As is previously stated , the process of oral translation consists of three/four steps, the first being "HEARING" referring in fact to "LISTENING AND COMPREHENDING", which is a prerequisite to successful translation service. In this unit, a brief theoretical exploration will be made about the nature of the process of listening comprehension before detailed discussions of the other factors involved in oral translation practice.

1. About Human Listening

We all know the majority of our population can hear and compreherrd, only 5 to 10 percent of people suffer from some type of hearing impairment and comprehending deficiency, and it is the activity and functioning of our ear and brain that provided us with this ability. A major component in the act of listening is the receiving of data. Yet, not only human beings can receive data. Animals and machines can do also. Bees, for example, can

receive informatíon about the external world via their circuit dances. Machines can receive data both from human beings and from other machines. Human beings can receive information of various types and from various sources. A flash of lightning in the sky and a tune of music send some messages to us. The sender of messages need not be human. In some situations, a person may receive data when, from a common-sense point of view, there is no sender. We may get a great deal of information, for instance, by looking at inanimate objects on someone's desk. Indeed, human beings possess five receptors with which to receive data; the nose (to smell), the ear (to hear), the eye (to see), the tongue (to taste) and the nerve endings in the skin (to touch).

2. Listening and Receiving Aural Data

Listening is concerned with the receiving of aural data with ears. As some researchers put it "Listening has occurred when a human organ receives data aurally." Aural data consist of three types: verbal data - sound patterns ultimately recognized as words; vocal data - vocal cues which aid us in the interpretation of verbal data as vocal quality, inflections and pitches; other kinds of sounds - radiators hissing, lights buzzing, books striking the floor and the like. Of these, verbal data are the chief input in the human listening process but vocal data may sometimes be as important as verbal data too. The voice quality and inflections can often tell the listener how to interpret the verbal message, and what the intent and condition of the speaker are. Take the sound pattern of the utterance "come" for example, whether it is a command, a request, or a question? We need turn to the vocal cues in articulation to decide. To carefully listen to the vocal cues can always help us infer many meanings from a verbal message. With oral translation activities taking place in different situations most of the time, listening is also concerned with other kinds of sounds. Think of telephone conversations, announcement over public address system, conversations in crowded, noisy places, and speeches delivered in a banquet hall, etc.