The Interpreter’s Aging: A Unique Story of Multilingual Cognitive Decline?

This article reports the first phase of the AIIC Lifespan Study, for which ten conference interpreters over 70 years old were interviewed to learn how interpreters’ professional language experiences interact with their cognitive functions and, specifically, if they demonstrate different patterns of cognitive decline regarding language use. The interview transcripts were coded to identify examples that matched the items in the research-informed interview guide or any emerging patterns that informed the theme of cognitive changes. The interviewees experienced some aging-induced cognitive challenges, such as comprehension difficulties in less than optimal environments, concentration and memory issues, and slowness in lexical retrieval. Some of these challenges had an impact on some interviewees’ decision to quit interpreting.