The general objectives of the current course material include: o Expanding an interpreter trainee’s specific and general knowledge, supports the development of vocabulary due to its poss
ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ TS HOÀNG THỊ LINH GIANG CÁC KỸ NĂNG CƠ BẢN TRONG PHIÊN DỊCH (Tài liệu học tập dành cho sinh viên Tiếng Anh) HUẾ, 2021 GENERAL INTRODUCTION This work has been compiled for use as a course material of Basic Skills in Interpreting for EFL students at the Faculty of English, Hue University, University of Foreign Languages The contents of this course material are presented following a combination of theme- and task-based approaches to realizing the expected learning outcomes among the students of the course COURSE OBJECTIVES This course aims to provide English majors specialising in interpretation with the basic knowledge and skills in interpreting through readings and simple interpreting practice activities Other than a professional skill in itself, this interpretation course prepares students for participating in specialized interpreting The general objectives of the current course material include: o Expanding an interpreter trainee’s specific and general knowledge, supports the development of vocabulary due to its possible application of a wide variety of texts; o Being a useful pedagogic exercise for expanding an interpreter trainee’s skill o Heightening awareness of one’s strengths and weaknesses; o Enhancing the cognitive processing within translation; o Serving as a stepping-stone to consecutive and simultaneous interpreting courses (Bown & Dekesel, 2012) Week Introducing Interpreting and Modes of Interpreting Content Objectives: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to answer two questions: • What is interpreting? • What are the basic steps in interpreting? Skills Objectives: • Students are initially familiarized with interpreting through simple introductory practice activities I Definition of interpreting Interpreting as a modern profession has established its status in the international communities Interpreters help people overcome languages barriers, dispel their suspicion and serve as a bridge in intercultural communication But, to finish all these tasks, an interpreter should possess special talents and skills and therefore interpreting skills have become one of the hot issues that received wide attention Also, based on the analysis of interpreting process and all aspects of the teaching of it, the experts, at home and abroad, are generally convinced that it is the prime task and ultimate objective of teaching interpretation to train abilities and skills Liu Miqing (1999) states that the sooner one gets aware of the significance of the interpretative skills training, the sooner he/she will be good at interpretation Discussion • What makes a good interpreter? • What challenges you encounter when you translate/interpret from English into Vietnamese and vice versa? II The process of interpreting A The Perception Procedure There are mainly two ways for the interpreter to perceive the message: one is auditory perception and the other is visual perception In this procedure, factors that will influence the quality of the interpretation include the interpreter’s listening ability, and the setting Compared with the general listening, listening in interpreting is a more complicated and difficult process The setting, temporal and physical conditions, in which communication takes place also play an important role in the interpretation process Time constraints for speakers at conferences often lead them to deliver their message at a furious pace Noisy listening conditions make the reception of the communicating message difficult both for intended receptors and for the interpreter B The Decoding Procedure The decoding procedure follows in an almost indiscernible instance, during which the interpreter processes the information stored in the “perceptual auditory storage” and extracts necessary information from both linguistic and non-linguistic codes It is where the message is born In this procedure, factors that will influence the quality of the interpretation include the source, particularly the speaker, the interpreter’s linguistic competence and his background knowledge, which includes the knowledge of the world and knowledge of the subject under discussion C The Recording Procedure In this procedure, the interpreter’s memory plays a crucial role, and is a decisive factor in whether this procedure is successful or not or at least in how much the interpreter can get from the source’s speech A supplementary way of securing this procedure is note-taking, which seems to be more important in consecutive interpretation Recording must be based on comprehension, and it is two folded, mental and written According to Bao Gang (1998), there are three kinds of memories in human being's information processing system, known as sensory store (perception), short term store (working memory) and long term store (permanent memory) (p.146) Among these three kinds of memories, working memory plays an important part in our work especially in interpreting, but short memory is severely limited in size, it can only hold approximately seven plus or minus two information units Obviously, we cannot solely depend on our brain and memory while interpreting Instead we should make good use of notes to help enlarge each unit and help record information as much and accurate as possible From the above analysis, it can be concluded that recording stage in interpreting process must be fulfilled with the combination of effective mental memorization and necessary notes D The Encoding Procedure This procedure includes the activation of the target language (TL) elements found in the long-term memory, as well as syntactic and semantic word processing and word-string processing according to the TL syntactic and semantic information stored in long-term memory The result is a paraphrase in TL of the source language message As long as the interpreter successfully accomplishes the first three procedures, factors that take effect on this procedure include the