Developing a system of games to enhance short term memory for interpreter students at vinh university

VINH UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT of FOREIGN LANGUAGEs ==== ==== Hoàng thị lam DEVELOPING A SYSTEM OF GAMES TO ENHANCE SHORT-TERM MEMORY FOR INTERPRETER STUDENTS AT VINH UNIVERSITY (PHÁT TRIỂN HỆ THỐNG TRỊ CHƠI ĐỂ NÂNG CAO TRÍ NHỚ NGẮN HẠN CHO SINH VIÊN NGÀNH PHIÊN DỊCH TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC VINH) GRADUATION THESIS Field: Interpreting Vinh, 2011 i VINH UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT of FOREIGN LANGUAGEs ==== ==== DEVELOPING A SYSTEM OF GAMES TO ENHANCE SHORT-TERM MEMORY FOR INTERPRETER STUDENTS AT VINH UNIVERSITY (PHÁT TRIỂN HỆ THỐNG TRỊ CHƠI ĐỂ NÂNG CAO TRÍ NHỚ NGẮN HẠN CHO SINH VIÊN NGÀNH PHIÊN DỊCH TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC VINH) GRADUATION THESIS Field: Interpreting Student: Hoàng Thị Lam Supervisor: Nguyễn Thị Lan Phương, M.A Vinh, 2011 i Acknowledgements First and foremost, I am greatly thankful and deeply indebted to Foreign Languages Department, Vinh university for granting me the chance to carry out this research My greatest indebtedness and sincerest appreciation are due to my supervisor, M.A Nguyen Thi Lan Phuong who supplied useful materials and gave me lots of precious advices and essential corrections to complete the study My sincere thanks also extend to students from class 48B1, B2 in Foreign Languages Department, Vinh university for taking time to response the survey questionnaire Without their co-operation this thesis would have not come to an end Much love and gratefulness go to my father, my mother and my brothers who gave me unconditional and uninterrupted emotional support and enormous energy to fulfill this study I also would like to convey my special thank to my closed friends for their help and constant encouragement throughout Finally, although I received many advices and assistances, I feel that the study is far from perfect Therefore, it is my sole responsibility for shortcomings that the study may have Vinh, May 16, 2011 Hoang Thi Lam i Abstract Short-term memory is a topic that has been discussed by many researchers However, there is still not much effectively practical tools that support this one In this thesis, the author gives the readers a brief account of issues relating to short-term memory Then the study investigates on the fourth year English students of Foreign Languages Departments, Vinh university about applying short-term memory as a skill in the process of consecutive interpreting From the findings, the author suggests some main types of short-term memory enhancing games for consecutive interpreting purpose These games are illustrated by practice and particular examples with the aim at improving the use of short-term memory skill in study and practice of consecutive interpreting ii Table of contents Page List of diagrams and Figures Page Diagram 1: Atkinson–Shiffrin memory model (1968) iii Abbreviations used STM: Short-term memory LTM: Long-term memory CI: Consecutive interpreting SI: Simultaneous interpreting SL: Source language TG: Target language iv part a: introduction Rationale of the Study For a long time, interpreting has become an essential part of human's life It enhances international understanding, socio-cultural awareness, professional communicative activities, implementation of technologies and so much more among countries by converting a language into another one It is generally believed, therefore, that interpreting plays a vital role in the global society and culture However, whether inexperienced or experienced, all interpreters find this job demanding and challenging It requires full concentration, exact understanding of what is communicated in both languages, and good expression of thoughts and ideas Weihe Zhong (n.d) stated that “Among all the skills and techniques required for a professional interpreter, short-term memory skill is the first one which should be introduced to trainee interpreters” It affects the process of storing and retrieving information for the purpose of consecutive interpreting which is exploited more frequently than other types of interpreting In fact, only some interpreters are able to use short-term memory effectively Interpreter trainees often encounter difficulties when practicing and applying it The pressing and necessary issue is how to improve short-term memory skill in consecutive interpreting Many books and publications have mentioned the theory of memory and memorization techniques for consecutive interpreting but none of them gives a clear and adequate system of exercises in terms of games to make the best use of short-term memory Actually, the description is rather brief and exercises in those books could be uninspired, unattractive to readers and even could cause pressure to learners Meanwhile, as a matter of fact, learning is more effective if the practice is interesting and comfortable Interpreter students will learn faster and retain more when they are engaged, involved and have fun During the process of interpretation learning, moreover, the interpreter trainees, especially the author’s peer interpreter ones, are very eager to improve the interpretation quality in general and capacity of short-term memory in particular through jolly games For the above stated reason, the author has decided to carry out the study entitled “Developing A System of Games to Enhance Short-term Memory for Interpreter Students at Vinh University” with the hope of helping them improve the effectiveness of consecutive interpretation Aims of the Study The primary aim of the thesis is to identify the current situation of applying STM skill in consecutive interpreting of the fourth year English students at Vinh university The thesis also aims at investigating difficulties that students of English, the would-be interpreters, may encounter when employing STM in the interpreting process and then giving practical games of using STM in support of effective consecutive interpreting basing on the students’ difficulties Additionally, all people who are interested in interpreting work can consider the paper as a useful reference helping them to improve interpretation To achieve those aims, the study is intended to address the following questions: 1, What are the attitudes of the fourth year English students at Vinh university towards role of STM in consecutive interpreting? 