Nghiên cứu việc áp dụng các chiến lược ghi chú trong dịch nối tiếp đối với sinh viên năm thứ ba khoa tiếng anh, trường đại học phenikaa

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING PHENIKAA UNIVERSITY GRADUATION PAPER AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE APPLICATION OF NOTE-TAKING STRATEGIES IN STUDYING CONSECUTIVE INTERPRETING AMONG THIRDYEAR STUDENTS AT FACULTY OF ENGLISH, PHENIKAA UNIVERSITY Student: Ta Thu Ha Student ID No: 19010272 Course: 2019 -2023 Field: English Language Mode of study: Full-time Supervisor: M.A Hoang Van Hoat Ha Noi – 2023 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING PHENIKAA UNIVERSITY GRADUATION PAPER AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE APPLICATION OF NOTE-TAKING STRATEGIES IN STUDYING CONSECUTIVE INTERPRETING AMONG THIRDYEAR STUDENTS AT FACULTY OF ENGLISH, PHENIKAA UNIVERSITY (NGHIÊN CỨU VIỆC ÁP DỤNG CÁC CHIẾN LƯỢC GHI CHÚ TRONG DỊCH NỐI TIẾP ĐỐI VỚI SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ BA KHOA TIẾNG ANH, TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC PHENIKAA) Student: Ta Thu Ha Student ID No: 19010272 Course: 2019 -2023 Field: English Language Mode of study: Full-time Supervisor: M.A Hoang Van Hoat Ha Noi – 2023 i ABSTRACT Note-taking is a fundamental skill in consecutive interpreting, aiding memory recall, helping interpreters retain the structure of the speech and the most crucial information, and enhancing interpreters’ performance in general This graduation paper reports on a small-scale empirical study on the application of note-taking strategies in studying consecutive interpreting among third-year students at the Faculty of English, Phenikaa University The study aims to uncover the third-year students’ perceptions of the role and effectiveness of note-taking in studying consecutive interpreting, identify the most common note-taking strategies employed by these students, and explore the perceived challenges they encounter during the note-taking process With the collected insights, the study provides some practical recommendations for the effective application of note-taking strategies in studying consecutive interpreting The findings of this study indicate that most students have gained proper understanding of the roles of note-taking strategies in consecutive interpreting Some of the most frequently applied note-taking strategies among these students are noting the non-conceptualized information, using horizontal layout, and taking notes in any language they find convenient Time pressure is the most common difficulty among these students Specifically, all the surveyed students want to learn from veterans to improve their note-taking skill 46 meaningless target speech To sum up, the second section has presented an overall insight into the third-year students’ application of note-taking strategies in consecutive interpreting In terms of what to note, non-conceptualized information receives the most attention when the students take notes Regarding the question of how to note, the horizontal layout, underlining for emphasis as well as using abbreviations and symbols are the most common strategies among the surveyed students Also, the surveyed students are quite comfortable with the language used in their notes and not hesitate to use either the source or the target language or even mix languages as long as it is convenient In terms of the right time to take notes, a majority of students agree that it is necessary to start jotting down as soon as the speaker starts the speech On the other hand, such methods as “three-column layout”, “noting verb tenses”, and “using negation” are not frequently applied by the students The possible reason is that these students are not aware of these techniques and thus cannot use them in interpreting 3.3 Problems faced by students during the note-taking process After figuring out some of the most frequently used strategies in the students’ notes, the research continues to pinpoint some problems that these students encounter while taking notes The table below illustrates the three major problems faced by the students surveyed during their note-taking process Table 3.12 Problems faced by students during the note-taking process Statements I’m often under pressure of time (lack time to take notes) Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly agree 0% 0% 6% 52% 42% 0% 4% 15% 42% 39% I can’t understand some words, abbreviations or symbols I have just written 47 My notes still contain lots of unnecessary words I almost never face any problems when taking notes 2% 19% 19% 44% 16% 44% 25% 10% 15% 6% Firstly, time seems to be the biggest issue that the survey interpreting students encounter Over 94% of the 52 students taking part in the survey confirm that they often face time pressure while taking notes No student seems to have overcome this difficulty and 6% of the students surveyed not show their opinion These interpreting students are heavily dependent on their notes as a means of recalling crucial information, and with their lack of experience, it is understandable that they usually struggle to keep up with the speaker Student 29th admits that they cannot take notes at the same pace with the speaker’s delivery, and there are times when they cannot understand their notes Besides, Students 46th and 19th face the obstacle of not being able to decide what is important and needs to be noted Not having a strong analyzing skill to identify the vital elements of the speech, these students are overwhelmed by the significant amount of information they have to process, which can lead to delays in the