Các kỹ năng cơ bản trong phiên dịch tài liệu học tập dành cho sinh viên tiếng anh hoàng thị linh giang

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 1 Introducing Interpreting and Modes of Interpreting Content Objectives: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to answer two

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 do you encounter when you translate/interpret from English into Vietnamese and vice versa?

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

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

1 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

2 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

3 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

4 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/conference-

interpreting/consecutive-interpreting_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/liaison-interpretation.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

I Effort Model of Consecutive and Simultaneous Interpreting

Gile’s (1992, 2009) Effort Model of Consecutive and Simultaneous Interpreting

II Active Listening

1 Anticipation

Anticipation is an important means that helps the interpreter to relieve the on-line

memory load so that the processing capacity can be preserved for other efforts From the aspect of language knowledge, anticipation can be generated from three levels, namely, the grammatical, syntactic and contextual levels

At the grammatical level, anticipation can be activated by taking care of some signals offering clues for predicting what may come next to follow up such signals Generally speaking, the signals will lead to set phrases and expressions At the syntactic level, within a sentence, the meaning can sometimes be anticipated thanks to the presence of conjunctions which usually imply certain logic relationship between different parts of the sentences, such as although, therefore, etc At the contextual level, the anticipation will

be further expanded into a combination of several sentences or several paragraphs, which can be made based on the vocabulary, grammar rules, fixed phrases and idioms and the logical relations within the context

The most important point is that all the anticipations are based on the topic-specific

knowledge because all the meaning of the language comes from the combination of grammatical meaning and context meaning

2 Improve psychological preparation

Effective listening is very important for comprehending the discourse However, it is quite possible that the interpreters will get nervous when they are listening to the

speaker’s speech As a matter of fact, getting nervous is inevitable for anyone who is going to interpret While listening to the speaker, they should have a clear understanding

of their identity and try to compose themselves as soon as possible before doing the interpreting job The interpreters should set up confidence and enhance spirit to overcome difficulties

The interpreters should learn to listen effectively To listen effectively needs attention and concentration Concentrating properly does not mean adopting a certain posture, frowning and straining with clenched fist, and it means to focus on the speaker’s

speeches

When interpreters hear an idea that is not immediately clear to them, or miss an idea in the heat of the moment, the interpreters should keep calm and cautiously At this time, the interpreters learn to continually fill in gaps as they listen, refer back on what they have already understood and understand difficult and unclear points by listening effectively to what is said

3 Use redundancy in listening training

Interpreting work requires concentrated or discriminative listening, also known as active listening, which means avoiding all distractions and learning to be alert The redundancy present in speech is a great advantage for the interpreters In other words, they should learn to distinguish useful information from redundant information, and only concentrate their attention on the essential information

Besides following the speaker’s line of thought and catching the main idea, interpreters should also try to detect his/her attitude, mood and tone, recognizing special stylistic characteristics and rhetorical strategies used by him These can provide non-linguistic information for the interpreter, thus forming the proper context for his speech, which might provide some hints for the interpreter in case he fails to catch one word or two during listening

4 Use the expert or booth mate’s help

In consecutive interpreting, when an interpreter runs into comprehension problems, he may run to experts on site for help Although the credibility of the interpreter may be reduced, this tactic can save the interpreter from misunderstanding and the serious

problems in reconstruction

In simultaneous interpreting, there are theoretically at least two interpreters in the booth

at all times One is active, while the other is passive The passive colleague, who can devote full attention to listening, has a better chance of understanding difficult speech segment than the active interpreter, who has to share his attention into listening

comprehension, short-term memory and reconstruction Moreover, the passive interpreter has enough time to consult a glossary of other documents, and then give the information

to the active interpreter, in writing or by murmuring

5 Consult document during interpreting

An interpreter can also look for solution in documents, especially when there is no help from experts present or from the passive colleague available

This tactic may be time-consuming and requires much processing capacity, but finding an important word in a document that had been read and marked before the conference can

be very fast

III Memory training

Memory in interpreting only lasts for a short time Once the interpreting assignment is over, the interpreter moves on to another one, often with different context, subject and speakers Therefore, the memory skills which need to be imparted to trainee interpreters are STM skills

IV Public speaking

Speaking in public requires a high level of involvement with the subject matter and the preparation of the adequate delivery, depending on the objective and the occasion

Here are some of the skills interpreters can benefit from:

