Eye movements and gestures in simultaneous and consecutive interpreting

Cognitive processes underlying interpreting performance have long been a critical orientation within interpreting studies since 1980s (Pochhacker, 2015). As interpreting is a multimodal activity where language processing is not restricted to auditory perception and oral production, it is necessary to address the interpreting process from the perspective of bodily activities which act as "visible embodiment" in interpreting. Embodied cognition, associating sensorimotor experience with cognitive processing, is thus a promising path to the understanding of the interpreting process (Mahon & Caramazza, 2008). Stachowiak-Szymczak's pioneering book Eye movements and gestures in simultaneous and consecutive interpreting (2019) draws our attention to embodied cognition in interpreting studies. This book is the first in-depth monograph stressing the role of multi-modal processing in interpreting, reflecting new trends in the field. The author devotes the first four chapters to discussing the multimodal nature of spoken language and embodiment in simultaneous and consecutive interpreting. The last two chapters present a mixed factorial study to explore how eye movements and beat gestures are modulated in interpreting. Stachowiak-Szymczak begins the book with an introduction that highlights two main issues: first, "eye movements and gestures produced in the presence of linguistic input differing in cognitive load" (p. xiii), and second, how the level of semantic congruence between linguistic auditory stimuli and non-linguistic visual input modulate the eye movements of interpreters. Chapter 1 commences with a detailed delineation of the 'black box' as complex and cognitively demanding processes by presenting different types of interpreting models. The author tentatively classifies the models by three