note-taking process and push them further into the already severe time pressure Time pressure is pretty much a nature of work of an interpreter, therefore, the students need to get used to it and seek measures to get better control of their time The second statement aims at the students’ encoding ability based on their notes It can be seen from the results that over 80% of the survey participants encounter this problem As mentioned in the literature review, in order to take full advantage of their notes, interpreters need to have their own sets of abbreviations and symbols which they have mastered These systems need to be unequivocal and easy to comprehend so that no obstacle will arise when the interpreter reads back their notes Moving onto the third statement, there are chances that the interpreter focuses too much on the words instead of the ideas and message, the result of which can be a 48 literal interpretation of the speech In fact, 60% of the respondents encounter this problem during their note-taking process These students are probably sticking to the surface devices of words and structures rather than paying attention to the speaker’s main points In contrast, 21% of the surveyed students seem to have good control of what they note, thus avoiding noting redundant words Regarding other opinions raised by the students, Student 2nd admits to have the tendency of taking notes randomly without any order This is a common issue to inexperienced interpreters Under the pressure of time, these interpreters tend to jot down information anywhere they find convenient instead of forming a wellorganized structure for their notes This student also faces the trouble of new vocabulary while taking notes While certain information can be traced by logic and analysis, new words seem to be much more difficult to overcome The only way to overcome this issue while taking notes is probably guessing the meaning, though there are potential problems as well Student 29th mentions that due to their fairly weak listening skill, they cannot take notes of all the main ideas It is apparent that to produce the target speech, the interpreter first needs to be able to listen actively and analyze what the speaker is saying If their listening comprehension skill is not sharpened enough, it is nearly impossible to ensure adequate and accurate notes, which can noticeably affect the quality of the interpretation Finally, nearly 70% of the students oppose the fourth statement, which means that they have experienced at least one problem while taking notes while around one-fifth of the respondents seem to make good use of their notes The above results show that a majority of students have encountered at least one issue during the note-taking process, including time pressure, difficulty in encoding, and unnecessary words in notes Besides, some difficulties of the students also come from their inadequate language proficiency Understanding is the first stage of interpreting [8], so when a student struggles even to listen and comprehend what the speaker is saying, it is extremely difficult for them to perform the second stage – analyzing the information delivered and taking notes, 49 and almost impossible for them to reach the final stage of re-expressing Sharpening their language skills is of the utmost importance for any interpreting student Based on the problems stated, the researcher believes that measures are needed to improve the third-year students’ note-taking skill In fact, a section for suggestions is included in the questionnaire, the results of which are demonstrated in the following table Table 3.13 Suggestions to improve students’ note-taking skill in consecutive interpreting Strongly Statements disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly agree I want to learn how veteran interpreters take notes and how they can use notes 0% 0% 0% 29% 71% 0% 6% 6% 33% 55% 0% 2% 0% 42% 56% effectively I want to learn more about symbol systems which are highly applicable I want to have more practice of note-taking skill in consecutive interpreting Overall, a majority of the surveyed students are of the viewpoint that they want to improve their note-taking skill In particular, all three suggestions including “learning from veteran interpreters”, “learning symbol systems” and “more practice” receive over 85% of agreement from the survey respondents Especially, 100% of the third-year students advocate the suggestion of learning from veteran interpreters Improvement comes more from practice than theory, 50 therefore, experienced practitioners are the most suitable and precious source of practical advice Another suggestion is proposed by Student 49th, in which they recommend learning stenography as it makes note-taking easier and more effective This may be efficient as it helps the interpreter write faster, however, it should be noted that this method should not be overused as it is actually equal to writing everything said in a quicker way In this way, the students may easily fall into the trap of focusing on the word layer instead of the meaning one, which is dangerous to their interpretation As a matter of fact, the use of shorthand is opposed by many interpreters Taylor-Bouladon [24] advises against this method as shorthand first needs to be deciphered, which adds a step to the process According to this author, what the interpreter needs is only the skeleton, while shorthand is lengthy and contains too many details In short, students can benefit from practicing shorthand, however, they need to avoid overusing this technique as it may lure them into the trap of word-for-word