An investigation into note taking skill

LIST OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .4 1.1 Background to the thesis 1.2 Aims of the thesis: .5 1.3 Significance of the thesis: 1.4 Research questions: 1.5 Organization of the thesis: ﾵ ﾵ CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ﾵ ﾵ 2.1 What is Interpreting? ﾵ ﾵﾵ CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ﾵ ﾵ 2.1 What is Interpreting? PAGEREF _Toc38741 Interpreting: PAGEREF _Toc387410601 \h ﾵ ﾵ 2.3 Note-tating: PAGEREF _Toc387410602 \h ﾵ ﾵ 2.3.1 Theve Interpreting: PAGER.2 Note taking skills for interpreters: PAGEREF _Toc387410604 \h ﾵ ﾵ 2.3.3 What to note: PAGEREF Seven principles ve interpreting by JeanFran_Toc387410606 \h ﾵ ﾵ 2.3.5 Symbols PAGEREF _Toc387410607 \h ﾵ 13 ﾵ 2.3.6 Layout410608 \h ﾵ 14 ﾵ 2.3.7 Note taking and the powetive interpreting PAGEREF _Toc38741uring note-taking process: ﾵ 17 ﾵ CHAPTER 3: RESEARc387410611 \h ﾵ 18 ﾵ 3.1 Roc387410612 \h ﾵ 18 ﾵ 3.2 Particip3 \h 3.3.2 Procedure ﾵ 19 ﾵ CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION .ﾵ 21 ﾵ 4.1 Introduction ﾵ 21 ﾵ 4.2 Findings ﾵ 21 ﾵ 4.2.1 The role of notes in consecutive interpreting: .ﾵ 21 ﾵ 4.2.2 Principles of note taking often used in consecutive interpreting ﾵ 25 ﾵ 4.2.3 Some problems students often encounter during the taking notes process: ﾵ 29 ﾵ 4.2.4 Suggestions to improve note taking skill in consecutive interperting: ﾵ 31 ﾵ 4.3 Discussions: ﾵ 33 ﾵ CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION, LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH .ﾵ 35 ﾵ 5.1 Conclusion ﾵ 35 ﾵ 5.2 Implications ﾵ 35 ﾵ 5.3 Limitations .ﾵ 36 ﾵ 5.4 Recommendations for further research .ﾵ 37 ﾵ REFERENCES .ﾵ 38 ﾵ APPENDICES………………………………………………………………………39 Appendix 1: Transcripts of Interviews …………………………………39 Appendix 2: English Version of the Questionnaires …………………… 44 Appendix 3: Vietnamese Version of the Questionnaires …………………47 Appendix 4: Important tips in Note Taking ………………………………50 Appendix 5: Table of 175 symbols in Note Taking……………………… 51 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 2.1 List of Abbreviations in Common Use ………………………………10 Table 2.2 Lists of Names of International Organizations and Agencies in Abrreviation ……………………………………………………………………… 11 Table 2.3 List of Names of Vietnamese Agencies in Abbreviation …………… 12 Table 2.4 Some symbols in note taking ………………………………………… 14 Figure 2.1 Example of Diagonal Layout ………………………………………….15 Figure 2.2 Example of the Left-handed Margin …………………………………16 Table 4.1 The role of notes: Memory supporting tool ………………………… 21 Table 4.2 The role of notes: Grasping main ideas ……………………………… 22 Table 4.3 The role of notes: Understanding the speech’s structure …………….23 Table 4.4 The role of notes: Recalling important ideas ………………………….24 Table 4.5 Principles of note taking in consecutive interpreting ……………… 24 Figure 4.1 Structure of a mind map in consecutive ………………………………………………………………………………………27 interpreting Figure 4.2 Examples of mind map in consecutive interpreting ………… 28 Table 4.6 Problems during note taking process in consecutive interpreting … 29 Figure 4.3 Student’s perspective of facing problems when taking notes ……….31 Figure 4.4 Students’ needs to improve note taking skill in interpreting………………………………………………………………………….32 consecutive CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter will present (1) the rationale of this research, (2) the research aims, (3) the research questions, and (4) the organization of the thesis 1.1 Background to the thesis Nowadays, as the world is becoming closer, more and more activities related to transferring information are being conducted frequently These activities vary from business, politics, and technology to entertainment, etc In spite of a wide range of interactions, differences in languages have always been major problems that more or less affect the qualities of people’s communication “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.” (Kade cited in Pochhacker, 2004:11) Therefore, it can be considered that interpreters have played a major role in the comprehensive understanding of the world today Realizing the importance of interpreters, people have paid a lot of awareness on interpreters training in order to have a professional interpreter with good work ethnics and qualifications There are three main modes of interpreting: simultaneous, consecutive and liaison interpreting, each of which requires certain skills such as knowledge of the languages, listening, memory, concentration, understanding, note taking, etc “Recent experience in the field