Sight translation teaching methods used by lecturers at translator and interpreter training division faculty of english language teacher education

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH TEACHER EDUCATION GRADUATION PAPER SIGHT TRANSLATION TEACHING METHODS USED BY LECTURERS

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF ENGLISH TEACHER EDUCATION

GRADUATION PAPER

SIGHT TRANSLATION TEACHING METHODS USED BY LECTURERS AT TRANSLATOR AND INTERPRETER TRAINING DIVISION, FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND

INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY AND THOSE AT ENGLISH DEPARTMENT, HANOI UNIVERSITY

Supervisor : Nguyen Ninh Bac M.A

Student: Do Thu Hoai

Year of enrollment: QH2009

HANOI, 2013

ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH

KHOÁ LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP

Các phương pháp giảng dạy dịch đọc được các giáo viên ngành Biên phiên dịch, khoa Sư phạm tiếng Anh, trường Đại học ngoại ngữ, ĐHQGHN và các giáo viên khoa

tiếng Anh, trường Đại học Hà Nội sử dụng

Giáo viên hướng dẫn: Th.S Nguyễn Ninh Bắc Sinh viên: Đỗ Thu Hoài

Khoá: QH2009

HÀ NỘI – NĂM 2013

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ACCEPTANCE

I hereby state that: I, Đỗ Thu Hoài – Group 09.1.E25, being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Art accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited

in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper

Signature

Hanoi, May 2013

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost, I wish to express my sincerest thank to my supervisor Mr Nguyễn Ninh Bắc, M.A for his invaluable guidance, his great patience as well as his considerable encouragement during the process of this research

I would like to thank all six lecturers and the fourth year students in six classes

in ULIS and HANU, who were willing to give very detailed answers to my questionnaires and interviews Without their enthusiastic participation and cooperation, this research would not have been completed

I also would love to send my thanks to all my classmates, especially my three best friends, Vũ Thị Kim Liên, Vương Thu Hằng, and Trần Thị Huyền Anh for their supports in both materials and spirits Their help always came on the right time when I found discouraged and got troubles during the process of conducting this paper

As well, I want to thank all managers and staffs in the Oxford English Academy, Vietnam for their supports and sympathy Without their support, I would not have finished this paper

Last but not least, I am grateful to my family for their support and encouragement continuously from the beginning to the end of the research process

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ABSTRACT

Translation and interpretation have been taught in a lot of universities in Vietnam for many recent years In the curriculums for translation and interpretation of the Translation and Interpretation Division, English Teacher Education Department in the University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University and the English Department, Hanoi University, sight translation is introduced via different forms As one of the first studies on sight translation teaching, this paper aimed at investigating different types of sight translation exercises applied to teach students of translation and interpretation major in the two universities In order to achieve this goal, the research used questionnaires and interviews to collect data Questionnaires were delivered to 132 students in ULIS and HANU Interviews were conducted with six lecturers from both universities

Through data collection and analysis, eight different types of sight translation exercises used by lecturers in ULIS and HANU were identified The results show that the number of exercise types used in ULIS is larger than that used in HANU In addition, lecturers in Translation and Interpretation Division of ULIS tend to design more detailed and complex exercises for their students than those in English Department, HANU Because they are taught different exercise types, students in the two universities also have different evaluation on the most effective type for them As this is the first research on sight translation teaching in ULIS and HANU, there are some limitations, which gives opportunity for further researches in the futures Some recommendations are given in the last chapter of the paper

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACCEPTANCE i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii

LIST OF ABBREVIATION vi

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES vii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Statement of the research and practical rationale for the study 1

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 2

1.3 Scope of the study 2

1.4 Significance of the study 3

1.5 The organization of the study 3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2

2.1 Key concepts 5

2.1.1 Translation 5

2.1.2 Interpretation 7

2.1.3 Sight translation 8

2.2 Related studies 12

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 16

3.1 Setting of the study 16

3.2 Sampling and participants 17

3.2.1 Sampling method 17

3.2.2 Participants 17

3.3 Research instruments 19

3.3.1 Interview 19

3.3.2 Questionnaire 20

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3.4 Procedures 21

3.4.1 Data collection procedure 21

3.4.2 Data analysis procedures 22

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 24

4.1 Research question 1: What kinds of exercises are applied to teach sight translation by lecturers of the two divisions at the two universities? 24