translation From the researcher’s perspective, to improve their note-taking skill, it is first vital that the students improve their language skills, especially listening comprehension Listening is part of the first stage of the whole interpreting process in which the input information is received Failing at this stage, it is impossible to conduct the analyzing stage (where the note-taking occurs) and the re-expressing stage (where the notes are processed and the target utterance is formed) Secondly, the students need to be more proactive They should not be over-reliant on the instructor but should research and practice more to figure out the most suitable strategy for themselves After all, on the way to success, there is no trace of lazy men Lastly, the author also suggests that instructors provide their students with more support in terms of knowledge on consecutive interpreting in general and note-taking skill in particular This support can come in the form of reference sources, feedback, and practical advice, which can provide the students with a clearer visualization of how to improve their interpretation 51 PART 3: CONCLUSION Implications The study is expected to be valuable to both interpreting teachers and students at the Faculty of English, Phenikaa University In terms of influence on students, after participating in the survey, the third-year students can reevaluate their own perceptions of note-taking in consecutive interpreting as well as their application of this skill Most students put high appreciation on the role of notes in consecutive interpreting A relatively diverse set of strategies for taking notes is introduced, which can have a significant impact on these students Not only can they review their application of the most common strategies, but they also get exposed to some less-known methods, which provides them with the foundation to further research and practice Moreover, by realizing the major difficulties during the note-taking process, the students can base on that to improve this crucial skill And with the useful suggestions proposed, the researcher expects the students to enhance their practice of note-taking As a result, they can make adjustments to master this vital skill by themselves Looking from the interpreting teachers’ point of view, this study provides insight into the students’ perspectives towards note-taking skill in consecutive interpreting This helps the instructors to better understand their students’ current situation, what they are lacking, and what they are expecting Hence, the teachers can find measures to improve the students’ note-taking skill in particular and interpreting in general Limitations of the study Despite the significant findings of this study in exploring the third-year students’ viewpoints towards note-taking skill in studying consecutive interpreting, it should be admitted that the study has its limitations A major limitation of the study is that a quantitative survey cannot reveal what 52 the students’ notes actually look like Besides, the survey result analyses are mostly based on the author’s personal assessments of figures These figures only illustrate the students’ subjective opinions towards note-taking, not how they apply the strategies in real practice Therefore, the research cannot come to an exact conclusion about the level of note-taking acquisition of the students Another remarkable limitation of the study lies in its subjects being third-year interpreting students who have only studied consecutive interpreting for two semesters These students have not been exposed to a significant amount of reallife experience apart from university classes As a consequence, it is difficult for them to acquire deep knowledge about consecutive interpreting in general and note-taking skill in particular, which is mainly sharpened through practice rather than theory This limitation is reflected in the number of students responding “Undecided” when it comes to the strategies employed in note-taking Suggestions for future research With a view to providing insight into the students’ application of note-taking strategies in studying consecutive interpreting, this research should be considered a foundation for further study A qualitative study should be conducted to obtain in-depth information about the students’ actual note-taking skill In such a study, the students are interviewed face-to-face for detailed data on their current situations Furthermore, the students are assigned to two interpreting tasks in which the students need to listen to the source speeches, take notes, and then produce the target speech One task is English – Vietnamese interpreting and the other is Vietnamese – English interpreting The topics of both source speeches should be familiar to the students In this way, the students’ actual notes can be revealed, reviewed, and evaluated by the instructors, thus providing more precise data on the students’ actual notes It is apparent that the results of a qualitative survey can make a significant contribution to the growing body of studies in consecutive interpreting in general and note-taking skill in particular 53 Conclusion The research has successfully answered all the research questions and shed light on the third-year students’ perspectives towards the note-taking skill in studying consecutive interpreting, how the students employ these strategies in their notes, and what problems they are encountering during the note-taking process In general, the third-year students at the Faculty of English, Phenikaa University have gained a proper understanding of the roles of notes in