of undergraduate teaching of modern languages suggests that training in the techniques of conference interpreting constitutes a valuable language reinforcement activity.” (John A Henderson, Babel V22, No3, 1976) In this thesis, based on the teaching and learning state at Cantho University, I would like to focus on the note taking skill used for consecutive interpreting Firstly, this is one of the basic skills that helps students a lot to memorize and retrieve information efficiently Furthermore, good memory is a prerequisite of good interpreting Effective note-taking is a great tool for interpreters who work with the consecutive mode, regardless of their professional field of practice Normally, the sequence in the consecutive mode is as follows: (a) hearing and comprehension (b) analysis and note-taking (c) reconstitution and interpretation Sometimes, interpreters not need to take notes due to their good memory However, in some cases, the original speaker could keep on speaking for about 15 minutes so that notes will probably be the key to retain all the main ideas According to Gerard I and Sylvie L (1996), teaching note taking in a systematic manner should be highly individual but based on common sense rules of efficiency and economy The information in an efficient note therefore should be restricted to which is easily stored in and retrieved from memory Otherwise, note taking is also regarded as “evil” because it may split the power of attention and interfere in one’s listening Hence, this thesis will give insights into the role of notes, basic principles when taking notes The researcher aims at target student group who have already gained some background knowledge and undertaken quite a lot of practices during the training process Furthermore, they might find this thesis useful due to strategies, principles or practical tips concerning note taking in interpreting from veteran interpreters in Can Tho University 1.2 Aims of the thesis: The purpose of this research is to explore students’ usage of notes in training consecutive interpreting at CTU First, the researcher wants to explore the senior interpreting students’ perspective of note taking skill in consecutive interpreting Then, some common principles of taking notes used by the students will be identified Moreover, the research also looks for some frequent problems that students face during their note taking process as well as their needs to better improve the note taking skill Finally, as a result, some practical hints from some veteran teacher interpreters will be provided properly 1.3 Significance of the thesis: The findings of this study provide useful information in the field of note taking in consecutive interpreting These remarkable and valuable information is good contribution to the consecutive interpreting teaching as well as enhancing the students’ awareness of practicing note taking skills Firstly, this study will provide information on students’ evaluation about the role of notes in interpreting Then, by the synthesis of the findings, students’ most common problems are indentified More importantly, in order to benefit the students, the practical hints are given by the veteran interpreters in the form of interview Therefore, it could encourage the students to make better use of notes in interpreting Last but not least, the findings from this study would give the positive effect on students practice taking notes Finally, this study is a background for further research in note taking skill not only on teachers’ teaching but also on students’ studying 1.4 Research questions: The study aims to answer for these following questions: - What are the roles of notes in consecutive interpreting of senior interpreting students? - What are some common principles of note taking used by senior interpreting students? - What are some problems students often face when taking notes? - What are some strategies and useful suggestions to improve note taking in consecutive interpreting? 