1 Focusing on the purpose of the meeting – this steps helps with staying on track

2 Organizing the ideas/concepts in a logical manner

3 Varying the tone and pace to keep the attention going

4 Providing visuals, if necessary or helpful – this step strengthens the retention degree of the information

5 Interacting and involving others in the conversation – this step helps in making sure everyone is on the same page

6 Complying with time limitations

7 Displaying confidence by concentrating on our objective

8 Communicating in an ethical manner – interpreters have a powerful profession and can, therefore, exercise an influence

Practice speech

Information gap activity: Students work in pairs to practice delivering separate parts of one speech to their partner

• Student 1 will have the worksheet that includes the Introduction and Fact 1 and 3

• Student 2 will have the worksheet that includes Facts 2, 4 and 5

5 things you didn’t know about the windmills at Kinderdijk

The village of Kinderdijk, near Rotterdam, is home to perhaps the most famous

windmills in the Netherlands In the mid 1700s, 20 windmills were built to pump water out of nearby low-lying polders

In the following centuries, the 19 surviving windmills have become a symbol of Dutch water management and are now a major tourist attraction Here are five lesser-known facts about Kinderdijk and its renowned windmills

1 The windmills didn’t do all the water moving by themselves

They may be impressive structures, but the Kinderdijk mills can’t take all the credit for keeping local polders dry They are actually part of a complex water management system that includes sluices, weirs and basins Even the low tide of the river Lek is an essential ingredient

When their sails turned, the windmills would pump water up out of polder channels into basins that contained the water until low tide on the river Lek, when sluices could be opened to release the water At this part of the process, gravity and clever timing do the work!

2 The origin of the name “Kinderdijk” is a real mystery

The most famous story behind the name Kinderdijk is from a legendary tale of a flood in

1421 As the floodwaters subsided, survivors discovered a floating cradle with a cat balancing on the edges, and a happy baby nestled inside From then on, the location was referred to as the “child’s dike”

Maybe, however, the most well-known explanation is not be the most accurate Other theories include that the dike was named after a local with lots of children: Jan der

kindere (Jan with the kids); that the dike was simply lower compared to surrounding dikes, so was referred to as the “child” dike; or that upon the death of a certain Mr Van der Giessen, the (management of the) property was inherited by his children The real explanation may well be lost to history!

3 Kinderdijk is an example of human ingenuity and fortitude, according to

UNESCO

In 1997, UNESCO added the Kinderdijk windmill network to its listing of World

Heritage sites The listing applauded them as a fine example of “the outstanding

contribution made by the people of the Netherlands” to the technology of water

management

In this way, Kinderdlijk is not only a physical monument of windmills in a man-made landscape, but also a symbolic monument to “human ingenuity and fortitude over nearly

a millennium” in struggling against, depending on, and working with water

4 We can thank Count Floris V for paving the way for Kinderdijk

Count Floris V, who ruled medieval Holland, had grown tired of lords and nobles

squabbling over regularly-flooded land So, in 1277, he founded the first water board, where the nobility was required to work together to maintain dry land By cooperating, they were able to construct dikes, windmills and other infrastructure to drain the land and reduce flooding

The windmills at Kinderdijk may never have seen the light of day if it wasn’t for the

5 Although technically “retired”, the windmills can spring into action any time

Even though the mills at Kinderdijk were replaced by steam-powered, then diesel and electric water pumps, they are still kept in good working order and can be put into action any time, either for show or in case of power failure

This was exactly the case during WWII when diesel shortages forced locals to return to wind power to keep their feet dry Today the sails can sometimes be seen turning on national and regional Mills Days (Molendagen)

Self-Practice Activities

Self-recorded interpreting:

Mỗi sinh viên chọn các bài viết ngắn bằng tiếng Anh ( khoảng 200-400 từ) theo thể loại

kể chuyện hoặc bài nói chuyện có cấu trúc rõ ràng để đọc Sinh viên luyện tập dùng trí nhớ của mình để cố gắng lặp lại nội dung của bài viết càng chính xác càng tốt mà không nhìn vào bài viết đó

References

[1] http://translationjournal.net/journal/25interpret.htm

[2] https://najit.org/how-public-speaking-skills-can-be-helpful-to-interpreters/

Weeks 4-6 Consecutive Interpreting Without Notes Content Objectives: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to answer two