interpreter’s second language proficiency, his master of various kinds of translation skills, and the intended receptors E The Expressing Procedure Expression is the terminal procedure in the process of interpretation Although sound and effective expression can only be realized on the basis of successful fulfillment of the first four procedures , expression itself directly influences the final output and result, thus of great significance It is without doubt that the preceding procedures are the decisive factors for the success of the last procedure However, there are still some points that the interpreter must pay attention in terms of the way of expressing The interpreter’s voice should be loud enough for everybody to hear, and it should be smooth and even, and the pitch should be appropriate The interpreter’s pronunciation of words should at least be good and constant, if not standard British or American English III Common modes of interpreting Consecutive interpreting Consecutive interpreting is a mode of interpreting in which the speaker makes a speech (or says a few sentences) whilst the interpreter takes notes The interpreter then reproduces what the speaker has said for the audience He is normally standing or sitting close to the speaker, uses a pad and pen to take notes and uses the microphone (if there is one) only once the speaker has finished and it is his turn to speak This form of interpreting is commonly used in meetings with a smaller number of participants The interpreter listens to a set number of utterances from the speaker and then gives their rendition in the target foreign language This method of interpreting is more time consuming, bust works well in meetings at which time is not necessarily of the essence Another form of consecutive interpreting is utilised within the community sector A “community interpreter” is responsible for assisting within a variety of industries including health, justice, legal, education and human services to name a few Modes of interpreting could be onsite, on the telephone or via video conferencing link-up Simultaneous interpreting Simultaneous interpreting, also known as Conference interpreting, involves the processes of instantaneously listening to, comprehending, interpreting and rendering the speaker’s statements into another language This method of interpreting is generally used (but not exclusively) in large-scale conferences Simultaneous interpreters sit in a booth in front of a microphone, receiving input from the speaker through earphones Delegates can hear the interpreter speak in their language through the use of portable receivers tuned into specific language “channels” Simultaneous interpreting requires an extremely high level of skill, with teams of two or more interpreters required per language who will work in turns, relieving each other at set intervals, to ensure that fatigue and stress resulting from an intense level of concentration does not affect issues of quality and accuracy ONCALL Conference can provide simultaneous interpreting equipment as a package together with the simultaneous interpreters and liaise with any other third parties where this may be required Whispered Interpreting This method of interpreting, also known as ‘chuchotage’, is used in such meetings where a reduced number of participants may not warrant the additional cost of a booth and related technical equipment The interpreter, who is positioned right next to the listener, simply whispers to the listener precisely what the speaker is saying Whispered interpretation is also used in court rooms, where interpreters listen to a judge or other officers of the Court, or to any evidence being presented (such as witness statements) and convey their interpretation to the foreign language speaking client Liason interpreting Liaison interpreting is the most informal form of interpreting, typically used during visits of delegations or at small business meetings The interpreter accompanies the group or delegation on its visit and interprets whenever required For business negotiations, the interpreter sits at the table with the negotiating parties; different techniques are used depending on the situation Self-Practice Activities Self-recorded interpreting: Newspaper Translation Take a newspaper article of 75-100 words in length and study it for about one minute; then first, put the article face down and repeat it as precisely as possible (note: use the language of the article); second, translate the article aloud Speak evenly without pause or stutter Do two passages a day until you can speak without hesitation It is a good idea to use a tape recorder to record and check your performance This may need frequent practice over 12 weeks or so References [1] https://ec.europa.eu/education/knowledge-centre-interpretation/conferenceinterpreting/consecutiveinterpreting_en#:~:text=Consecutive%20interpreting%20is%20a%20mode,has%20said% 20for%20the%20audience [2] https://oncallinterpreters.com.au/faq/different-types-interpreting/ [3] https://www.vita.co.at/en/guide-to-translating-and-interpreting/liaisoninterpretation.html [4] Ma, J (2013) A study of interpreting skills from the perspective of interpreting process Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 4(6), 1232-1237 Weeks 2-3 Key Skills in Interpreting Content Objectives: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to answer this question: • What are the key skills in interpreting? Skills Objectives: • Students are initially familiarized with interpreting through simple introductory practice activities I Effort Model of Consecutive and Simultaneous Interpreting Gile’s (1992, 2009) Effort Model of Consecutive and Simultaneous Interpreting Listening Short-term memory Interpreting Production in the target language Coordination of the above Distribution of efforts in Simultaneous interpreting (Iglesias, 2007) Distribution of efforts in Consecutive interpreting (Iglesias, 2007) • L + A = Listening and analysis in L2 • M = Memory • P = Production in L1 • C = Coordination • L + A = Listening and analysis in L2 • N + M = Notes + Memory • P = Production in L1 • C = Coordination 10