OPTIMIZING EFFECTIVENESS OF NOTE TAKING IN CONSECUTIVE INTERPRETING a STUDY IN LEGAL CONTEXTS

DEGREE IN ENGLISH Major: Legal English OPTIMIZING EFFECTIVENESS OF NOTE-TAKING IN CONSECUTIVE INTERPRETING A STUDY IN LEGAL CONTEXTS Supervisor: LL.M... Additionally, I would like t

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH UNIVERSITY OF LAW DEPARTMENT OF LEGAL ENGLISH

GRADUATION THESIS B.A DEGREE IN ENGLISH

Major: Legal English

OPTIMIZING EFFECTIVENESS OF NOTE-TAKING IN CONSECUTIVE INTERPRETING

A STUDY IN LEGAL CONTEXTS

Supervisor: LL.M & M.A PHAM THI PHUONG ANH Student: PHAM THI VAN ANH

Student ID: 1652202010009 Class: LE41

Ho Chi Minh City, 2020

First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my instructor, Mrs Phuong Anh Pham for her dedicated guidance on this graduation thesis She not only continuously assisted me on developing ideas for this thesis but also recommended valuable resources for further references In addition to my instructor, I would like to thank the Management Board of Legal English Department for giving me a great chance to make a research on the subject of note-taking in consecutive interpretation

My sincere thanks also go to KPMG Legal Limited (Vietnam) for offering me precious internship opportunity in their company, providing me with diverse legal knowledge and practical experiences, especially through legal translating projects

Additionally, I would like to thank all the skillful interpreters and also interpreting students from AKT Company who willingly took part in the survey of this thesis to help create a more detailed and insightful look on consecutive interpretation in general and note-taking skill in particular

Lastly, I would like to involve my beloved family and my friends, who always try to provide me with the best conditions to complete the project, without their constant encouragements and supports, this thesis would have never been fulfilled

LIST OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 1

1 The Background to the Thesis 1

2 The Significance of the Thesis 2

3 The Structure of the Thesis 2

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

1.1 The importance of Note-taking in Consecutive Interpreting 4

1.2 Interpreting in legal contexts 5

1.3 Consecutive Interpretation in legal contexts 6

1.4 Note-taking Process in Consecutive Interpreting 7

1.6 What to Note 8

1.6.1 Word meanings 8

1.6.2 Conjunctions 8

1.6.3 Data 9

1.6.4 Verb tenses 9

1.7 How to Note 9

1.7.1 Abbreviations 10

1.7.2 Symbols 13

1.8 When to Note 14

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGIES AND PROCEDURES 16

2.1 Survey 16

2.1.1 The Objective of the Survey 16

2.1.2 Methodology of the Survey 16

2.1.3 Procedure of the Survey 17

2.2 Interview 17

2.2.1 The Objective of the Interview 17

2.2.2 Methodology of the Interview 18

2.2.3 Procedure of the Interview 18

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 19

3.1 Findings on the Survey 20

3.1.1 The Importance of Note-taking in Consecutive Interpreting 20

3.1.2 Findings on What to Note 21

3.1.3 Findings on How to Note 23

3.1.4 Findings on When to Note 25

3.2 Findings on the Interviews 28

3.2.1 Findings and Recommendations for objective reasons 28

3.2.2 Findings and Recommendations for subjective reasons 29

CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION 33

4.1 Summary 33

4.2 Limitations and Suggestions 33

REFERENCES 35

APPENDICES 37

INTRODUCTION

1 The Background to the Thesis

It is apparent that many Vietnamese lawyers get used to Vietnamese legal system as well as perform technical tasks such as interpreting in Vietnamese style It might be challenging for them to clearly comprehend documents, contracts, speech, etc in another language, such as English It should be well-noted that in accordance with Article 70 of the amended Law on Lawyers No 20/2012/QH13 dated 20 November