4.2 Research question 2: What methods of sight translation teaching do students of two divisions at the two universities find most effective for them? Why do they find most effective? 31

4.2.1 At the University of Languages and International Studies 31

4.2.2 At English Department, Hanoi University 33

4.3 Research question 3: What are the students’ suggestions to develop sight translation teaching? 35

4.4 Further discussion on sight translation exercises used in ULIS and HANU 36

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 38

5.1 Summary of major findings 38

5.2 Contributions of the study 40

5.3 Limitations of the study 41

5.4 Suggestions for further studies 41

REFERENCES 42

APPENDIX 1: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 44

APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONNAIRE 47

APPENDIX 3: INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS 51

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LIST OF ABBREVIATION

Consecutive interpreting CI

English Department ED

Faculty of English Language Teacher Education FELTE

Hanoi University HANU

Sight translation ST

Simultaneous interpreting SI

Translation and Interpretation Training Division TITD

University of Languages and International Studies ULIS

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LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 1: Comparison among sight translation and translation,

Table 3: Number of lecturers and students 18

Table 4: Types of sight translation exercises designed by lecturers

from ULIS and HANU

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Figure 1: ULIS student’s evaluation of sight translation exercises 32 Figure 2: HANU student’s evaluation of sight translation exercises 34 Figure 3: Students’ suggestions to improve sight translation teaching 35

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

This first chapter will provide the rationale, the aims and objectives, the organization and significance of the research In addition, the research questions will

be identified as the goals of the whole research

Together with the development of translation and interpreting occupation, translation – interpreting teaching and learning has been given more attention in recent years There are numerous studies on translation – interpretation teaching and learning all over the world while sight translation, which is also a form of translation, has not been accorded due attention

According to Agrifoglio (2004), “at the boundary between translation and interpreting, sight translation appears as a hybrid and rather unexplored phenomenon, used in various contexts and with different definitions” (p.43) In Vietnam, to my knowledge, there is just one research carried by Ms Hoang Thanh An on sight translation study by fourth year students at Translation and Interpreting Division, English Teacher Education Department, ULIS, VNU However, the research only provides results related to a small number of students and lecturers In addition, they are at only one university in Vietnam In the study, sight translation methods have not been analyzed deeply and comprehensively due to “the small sample size of respondents” (Hoang, 2011, p.52)

Meanwhile, sight translation is very useful when practicing translation as well as interpretation In reality, interpreters and translators are required to sight-translate documents in many different settings, for example, courtrooms, hospitals, business services, and so on “In job interviews, candidates are also asked to perform a sight translation at a loud voice as a way to test their linguistic competence” (Visintin & Campos, 2009, p.616)

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All these conditions, henceforth, offered the researcher a chance to conduct a study on “Sight translation teaching methods used by lecturers at Translator and Interpreter Training Division, Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, ULIS, VNU and those at English Department, HANU.”

The research aims at examining teaching methods applied to teach sight translation at ULIS and HANU The researcher also wishes to find out which methods students of ULIS and HANU like most and why and offer some proposals to develop those methods In brief, the objectives mentioned above could be summarized into three following research questions:

1 What kinds of exercises are applied to teach sight translation by lecturers of the two divisions at the two universities?

2 What methods of sight translation teaching do students of two divisions at the two universities like most? Why do they find them most effective?

3 What are the students’ suggestions to improve the methods that they like most?

As the aims of the research have been clearly stated previously, the researcher pays great attention to sight translation teaching in the training curriculum of translation and interpretation The first and foremost concern of the study will be different types of sight translation exercises used to teach students of translation and interpretation major In other words, while there are a lot of issues relating to sight translation, the research only concentrates on the methods in which it is conveyed to students and whether students find those methods effective for their translation and interpretation skills or not

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In addition, it is necessary to note that the research is carried out in the contexts

of TITD, FELTE, ULIS, VNU and ED, HANU where sight translation is taught in the curriculum These are the two most famous and long-standing universities of translation and interpretation training in Vietnam in general and in Hanoi in particular