1.5 Organization of the thesis: The thesis is organized in a logical structure for everyone to understand easily It is divided into sections The first section is to provide background information and the aims of the thesis The second section is all about the literature review which clearly states the findings of some relevant published research studies and theoretical articles in the same field Summary and synthesis is also included in order to provide adequate knowledge contributing to the thesis The third section is mostly focused on the methods and procedures of the survey Chapter will be dedicated for survey results and discussion Some limitations, further suggestions along with the conclusion will appear in the last chapter Additionally, found in Appendices are a catalog of transcripts of the interviews, useful tips for note taking, questionnaires and as well extra table of symbols for note taking CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 What is Interpreting? Interpreting is a process when one person translated orally what he or she hears into another language By bridging the gap between languages, the interpreter helps speakers to discharge their duty to make themselves understood and helps listeners to satisfy their need to understand what is being said “The mission of the interpreter is to help individuals and communities to acquire a fuller knowledge and a deeper understanding of one another, and, what is more important, a greater respect for one another Also to come to an agreement if they should want to so.” (Herbert, 1952: 3, emphasis in original) Interpreting is different from translation in which the translator reproduces the written form of the original material in another language The interpreter should concentrate well during the task to be able to receive and understand the incoming message and then express the meaning in the target language During the process of interpreting, the interpreter has to concentrate well to be able to receive and understand the incoming message and then express the meaning in the target language efficiently and accurately He or she certainly has no time to look up the meaning of the words in the dictionary or use any other supporting service Therefore, the interpreter is required to have high level of concentration in order to deal with these cognitive processing activities 2.2 Consecutive Interpreting: Consecutive interpretation (CI) is the form that interpreter will produce their interpretation right after the speaker’s utterance International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC) defines consecutive interpreting as the interpreting process in which the interpreter assists the speaker transferring from the speaker’s source language into the requested target language One biggest advantage of CI is that the interpreter will have opportunities to write down any complicated information which is impossible to be remembered; in other words, to take notes in their own way Consecutive interpreting is recommended if accuracy is of top priority The three basic stages of a consecutive interpreter’s work are understanding, analyzing and re-expressing The term “understanding” refers to ideas, not words It may be perfectly to understand a speaker’s meaning without actually understanding every single word and expression they use, even without having to reproduce all of those terms in the interpretation In the second stage, analysis consists of speech types, identification of main ideas, analysis of links and memory 2.3 Note-taking in Consecutive Interpreting: 2.3.1 The roles of notes in Consecutive Interpreting: Since the interpreting process places great demands on the interpreter’s memory efforts, notes are suggested as a means of aid to help interpreters retain and retrieve the information Seleskovitch (1978) cited in Santiago (2004) explains that during the process of interpretation, there is a lot of information that is registered to the interpreters’ short term memory This means if they not write down enough, things will easily disappear or eventually missing As Roderick Jones said in his book called Conference Interpreting Explained, notes have two main purposes The first and obvious use of notes is to relieve memory It will be impossible for the interpreter to recall everything, particularly numbers, names, lists and some elements that cannot be recalled based on analysis and logic More importantly, in such intensive interpreting section lasted mor than hours, it is precious to reduce fatigue by relieving your memory through notes Therefore, the next purpose of notes is jogging the interpreter’s memory which means the interpreter has to work a lot on reproducing both content and structure of a speech In her paper concerning the same subject, Wei Lu (2012) emphasized the two salient features that make notes in consecutive interpreting different from what we usually take down in class or meeting Firstly, notes are used to improve memory efficiency, not attempting to write down all what has been said One should not depend too much on notes because it is just a supporting tool for memory Secondly, notes are a