2012, issued by the National Assembly, foreign legal practitioners are not allowed to

be in court proceedings in Vietnam Vietnamese legal practitioners, who has good command of foreign language, are obviously capable of performing legal interpretation to ensure communication efficiency However, it should not be a reason for them to neglect their main responsibility as the practice of law requires a great extent of concentration Thus, this has opened door for interpreters, especially legal interpreters who possess good knowledge of legal English Although English is

not the most spoken language natively, but “it has more than three times the number

of non-native speakers than it has natives” – ELT Group, Oxford University Hence,

it is objective and reasonable for both local and foreign parties to utilize English for international communication to resolve legal matters

Apart from basic requirements of language proficiency and culture sensitivity, there are apparently quite a few skills that need to be mastered for successful interpreting One of them is note-taking skill Note-taking in consecutive interpreting is a skill to

be learned There is no abstract theory about the skill, but there are a wide range of practical principles laid down by succeeding generations of consecutive interpreters over time

The language students will be the targeted audiences who may wish to read a detailed depiction of some background knowledge about note-taking skill, especially

in legal contexts, and may be eager to understand given viewpoints of senior interpreters on the skill

Hence, this thesis will hopefully facilitate Vietnamese interpreters or whoever chooses to pursue a career as an interpreter when encountering legal seminars or dispute resolution hearings such as at courts or arbitration centers in the future

2 The Significance of the Thesis

Court as well as other legal settings constitute a “highly risky” venue for both foreign and native parties Miscommunication could lead to destructive consequences for those who involved in legal matters Note-taking technique is of paramount importance to provide accurate and meaningful message There have been a variety of articles published in international journals on the study of note-taking technique in particular However, due to the fact that many of the authors are linguistics experts and not legal experts, their works generally just basically set the theoretical background for note-taking skill without integrating with legal knowledge

Moreover, unfortunately, there is no information provided in the legal settings, which is adjacent to Vietnamese legal system as this field is relatively new, regardless of its urgency for society As the number of foreign enterprises moving their factories to Vietnam or those who wish to corporate with Vietnamese companies under joint-venture scheme are on the rise, hence, there is an emergence

of complex legal matters and many of them require legal interpreting

3 The Structure of the Thesis

The thesis is divided into three (3) separate chapters:

Chapter ONE: Literature review on Note-taking skill in Legal Consecutive

Interpreting

Chapter TWO: Survey on Note-taking skill in Legal Consecutive Interpreting

Chapter THREE: Interview on Problems and Recommendations

The first chapter addresses literature review, which is to thoroughly work on relevant published works about how to effectively take notes when practicing consecutive interpreting from English to Vietnamese It combines both synthesis, summary and analysis

The second chapter is a practical analysis drawing on the findings from a survey They are expected to verify the theory of note-taking skill mentioned in chapter one The last chapter is based on an interview with skilled interpreters to gain an insightful and objective viewpoint towards the problems when practicing note-taking skill in all likelihood There are also precious recommendations with the mission of increasing the number of qualified interpreters and advance the field of legal interpreting education Suggestions for futher study will be presented in the Conclusion

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 The importance of Note-taking in Consecutive Interpreting

During the procedure, both short-term memory and notes should be carried out While memory is of great importance to interpreters, notes can be of specific

support

“When engaged in consecutive interpreting, note-taking is a best practice that significantly improves the interpreter’s ability to recall details, organize ideas for deep processing and increase the accuracy, meaning, and effectiveness of an interpretation in court and legal settings.” (p 16, NCIEC

2009)

Note-taking helps improve the interpreter’s concentration, relieves the pressure placed on an interpreter’s working memory and helps to ensure that details are precise during interpretation This is critically important for consecutive interpretation within the court and legal proceedings where testimony becomes or has the potential to become evidence in a court case According to Cornell University, note taking can be very useful for the interpreter working consecutively: Firstly, notes improve concentration and prevent distraction, thus enhancing the comprehension of the speech

Secondly, notes help the interpreter relieve the memory Although the interpreter may have a background ideas of a speech, he or she cannot remember every idea in the speech because short-term memory only keeps information for a limited amount

of time

Thirdly, notes activate the short-term memory of the interpreter with clues, abbreviations or signals that re-call the whole information of the speech With notes, the main ideas and the links among them become easier for the interpreter to visualize and transfer it into saying

