Abstract
The present study examines the identification of English consonants (i.e. /l/, /r/, /s/ and /θ/) by interpreting students and professional interpreters. The participants (both interpreting students and professional interpreters) were asked to listen to English words and to identify a consonant included in the word for each trial. The results show that professional interpreters identified better than the interpreting students. However, there was no significant difference between the results of these two groups. Few empirical studies on perception of consonants aiming at comparison between interpreting students and professional interpreters have been carried out. In this regard, the present study explores a new area.
