【文章內(nèi)容簡介】 e process of establishing itself as an independent discipline. With the booming of international business and the frequent contact among people of different cultures, interpreting is being a prosperous service industry. For example, demand on interpreters outstrips the supply in the present market, especially for conference interpreting as well as for simultaneous interpreting. Hence, scholars and practitioners are gearing their attentions to researches on conference interpreting and simultaneous interpreting. However, the author would like to devote her effort and time to the study of escort interpreting, which is worthy of similar exploration as that of conference as well as simultaneous interpreting but often left neglected. As is known to all, interpreting, simply defined as “immediate oral translation”, is about munication. Whenever people need to make a conversation but do not speak a mon language, escort interpreting occurs, thus making it probably the most frequently practiced form of interpreting. Though playing a significant role in crosscultural munications, escort interpreting has not obtained enough academic concern. Conference interpreters are often considered more professional, owing to the stringent requirements of kills in simultaneous interpreting or consecutive interpreting. Escort interpreters, on the other hand, are often taken part by tour guides or anyone that speaks both languages. Yet escort interpreting demands no less cultural knowledge or diversity of words. Escort interpreters are responsible for promoting a country’s culture and establishing a country’s image. It is therefore urgent to facilitate the study on escort interpreting so as to improve the standard of escort interpreting in China.Since the author is inspired by personal experiences, which are mostly escort interpreting of daily conversations or business talks, this thesis will accordingly focus on the discussion of daily escort interpreting.To have a better understanding of the theme of this dissertation, first of all, it is necessary to know what escort interpreting is and what Skopos Theory is about. This chapter is to give a brief introduction to some key concepts related to the topic and the significance of exploring this topic. Definition of Escort Interpreting To define escort interpreting, we need to know, first of all, what interpreting is. Interpreting is a term used to refer to the oral translation of a spoken message or text (Shuttleworth amp。 Cowie, 2004:83). In Skopos Theory, which is taken as the theoretical basis of this paper, interpreting is defined as “the translation of a sourcelanguage text, presented only once, usually in oral form, into a targetlanguage text which is very difficult to check and can hardly be corrected because of the lack of time” (Nord, 2001:104). It means that interpreters are required to create a finished product under time constraints without the possibility of going back to make any repair or improvement. In other words, interpreting is noncorrectable and nonverifiable (Shuttleworth amp。 Cowie, 2004:84). This might be the most distinctive difference between translating and interpreting, and further determines other characteristics of interpreting. Theoretically, interpreting can be distinguished into different types from different perspectives. According to the context in which it occurs, there are munity interpreting, conference interpreting and court interpreting。 according to the way in which it is carried out, there are consecutive interpreting, liaison interpreting, simultaneous interpreting and whispered interpreting (Shuttleworth amp。 Cowie, 2004:84). However, in real situations, because interpreting is a plicated activity, and is usually not conducted in a single form, it would be impossible and unnecessary to draw a clear borderline between different types of interpreting (梅德明, 2006:18). That explains why interpreting is classified into different types by different scholars, and why a considerable amount of overlap is found between some of the categories. According to Professor Chen Gang (2008), professional interpreting usually includes three kinds: conference interpreting, business interpreting and escort interpreting. Escort interpreting is liaison interpreting, a type of interpreting in which an individual who speaks two languages mediates in a conversation between two or more individuals who do not speak each other’s tongue (Keith, qtd. Shuttleworth amp。 Cowie, 2004:93). Escort interpreting almost stretches to all walks of life that involve international munication, including medical consultations, teacher/parent interviews, court cases, business negotiations, receptions, business presentations and many more.The origin of the word “interpreting” may help us understand better the main task of escort interpreting. The verb “interpret” came from the Latin word interpretari, which means “explain”。 interpres, the noun form of interpretari, means “a negotiator” (劉宓慶, 2003:2). In this statement, the role of escort interpreter is well demonstrated. Different from conference interpreting, escort interpreting often takes place in less official settings, such as in business talks, sightseeing tours and education or cultural contacts. As a result, the expressions and diction used in escort interpreting are paratively less formal and more colloquial. What the interpreters do is acpany visiting individuals or delegates, and explain whatever the foreign guests need to know about the target country and its culture.Since escort interpreting generally entails much traveling, Professor Chen Gang argues that we can use another more objective term to describe it: guide interpreting (陳剛, 2008). Therefore, in the literature review of this topic, studies in the name of liaison interpreting or guide interpreting will also be referred to. Nevertheless, because escort interpreting, as previously stated, involves not only tours but also meet