and investment conference scenarios, evaluated independently by five certified interpreters using a standardized 100-point rubric. Repeated-measures ANOVA revealed significant main effects of professional experience and elapsed time, alongside a large experience-by-time interaction (F(1, 58) = 118.76, p < .001, ηp² = .672). Experienced interpreters maintained consistent fluency, whereas novices exhibited a 41.6% decline in fluency during the second half of the task, accompanied by lexical deterioration. Hierarchical multiple regression further indicated that booth experience and proactive cognitive strategies jointly explained 81.2% of the variance in sustained performance (R² = .812). These findings underscore the importance of structured practical training, strategic cognitive preparation, and curriculum reform to enhance interpreting competence and support national workforce localization objectives.

Keywords

Interpreter experience Simultaneous interpreting fluency Terminology fidelity Conference interpreting Saudi mega-events

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