very kind of personal memory aid Every interpreter can develop their own techniques as long as they prove to be helpful Similarly, Danica Seleskovitch and Marianne Lederer (1995), notes like the string tied around a finger, they are reminder of what the interpreter already knows 2.3.2 Note taking skills for interpreters: Since notes are considered useful for most interpreters, they should master the note taking skill in order to minimize the gap between theory of note and the actual notes According to Jones (2002, p.39) cited by Hanh (2007), note-taking is part of the whole process of consecutive interpreting including: understanding, analysis and re-expression, and if these activities “are not done correctly, the best notes in the world will not make a good interpreter” It is obviously that an interpreter must pay enough attention on practicing all the processes involved in this career Note-taking skill showed to be a skill employed in the long process of training in both university and practical situation Qualified interpreters are commonly expected to be more proficient in taking notes in order to carry out consecutive interpreting effectively and efficiently In Virginia Valencia’s paper, she suggested that note taking skills is greatly unique to each person, so we must decide individually what works for us and what does not It is also necessary to learn from others, especially experienced interpreters In order to have better use of notes, the interpreters should know the notetaking techniques which are discussed in the next section 2.3.3 What to note: Depending on the interpreter temperament, his knowledge and way of thinking, he will decide which information should be noted The exception for this is some specific details such as numbers, proper names, list of things, specialized terms and technical expression which always must be written down Normally, the first things should be mentioned first when taking notes are main ideas that help the interpreter recalls an entire passage of discourse It is also crucial for the interpreter to have the ability to identify, select and retain important ideas and leave out anything which is irrelevant to the understanding of the original speech In addition, thanks to these ideas, he can easily trace back the structure of the speech and hardly miss the main points As Jones stated in his study cited by Hanh (2006), the links between ideas are considered to be unseperated parts of good notes Through these links, the logical consequences, logical causes as well as the oppositions are obvious and easy to realize Another thing should be emphasized is the verb tense That means “when noting verbs, interpreters should thus take care to note the tense correctly, and if appropriate the mode, in particular conditional” The modes and tenses of verbs have great influences on the meaning of a sentence or even a whole speech 2.3.4 Seven principles for note taking in consecutive interpreting by Jean-Francois Rozan (1956) With a lot of experiences in the same field, Jean- Francois Rozan developed a book called “Note-taking in Consecutive Interpreting” which considered by many to be the definitive guide to consecutive note-taking Some of his principles have already been explained by Jean Herbert in his Interpreter’s Handbook as follow: (1) Note the idea and not the words: Similar to the same theory mentioned above, whenever taking note, the interpreter must concentrate on the major idea and how this can be notes clearly and simply (2) The rules of abbreviation: Interpreter should remember to write some of the first and last letters rather than trying to write as many letters as possible He also needs to indicate gender and tense so that he can retain the true sense of the speech kilometre km labour lbr especially esp kilowatt kw people pp approximately appr kilowatt hour kwh society soc according acc centimetre cm economy eco abbreviation abbr millimetre mm monetary mon example eg number no politics pol television tv figure fig popular pop dictionary dic maximum max export exp computer pc minimum mini import imp technology tech 10 hundred h 10 professional pro 10 electricity elec 11 million mil 11 production prod 11 defintion def 12 thousand thou 12 department dep 12 laboratory lab 13 mathematic math 13 bureau bu 13 recreation rec 14 literature lit 14 agriculture agr 14 university uni 15 chemistry chem 15 industry indus 15 individual indiv 16 physics phys 16 corporation corp 16 calculation cal 17 hour hr 17 company com 17 problem prob 18 Tuesday Tue 18 commerce comm 18 influenza flu 19 