consecutive interpreting and have been able to apply some common note-taking strategies in their interpreting practices As interpreting novices, however, these students still face difficulties while taking notes and need to improve this crucial skill The results of this study are valuable assets that contribute to the existing body of knowledge in interpreting pedagogy as well as hold significant practical implications for interpreting instructors and students However, the research has its limitations as it is a quantitative study that aims to investigate the third-year students It is necessary that a qualitative study is conducted with a view to acquiring in-depth insights into the interpreting students’ actual notes, thus providing more precise data Note-taking is a complex factor in consecutive interpreting It is both principled and individualized and can be helpful or destructive to the interpreter After all, it is up to each interpreter to find the most suitable strategies to utilize in the notes It is also important to understand that as a tool, note-taking skill needs to be sharpened regularly to better benefit the interpreter in interpreting 54 REFERENCES [1] F Pöchhacker, Introducing Interpreting Studies Routledge, 2016, doi: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315649573 [2] D Gile, Basic Concepts and Models for 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the choice of language,” Interpreting, vol 6, no 1, pp 3–17, 2004, doi: https://doi.org/10.1075/intp.6.1.03dam [22] W K Weber, Training Translators and Conference Interpreters Prentice Hall Regents, 1984 [Online] Available: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED246696 [Accessed: May 07, 2023] [23] J W Creswell and T C Guetterman, Educational research: planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research, 6th ed Pearson, 2018 [Online] Available: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324451568_Educational_Research_Plannin g_Conducting_and_Evaluating_Quantitative_and_Qualitative_Research_6th_Edition [Accessed: May 15, 2023] [24] V Taylor-Bouladon, Conference Interpreting: Principles and Practice, 3rd ed National Library of Australia Cataloguing, 2011 [Online] Available: https://vdocuments.mx/conference-interpreting-taylor-bouladon-valerie.html [Accessed: Jul 06, 2023] 57 APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE: NOTE-TAKING STRATEGIES IN STUDYING CONSECUTIVE INTERPRETING Hello! My name is Tạ Thu Hà I am a student of K13-English, Faculty of English, Phenikaa University For my graduation paper, I am conducting a research called “An investigation into the application of note-taking strategies in studying consecutive interpreting among third-year students at Faculty of English, Phenikaa University" This questionnaire is a forming part of my research I hope you can spend some time on answering some questions related to the research topic It will take approximately -7 minutes All data collected from the questionnaire is only for research purpose and is kept completely confidential If you have any question, please contact me via email: tathuha71098@gmail.com Thank you very much! INSTRUCTION: Please read each statement carefully and check the box that you find the most suitable You can add your own opinion in the box "Other (please specify)" below each section Strongly Statement disagree Disagree Undecided Agree I Role of note-taking strategies in consecutive interpreting: Note-taking is the most important element in consecutive interpreting Notes are a memory supporting tool that every interpreter needs Notes help me grasp the Strongly agree 58 main ideas of the speech Notes help me visualize the outline of the speech Taking notes help me avoid missing important information Other (please specify): II Note-taking strategies often applied by students in studying consecutive interpreting: I note the main ideas rather than the exact words I take notes of all the nonconceptualized (proper names, figures, lists information numbers, of things, terminologies, etc.) I always pay attention to noting down the verb tenses I abbreviate long words using some initial and final letters only I abbreviate linking words (e.g.: although, however, on the other hand, etc.) I use negation (e.g.: OK for approval, agreement or good; OK for disapproval, disagreement, not good) I underline a word to emphasize importance and stress its 59 I use only ONE language (source or target language) when taking notes When taking notes, I use whichever language that is convenient 10 I use a mixture of language when taking notes 11 I take notes vertically (from top to bottom) 12 I take notes horizontally (from left to right) 13 I divide the page into columns "Subject - Verb Object" 14 I use self-designed and collected symbols 15 I start taking notes as soon as the speaker starts speaking to not miss any information 16 Other (please specify): III Problems faced by students during note-taking process: I’m often under pressure of time (lack time to take notes) I can’t understand some words, abbreviations or symbols I have just written My notes still contain lots of unnecessary words I almost never face any 60 problems when taking notes Other (please specify) IV Some suggestions to improve students’ note-taking skill in consecutive interpreting: I want to learn how veteran interpreters take notes and how they use notes effectively I want to learn more about symbol systems which are highly applicable in note- taking I want to have more practice of note-taking skill in consecutive interpreting Other (please specify): Thank you for your response! Have a nice day!