Last but not least, the writing will eliminiate subjective factors such as accent, style

or external characteristics of the speaker As a result, interpreters can only stay focus

on the main information instead of being distracted by the such factors

Literature review is intended not only to demonstrate relevant theory on note-taking

in consecutive interpreting but also to provide insightful evaluation of the real-life practice Hence, this chapter explains various aspects related to the topic of note-taking in sequence ranging from large-scale view to close-up view

1.2 Interpreting in legal contexts

In order to understand the concept of interpreting, it is advisory to draw it to another activity for which interpreting is often mistaken - translation A straightforward explanation of translation given by Catford (1965, p.20), he simply defined

translation as an “operation performed on languages, a process of substituting a text

in one language for a text in another”

Roderick Jones, a European Union senior conference interpreter, stated that

interpreting is “immediate oral translation” (2002, p.3) Interpreting, just like

translation, is fundamentally the art of re-expressing

It is obvious that while translation refers to converting a written text from one language into another, interpreting refers to orally converting method While a translator must be a sharp writer and skilled editor, it is crucial for an interpreter to

have extraordinary listening abilities, good memory aided by good note-taking techniques and excellent time-management

Interpreting in the legal setting is a long-recognized area of specialization Russell

notes, “There is widespread agreement among experts in the field of interpretation that the principle of accuracy of courtroom interpretation is extremely important to the integrity of the legal system and to ensuring non-English speakers have equitable access to justice” (p 57)

That means apart from having a background knowledge and understanding of the entire communicative situation, legal interpreters should also be competent in appropriate usage within each language, and in managing the cross-cultural speech when performing in legal seminars or other dispute resolution hearings Moreover, further explanation should be added to better the understanding of the target audience, especially legal terminology

1.3 Consecutive Interpretation in legal contexts

As far as the classification of interpreting is concerned, Vietnamese people may ask

for clarification between two types of interpreting, consecutive interpretation and simultaneous interpretation (or conference interpretation) According to Russell, the

main difference between these two methods lies in how the comprehension phase is

separated from the message conversion phase Simultaneous interpretation occurs nearly at the same time as the original utterance of a speech; while consecutive interpretation, with more given time, follows the original speech after one or very few sentences In its most general sense, consecutive interpretation is a method of

interpreting in which interpreter starts the interpretation only after the speaker stop talking, then he or she will listen to the next few sentences and wait for the speaker to make a pause again to interpret

Listening to a foreign speaker and interpreting to the target language at the same time creates difficulty hearing the following message Especially during interpreting witness testimony or in the direct and cross-examination of a foreign party, Russell’s research (2002) showed that consecutive interpretation has fewer error rates when

compared to simultaneous interpretation Russell notes, “While all aspects of a trial

are important, the area of giving direct evidence and the subsequent cross- examination is critical” (p.160) Given that these interpretations play an evidentiary

role in courtroom, increasing accuracy as well as reducing errors When interpreting

in legal settings involving interactions other than taking a statement or testimony, the use of consecutive interpreting can still be considered as the most effective method for achieving a higher degree of precision These interactions may involve investigations, attorney-client interviews, interviews of witnesses, mediations, meetings, etc

1.4 Note-taking Process in Consecutive Interpreting

In accordance to Rozan’s work on “7 Principles of Note-taking”, the process of taking-note can be divided into two separate phases The first phase is listening during which the interpreter listens to the speech in the source-language and takes notes; the second phase is reproducing the speech in the target- language speech from short-term memory and what they have noted

Phase One - Listening Phase: L (listening) + M (short-term memory) + N (note-taking) During phase one, the interpreter is asked to listen selectively and actively to the original speech, after that the short-term memory is utilised to receive the information and produce the input information either in memory or in notes or both

It is apparent to state that note-taking is an indispensible part of the first phase

Phase Two - Reproducing Phase: R (remember) + R (read the notes) + P (produce the speech in the target language)

In the second phase, the interpreter collects the information from their memory as

well as from the notes, then produces the speech in the target language

In order to make notes become an effective tool to consecutive interpreting, the interpreter must answer the three fundamental questions as follows: (i) what to note; (ii) how to note; and (iii) when to note