week wk 19 information info 19 system sys 20 year yr 20 telecommunication telecom 20 president pres 21 century cen 21 elevated railroad el 21 professor prof Table 2.1 List of Abbreviations in Common Use World Bank WB European Union EU Asian Development Bank ADB World Trade Organization WTO World Health Organization WHO International Monetary Fund IMF United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO Food and Agriculture Organization FAO Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation APEC International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA Association of Southeast Asia Nations ASEAN United Nations Development Programme UNDP International Criminal Police Organization INTERPOL United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO Table 2.2 Lists of Names of International Organizations and Agencies in Abrreviation 10 Xin chào bạn! Tôi tên Đặng Trần Phương Khanh, là sinh viên ngành Phiên biên dịch Tiếng Anh thuộc khoa Khoa Học Xã Hội và Nhân Văn, trường đại học Cần Thơ Hiện tiến hành thực hiện luận văn tốt nghiệp với đề tài “Điều tra kỹ ghi dịch đuổi sinh viên năm cuối chuyên ngành phiên dịch Tiếng Anh” Mong bạn dành chút thời gian đê trả lời những câu hỏi khảo sát liên quan đến đề tài Mọi thông tin cá nhân bạn giữ bí mật và phục vụ mục đích nghiên cứu Rất mong bạn nhiệt tình đóng góp ý kiến Mọi chi tiết và thắc mắc xin liên hệ email: khanh107130@student.ctu.edu.vn Xin chân thành cảm ơn! A Thông tin chung: Họ và tên: ………………………………………… MSSV: Giới tính: Nam  Nữ  Bạn học Tiếng Anh bao lâu?  5-10 năm  Hơn 10 năm Bạn có ghi chú thực hành dịch đuổi? Có  Khơng  B Câu hỏi khảo sát: Dưới là những ý kiến liên quan đến việc việc sử dụng ghi chú và kĩ ghi chú sinh viên ngành phiên dịch Tiếng Anh Bạn vui lòng đọc kỹ và đánh dấu () vào đáp án thê hiện đúng với bạn: S T T Nhận định Hoàn Không Không Đồng ý toàn đồng ý có ý khơng kiến đồng ý (1) V (2) Theo bạn, vai trò ghi dịch đuổi là: Ghi chú là một công cụ hỗ trợ trí nhớ mà phiên dịch viên cần phải có Ghi chú cho phép tơi nắm ý nêu bài phát biêu Ghi chú cho phép nắm cấu trúc bài phát biêu Ghi chú giúp nhớ lại mợt số ý quan trọng mà tơi có thê quên 10 Ý kiến khác (vui lòng ghi rõ) 44 (3) (4) Hoàn toàn đồng ý (5) S T T Nhận định Hoàn Không Không Đồng ý toàn đồng ý có ý khơng kiến đồng ý (1) (2) (3) (4) Hoàn toàn đồng ý (5) VI Một số kĩ thuật ghi bạn thường dùng dịch đuổi: ( bạn vui lòng đánh dấu đồng ý kĩ thuật mà bạn CĨ sử dụng) Khơng ghi chú xác những diễn giả nói, ghi ý Với những từ dài, viết tắt mợt kí tự đầu Viết tắt những từ nối quan trọng (vì thế, cho nên, nhiên, mặc dù,v.v) Sử dụng từ phủ định (OK cho những ý đồng tình OK cho những ý khơng đồng tình) Nhấn mạnh những ý quan trọng cách gạch Ghi chú theo chiều thẳng đứng từ xuống Ghi chú theo chiều ngang từ trái qua phải Sử dụng sơ đồ tư sơ đồ mạng nhện Sử dụng loại kí hiệu (tự chế và sưu tầm được) 10 Chia trang giấy thành cột theo thứ tự “chủ từ-động từ-túc từ” 11 Ý kiến khác (vui lòng ghi rõ những kỹ thuật ghi chú khác mà bạn thường dùng) VII Một số vấn đề bạn thường gặp ghi q trình dịch đuổi: Tơi gặp phải hạn chế về mặt thời gian (không đủ thời gian đê ghi chú) Tơi cịn chép tả, ghi chú nhiều từ không cần thiết 45 Tơi khơng nhớ mợt vài kí hiệu hay chữ viết tắt vừa viết có nghĩa là Tơi hồn tồn khơng gặp phải vấn đề q trình ghi chú Ý kiến khác (vui lịng ghi rõ những vấn đề, những khó khăn bạn thường gặp ghi chú): S T T Nhận định Hoàn Khơng Khơng Đồng ý toàn đồng ý có ý khơng kiến đồng ý (1) VIII (2) (3) (4) Hoàn toàn đồng ý (5) Đề xuất cải thiện kĩ ghi dịch đuổi: Tôi mong muốn học hỏi cách ghi chú và sử dụng ghi chú giáo viên có kinh nghiệm Tơi muốn tìm hiêu thêm những phương pháp ghi chú mang tính ứng dụng cao và phù hợp với sở thích cá nhân Tôi muốn thực hành kĩ ghi chú dịch đuổi nhiều Ý kiến khác (vui lòng ghi rõ những kiến nghị mong muốn cải thiện kĩ ghi chú bạn) Xin cảm ơn bạn đã dành thời gian tham gia khảo sát! 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 ... Interpreting and Translation at School of Social Sciences and Humanities I am conducting a research called ? ?An Investigation into Note Taking Skill of Senior Interpreting Students and Veteran Interpreters:... use notes and how can they take note effectively I want to learn more about the new note taking systems which are highly applicable and suitable to me I want to have more practice of the note taking. .. master the note taking skill by themselves More importantly, interpreting teachers can also know their students’ perspective towards note taking skill in consecutive interpreting Hence, they can find