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.