I Mnemonics in consecutive without notes

1 Why Memory Training?

Interpreting is defined as "oral translation of a written text" (Shuttleworth & Cowie: 1997:83) Mahmoodzadeh gives a more detailed definition of interpreting:

Interpreting consists of presenting in the target language, the exact meaning of what is uttered in the source language either simultaneously or consecutively, preserving the tone

of the speaker (1992:231)

Whether novice or experienced, all interpreters find this profession demanding and

challenging Phelan says that "when an interpreter is working, he or she cannot afford to have a bad day One bad interpreter can ruin a conference" (2001:4) In discussing the qualifications required for an interpreter, Phelan mentions that:

"The interpreter needs a good short-term memory to retain what he or she has just heard and a good long-term memory to put the information into context Ability to concentrate

is a factor as is the ability to analyze and process what is heard" (2001:4-5)

2 Memory in Interpreting

Psychological studies of human memory make a distinction between Short-Term

Memory (STM) and Long-Term Memory (LTM) The idea of short-term memory simply means that you are retaining information for a short period of time without creating the neural mechanisms for later recall Long-Term Memory occurs when you have created neural pathways for storing ideas and information which can then be recalled weeks, months, or even years later To create these pathways, you must make a deliberate

attempt to encode the information in the way you intend to recall it later Long-term memory is a learning process And it is essentially an important part of the interpreter's acquisition of knowledge, because information stored in LTM may last for minutes to weeks, months, or even an entire life The duration of STM is very short It is up to 30 seconds Peterson (1959) found it to be 6 - 12 seconds, while Atkinson and Shiffrin

(1968) and Hebb (1949) state it is 30 seconds Memory in interpreting only lasts for a short time Once the interpreting assignment is over, the interpreter moves on to another one, often with different context, subject and speakers Therefore, the memory skills

which need to be imparted to trainee interpreters are STM skills

2.2 Major Characteristics of STM

Input of information: It is generally held that information enters the STM as a result of applying attention to the stimulus, which is about a quarter of a second according to the

findings of both Sperling(1960) and Crowden(1982) However, McKay's (1973, in

Radford and Govier, 1991: 382) findings do not fully support this, asserting that

unattended information may enter the STM

Capacity: As mentioned in the previous section, the capacity of STM is limited and

small Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) propose that it is seven items of information (give or take two) Miller (1956) says it is seven "chunks." Another possibility may be that the limiing factor is not the STM's storage capacity, but its processing capacity

(Gross:1990:55)

Modality: To store information in STM, it must be encoded, and there is a variety of

possibilities as to how this operates There are three main possibilities in STM:

(1) Acoustic (Phonemic) coding is rehearsing through sub-vocal sounds (Conrad, 1964 and Baddeley:1966) (2) Visual coding is, as implied, storing information as pictures

rather than sounds This applies especially to nonverbal items, particularly if they are difficult to describe using words In very rare cases some people may have a

than this (Posner and Keele: 1967) (3) Semantic coding is applying meaning to

information, relating it to something abstract (Baddeley:1990, Goodhead:1999)

Information Loss: There are three main theories as to why we forget from our STM: (1) Displacement—existing information is replaced by newly received information when the storage capacity is full (Waugh and Norman:1965) (2) Decay—information decays over time (Baddeley, Thompson and Buchanan, 1975) (3) Interference—other

information present in the storage at the same time distorts the original information

(Keppel and Underwood:1962)

Retrieval: There are modes of retrieval of information from STM: (1) Serial search—

items in STM are examined one at a time until the desired information is retrieved

(Sternberg:1966) (2) Activation—dependence on activation of the particular item

reaching a critical point (Monsell:1979, Goodhead:1999)

3 Memory Training

The purpose of memory (STM) training in interpreting is to achieve a better

understanding of the source language, which will lead to adequate interpreting As Lin Yuru et al put it, "Memory in consecutive interpreting consists of nothing more than understanding the meaning, which is conveyed by the words" (Lin et al., 1999:9)

Understanding is the first step in successful interpreting; therefore, memory training is to

be provided in the early stage of interpreter training Memory functions differently in consecutive and simultaneous interpreting, because the duration of memory is longer in

CI than in SI There are different methods of training STM for CI and SI respectively Interpreting starts with the encoding of the information from the original speaker

According to Gile's Effort Model, interpreting is an STM-centered activity; the process of interpreting could be re-postulated into:

Encoding of information from the Source Language + Storing Information + Retrieval of Information + Decoding Information into the Target language

In Consecutive Interpreting, there is probably up to 15 minutes (depending on the

speaker's segments) for the interpreter to encode and then store the information This is

the first phase of Gile's Effort Model for CI In the second phase of Gile's Model, the

interpreter starts to retrieve information and decode it into the target language In SI,

storing the information is very limited Therefore, in the first step of interpreting,

encoding (understanding) information uttered in the SL is the key to memory training According to the previous description, there are three main possibilities of storing

information in STM: (1) Acoustic Coding; (2) Visual Coding and (3) Semantic Coding Visual coding may be used by interpreters in conference situations with multimedia Notes in interpreting are to assist in such visual coding of information But in most

interpreting contexts, interpreters will depend on acoustic and semantic coding

Therefore, exercises should be designed for this purpose The following methods are recommended:

Retelling in the Source Language: The instructor either reads or plays a recording of a

text of about 200 words for the trainees to retell in the same language The trainees

should not be allowed to take any notes In the first instance, trainees should be

encouraged to retell the text in the same words of the original to the largest possible extent The following tactics should be used by the trainees after a certain time of training

on retelling: Categorization: Grouping items of the same properties; Generalization:

Drawing general conclusions from particular examples or message from the provided

text; Comparison: Noticing the differences and similarities between different things, facts and events; Description: Describing a scene, a shape, or size of an object, etc Trainees

are encouraged to describe, summarize, and abstract the original to a large extent in their

own words in exercises (2) to (5) Shadowing Exercise: Which is defined as "a paced,

auditory tracking task which involves the immediate vocalization of auditorily presented stimuli, i.e., word-for-word repetition in the same language, parrot-style, of a message presented through a headphone"(Lambert 1899:381) This kind of exercise is

recommended for training of Simultaneous Interpreting, especially the splitting of

attention skills and the short-term memory in SI

There is another tool which is effective in memory training: Mnemonic to Memory

Mnemonic is a device, such as a formula or rhyme, used as an aid in remembering

Mnemonics are methods for remembering information that is otherwise quite difficult to recall A very simple example of a mnemonic is the '30 days hath September' rhyme The basic principle of Mnemonics is to use as many of the best functions of the human brain

as possible to encode information

The human brain has evolved to encode and interpret complex stimuli—images, color, structure, sounds, smells, tastes, touch, spatial awareness, emotion, and language—using

them to make sophisticated interpretations of the environment Human memory is made

up of all these features

Typically, however, information presented to be remembered is from one source—

normally words on a page While reading words on a page reflects one of the most

important aspects of human evolution, it is only one of the many skills and resources available to the human mind Mnemonics seek to use all of these resources By encoding language and numbers in sophisticated, striking images which flow into other strong images, we can accurately and reliably encode both information and the structure of information to be easily recalled later (Manktelow:2003)

It is also advisable that Exercises with Interference (e.g noises) be provided in order to prevent information loss in the Short-Term Memory, since the environment and other information present in the storage may reduce the information encoded Recording

speeches with specially 'inserted' noises as a background is a recommended classroom practice, since this is a very effective method to enable the students to concentrate and thus strengthen their STM duration

2 Practice speeches

Speech 1

Hello everyone I’m very glad to be here today and share a few thoughts about how to stay healthy As you know, health is the most important aspect of our life There is

nothing more crucial than health for any human being When we are healthy we are able

to enjoy our life well We can laugh, smile, enjoy food, talk to our near and dear and sleep well So what can we do to stay healthy? I would like to talk about ways to

maintain good physical and mental health

Firstly, to maintain good physical health at its best all the time, we need to take care of hygiene and sanitation around us We must maintain cleanliness in our room, house and nearby surroundings For example, remember to take out the garbage regularly Another thing to do is to clean your floors and living spaces regularly Now let’s think about your daily diet We must eat healthy and complete diet We must eat vegetables, milk, egg etc Just ensure that we take in sufficient amount of carbohydrates, proteins, minerals and vitamins We can also improve our physical fitness by exercising regularly in the morning, and evening We can do walking in fresh air or jogging near parks We can do work outs in a gymnasium We keep our organs fit and working this way

Secondly, we can maintain mental fitness by regularly exercising of the mind, by