The first thing needed to take note should be main ideas The interpreter is required

to gain the targeting and selection skill as well as omit non-contextual words which are not contributed to the conprehension of the original speech It also depends on how interpreter avoid flaws and a laboured interpreting through the notation and re-structuring of the ideas

1.6.2 Conjunctions

The second thing the interpreter should take into consideration are conjunctions.The

ways in which ideas may be connected are (i) the logical consequence such as

accordingly, consequently, hence, as a result, or therefore; (ii) the logical cause which often goes with with the words due to, as, because, or since; and (iii) opposition which can be recognised as yet, however, but, or nevertheless

Some common conjunctions used in note-taking (which can also be found in Subsection 1.7.1.):

- as and that is because, this is the reason why, since, given the fact that,

given that; to convey explanation

- tho although, despite the fact that; to convey opposition

- but on the other hand, but, however, nevertheless; to convey limitations

- if it is possible that, assuming that, to convey supposition

- as to as far as A is concerned, on the matter of; to convey reference

- tfe therefore, one can then conclude; to convey conclusion

1.6.3 Data

Proper names, numbers, lists of items cannot be recalled based on self-deduction

or logical thinking Interpreter has no choice but noting them down Therefore, data like porper names, numbers, list of items are absolutely what interpreter should learn how to effectively take note during the consecutive interpreting process

1.6.4 Verb tenses

It is debatable that whether tenses of verbs worth noting down or not The forms and

tenses of verbs have certain impact on the context of the given information

According to Jones, “when noting verbs, interpreters should thus take care to note the tense correctly, and if appropriate the mode, in particular conditional” (p.42)

While some interpreters prefer the notes with as little detail as possible, others prefer taking advantage of the notes with a lot of detail Hence, it seems to depend on the perference made by each individual interpreter under certain contexts, tenses of verbs could be noted or not

1.7 How to Note

Apparently, notes that are logically organized help the interpreter avoid confusion when utilizing them In this case, abbreviations and symbols are considered to be perfect tools to save time in the process of interpreting

The use of symbols and abbreviations should be come naturally and consistent

because any new item – either abbreviation or symbol – created during the process of interpreting may require more attention and even lead to confusion Hence, only by developing his or her own system of abbreviations and symbols in advance, can the interpreter utilize them skillfully

1.7.1 Abbreviations

There are three rules of abbreviations invented by Rozan: (i) abbreviation of words; (ii) abbreviation to indicate verb tenses and (iii) abbreviating the expression

(i) The first rule, “Unless a word is short (4-5 letters), the interpreter should note it

in an abbreviated form” and “write some of the first and last letters rather than trying to write as many letters as possible from the start onwards” (Rozan, n.d)

(ii) The second rule states that “to indicate tense we add ll for the future and d for

the past” (Rozan, n.d.)

(iii) The third rule is “wherever possible we must abbreviate by using a word which conveys the same meaning but is much shorter” (Rozan, n.d.) It is applied to

abbreviate long expressions

For example:

 “in order to reach some conclusion” can be noted “to end”

 “considering the situation at the present time” can be noted “as sit on now”

 “with the purpose/with the intention” can be noted “to”

The tables below are illustrating some collections of abbreviations which may enhance the performance of note-taking process in consecutive interpreting

Table 1 List of Common-Use Abbreviations

Abbreviation of popular organizations should be memorized by interpreters It

1 kilometre km 19 labour lbr 37 especially esp

4 centimetre cm 22 economy eco 40 abbreviation abbr

5 millimetre mm 23 monetary mon 41 example eg

7 figure fig 25 popular pop 43 dictionary dic

9 minimum mini 27 import imp 45 technology tech

10 hundred h 28 professional pro 46 electricity elec

20 million mil 29 production prod 47 defintion def

12 thousand thou 30 department dep 48 laboratory lab

13 mathematic math 31 bureau bu 49 recreation rec

14 literature lit 32 agriculture agr 50 university uni

15 chemistry chem 33 industry indus 51 individual indiv

16 physics phys 34 corporation corp 53 calculation cal

18 Tuesday Tue 36 commerce comm 55 influenza flu

requires a precise interpretation of such important bodies apart from related background knowledge The following table contains some common names of Vietnamese Agencies in abbreviation:

Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs MOLISA Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development MOARD Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment MONRE

Table 2 List of Names of Vietnamese Agencies in Abbreviation

(Circular No 03/2009/TT-BNG)

1.7.2 Symbols

A "symbol" can be a mark, sign or letter used to denote a concept or a definition Symbols are faster and simplier to jot down than words Symbols need to be prepared

in advance to ensure consistency throughout the interpreting phase

To completely gain benefit of note-taking technique during providing consecutive interpreting, the interpreter should develop a system of clear, simple and logical abbreviations and symbols on his or her own Followings are certain symbol examples taken from Interpreter Training Resource

1 because/ the main reason for/ on account of/ due to/ thanks to/ owing to/

since/as

coz

2 therefore/ consequently/ as a result/ that’s why/ for that reason/ hence/ thus so

3 so as to/ in order to/ with the aim of/ with the intention of/ with the purpose to

4 however/ nevertheless/ on the other hand/ although/ despite/ conversely but/➢

5 in addition/ futhermore/ moreover/ besides/ also/ too/ and +/ &

Table 3 Symbols for Conjunctions

Hence, the interpreter shall has the ability to “predict” upcoming things Moreover, the interpreter is not required to note every piece of information exactly the same

sequence as the speaker, so there is no need for the interpreter to wait for a finished utterance to start noting

It is also worth minding that the interpreter should stop noting immediately and begin reproducing ideas right after speakers finish their utterances If the interpreter is too contingent on notes, he or she will fail to provide the impromptu interpretation, which is not recommended

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGIES AND PROCEDURES

The precious chapter of the thesis provides an overview of note-taking in consecutive interpreting in legal contexts, drawing on applicable theories, legal-related examples and illustrations from linguistics resources However, the gap between the “theory of note-taking” and “notes” might be great In order to bridge the gap, a survey and an in-depth interview on the practice of note-taking technique has been conducted

2.1 Survey

Due to the fact that Legal English Department of Ho Chi Minh University of Law does not offer consecutive interpreting courses besides translating, so the students do not have a round comprehension about how to deliver an effective interpretation, entailing the mastery of note-taking technique The survey is carried out among

members of a private group on Facebook named “Bien Phien Dich Tieng Anh – Vietnamese Translators and Interpreters” They are those who have practical

experience in interpreting consecutively Their responses are mainly based on the experiences that they have accumulated through 1 to 2 years, averagely

About 20 members of the group were asked to complete the survey

2.1.1 The Objective of the Survey

The aim of this quantitative survey is to examine how interpreters acknowledge and take advantage of the note-taking technique in reality from their own viewpoints and through their practical experience

2.1.2 Methodology of the Survey

White states that: “Quantitative research is scientific and objective approach” (2002,

p 24) As aforementioned, the main goal of the study is to record the findings about interpreters’ personal viewpoint on note-taking Hence, the methodology of quantitative best suits the objective of the survey With this type of research, the results are given as percentages illustrated by bar charts and pie charts

A survey is in form of of “Group Administered Questionnaire” It contains 2 multiple-choice questions and 7 questions made under linear scale where the subject

is given chance to choose what best represents his or her opinion on note-taking technique

2.1.3 Procedure of the Survey

There has been a total of 11 responses in the end They were given 5 minutes to consider and answer 7 questions There is a clear introduction to the purpose stated in the survey, hence, no other further explanation was given out verbally The sample questionaire is provided in the appendix at the end of this graduation thesis

2.2 Interview

Above all, unlike translators, interpreters have to deal with oral message under time pressure without the opportunity of revising, enhancing or cultivating their interpretation For these reasons, consecutive interpreting is considered to be extremely demanding and challenging profession, especially with technical expertise – here is legal expertise In the forthcoming section, an empirical report is presented based on interview method in order to explore certain challenges and suggestions which may arise during the interpreting process

2.2.1 The Objective of the Interview

The aim of the interview is to explore what may be the obstacles to prepare a good note and also what interpreters would do in some specific situations during the