2, How students self-evaluate their STM skill at consecutive interpreting? 3, What difficulties the 4th year English students at Vinh university often have in applying STM in consecutive interpreting? Scope of the Study The study only focuses on STM enhancing games in consecutive interpreting but not other activities Besides, due to the limitation of time and capability, investigating all students would be difficult Thus, the survey is applied to only 4th year English students at Vinh university with the total of fifty-one Methods of the Study The study uses the qualitative approach for getting the in-depth knowledge to discover the interpreter trainees’ opinion about developing games to improve Short-term memory in consecutive interpreting It also employs the quantitative method through the survey questionnaire which indicates the difficulties, the causes that create those ones and the students’ factual practice as well Regarding the study process, firstly the author searches and reviews reference documents relating to the topic Next, the author investigates the current situation of the fourth year English students at Vinh university on their way of using STM skill as a support for the interpreting study From the findings, short-term memory enhancing games are suggested for the purpose of consecutive interpreting Format of the Study The study is composed of three main parts: The introduction, the development and the conclusion The introduction provides the readers an overview of study including the reasons for choosing the topic, aims, scope, methods used to carry out the research and format of the study The development consists of three chapters Chapter 1, theoretical background, deals largely with conceptions relating to interpreting, short-term memory in consecutive interpreting and short-term memory games as well The survey with a specified methodology from the simple to complicated methods is done in the Chapter In chapter 3, the suggested games to improve short-term memory skill in consecutive interpreting are given so as to help the would-be interpreters overcome their problems during the interpreting process The conclusion summarizes the study, indicates the benefits of the paper and gives the suggestions for further studies In addition, references that include all the literature referred in the paper and an appendix are presented at the end of the thesis part b: development chapter 1: Theoretical background 1.1 Interpreting 1.1.1 Definition of interpreting Generally, numerous definitions of the term “interpreting” have been proposed but they are not identical Mahmoodzadeh (1992, p.231) states that 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 speakers According to Shuttleworth & Cowie (1997, p.83), interpreting is an “ oral translation of a written text” Pöchhacker ( 2004 ) suggests the following definition: “ Interpreting is a form of Translation in which a first and final rendition in another language is produced on the basis of a one-time presentation of an utterance in a source language” ( p.11) In professional parlance, interpreting can be understood as “the facilitating of communication from one language form into its equivalent, or approximate equivalent, in another language form” (Wikipedia, n.d) Overall, interpreting is a service activity with communication function which transforms a source text, either in oral or sign or even written form, from one language into a target language When interpreting a source-language text, interpreters only hear or see the text once and have to convey the ideas of the target text under time pressure 1.1.2 Types of interpreting Basing on the working mode, interpreting can be classified into varied types Actually, there are two main types of interpreting: simultaneous interpreting and consecutive interpreting Simultaneous interpreting is a mode in which “ the interpreter renders the message in the target-language as quickly as he or she can formulate it from the source language, while the source-language speaker continuously speaks” (Wikipedia, n.d) In contrast with simultaneous interpreting, consecutive interpreting is a mode in which “ the interpreter speaks after the source-language speaker has finished speaking The speech is divided into segments, and the interpreter sits or stands beside the sourcelanguage speaker, listening and taking note as the speaker progresses through the ... of storing material for a brief period of time” Mayer (2003) stated that “ your short- term memory is a system for temporarily storing and managing information required to carry out complex tasks... define what games are Wittgenstein concluded that people apply the term game to a range of disparate human activities that bear to one another only what one might call family resemblances French... both Many games help to develop practical skill, serve as a form of exercise or perform an educational, simulational or psychological role 1.3.2 Features of Games 12 Each game, no matter what type,