Finally, it is noteworthy that the samples in this study were restricted to lecturers and forth year students at TITD, FELTE, ULIS, VNU and ED, HANU Three lecturers and three classes at each of the two divisions/ departments were chosen to support the researcher to come up with final findings

Once having been completed, the research would serve as one of the initial studies on sight translation teaching method in Vietnam Therefore, the paper might be useful for firstly, lecturers of translation and interpreting and policy makers in the two universities It will provide them with a number of sight translation teaching methods Secondly, it might be helpful for students and those who develop an interest in the topic Finally, as aforementioned, the research will make a contribution to enriching the scholarship on sight translation

Apart from chapter 1, the rest of the study consists of the following chapters

Chapter 2 (Literature review) provides a brief overview of the literature on the

research topic both over the world and in Vietnam Comparisons will be made to determine the research gaps Consequently, the implementation of this study will be justified

Chapter 3 (Methodology) describes the sampling method, numbers and features of

participants, research instruments as well as the procedures of data collection and analysis

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Chapter 4 (Results and Discussions) answers the four research questions mentioned

previously and presents some comparisons between the data analyzed and factual findings

Chapter 5 (Conclusion) summarizes the main points, states the conclusions, admits

the limitations and suggests for further studies

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter will provide a brief overview of the literature on the research topic, thereby, laying the theoretical basis for the whole study Firstly, a critical explanation

of key concepts such as translation, interpretation, and sight translation will be given Then, related studies not only in Vietnam, but also all over the world will be reviewed

to contextualize the research paper, and determine the research gaps Consequently, the implementation of this study will be justified

2.1 Key concepts

2.1.1 Translation

The term translation conveys several different meanings; as a result, a lot of

definitions of translation can be found There is no fixed definition because each definition is proposed basing on different aspects of the term Translation can be understood as a process, which means the act of producing a translation or as a product – the text that has been translated

Solodub (cited in Sokolopsky 2010, p.286) defines that “translation is a specific

oral or written activity aimed at the recreation of an oral or written text (utterance)

existing in one language, accompanied by keeping the invariance of content, qualities

of the original and author’s authenticity.” The two words activity and recreation imply

that translation must be conducted through different steps

Larson (1984, p.3) seems to be in agreement with Solodub at this point since in his book, “Meaning-based translation: A guide to cross-language equivalence” he also points out the steps required during translation process According to him, translation comprises three main steps: “studying” various elements of the source text (ST) such

as “lexicon, grammatical structure, communication situation, and cultural context”;

“analyzing” those elements to understand the text’s meaning; and “reconstructing” the

emphasizes that “a translation may be understood as the process whereby a message

which is expresses in a particular source language is linguistically transformed in order

to be understood by readers of the target language Actually, the translator is conveying the meaning expressed by the original writer so the end reader gets a translated text that is faithful to the source text in meaning.” Like Larson, to clarify her definition, Banjar also gives out three phases of translation process The first phase is analyzing the ST – the text that needs to be transformed into another language Then the second phase starts when the translator transfers the source language into the target language

to achieve the target text (TT) Finally, revision of the translation is the last phase of the translation process

In the book, “Introduction into Theory of Translation”, Alekseeva (2004, p.7)

also defines translation as an activity This activity “consists of variable re-expression,

converting of the text in one language into the text in a different language, which is carried out by a translator, who creatively chooses variants depending on language variability resources, type text, translation task, and under the influence of his/ her own personal individuality.” (p.7) However, Alekseeva does not only consider translation

an activity, which can be understood as process, but also broadens his definition of

translation by defining translation as a result of the activity mentioned above

Alekseeva’s definition is strongly supported by Semenov (cited in Sokolovsky, 2010) that:

First of all, translation is the translator’s activity of transforming a message with the same meaning in another language; secondly, translation is a result of the translator’s activity, i.e an oral or written language utterance (p.25)

On the other hand, many linguistics and scholars define translation from a different direction, which is neither process nor product They regard translation as a

skill This point of view is stated by Peter Newmark (1988) in Approaches to translation that:

Translation is a craft consisting in the attempt to replace a written message and/ or statement in one language by the same message and/ or statement in another language (p.7)

He also emphasizes that the messages or statements in both source language and target language are in written form

This research paper adopts the view of Newmark (2001, p.7) mentioned above Translation, as a result, is understood in a narrow meaning referring to a skill of

“rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the way that the author intended the text” (Newmark, 1988, p.4)

2.1.2 Interpretation

The term interpretation, like the term translation, is also understood in different

ways basing on its different characteristics

Collin and Morris (1996, p.xiii) refer the term interpretation to the process of

transforming a message expressed in one language (source language) to another language (target language) At this point, interpretation is very similar to translation However, what distinguishes interpretation from translation is that in interpretation

Kade (1968) (cited in Le & Nguyen 2008, p.18) seems to have the same idea with Collin and Morris (1996) She defines interpretation as a form of translation named oral-oral translation It is explained in details that during the interpretation process, the interpreter only listen to the input (source-language text) once and under high pressure of time, has to produce the output (target-language text) very quickly There is little chance for interpreter to correct or revise his/ her interpretation Moreover, there is often no chance to review or replay the source-language text

The research will use the definition given out by Kade (1968) above As a result, whenever the term interpretation is mentioned, it will be understood as a form

of translation in which both source and target languages are oral and target language is produced under high time pressure

2.1.3 Sight translation

2.1.3.1 Definition of sight translation

Like the terms translation and interpretation, sight translation is also

conceptualized in different ways Various definitions can be found in different documents For example, Lambert (2004) says that:

Sight translation involves the transposition of a message written in one language into a message delivered orally in another language Since both oral

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and visual forms of information processing are involved, sight translation can

be defined as a specific type of written translation as well as a variant of oral interpretation (p.298)

From Lambert’s definition, it can be seen that in sight translation the language text is written form and the target-language text is in spoken form In his article, "Shared attention during sight translation, sight interpretation and simultaneous interpretation", he also compares sight translation to sight interpretation and simultaneous interpretation He emphasizes that sight translation is “opposed to” sight interpretation – “one step closer to simultaneous interpretation in that the message is presented both aurally and visually” (p.299) Vezzi (cited in Lambert 2004) comments that the process of sight translation, sight interpretation and simultaneous interpretation are not as same as each other

source-Agrifoglio (2004, p.1) stated that “at the boundary between translation and interpreting, sight translation appears as a hybrid.” The explanation is given that source text in sight translation is written (like in translation) but the target text is oral (like in interpretation)

Epstein (2007) appears to be in agreement with Agrifoglio at this point because

in her article, “Sight translation”, she also calls sight translation “a combination of translation and interpretation, of the visual and the vocal.” In her opinion, the translator may or may not have time to prepare; however, it’s common that he/ she gets the text, has to read and translate it aloud at the same time

The National Council on Interpreting in Health Care (2009) defines sight translation as follows:

Sight translation is the oral rendition of text written in one language into another language and is usually done in the moment (p.4)

In the document provided by this organization, sight translation is also compared to written translation The difference between them lies in their output While in written translation, the output is written, the output is in oral form in sight

be achieved Angelelli (cited in Sampaio 2003, p.65) adds up that “sight translation is

an oral translation of a written text that should sound as if the interpreter were merely reading a document written in the target language.”

In the research, sight translation will be understood similarly to the definitions given by Kade (1968), Sampaio (2003) and Angelelli (2003) mentioned in the above paragraph It is a form of translation with a written input and oral output It is usually used as a pedagogical method in teaching translation and interpretation

2.1.3.2 Comparison among sight translation and translation, interpretation

Hoang (2011, p.14) makes a comparison among sight translation, translation and interpretation, which shows their characteristics very apparently Her comparison

is illustrated in the following table

Table 1: Comparison among sight translation and translation, interpretation

Skills

required

- Reading skill

- Speaking skill(including public speaking)

- Cultural knowledge

- Subject knowledge

- Reading and writing skills

- Cultural knowledge

- Subject knowledge

- Listening and speaking skills(including public speaking)

- Cultural knowledge

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(acquired before translation process)

- Analytical skills

- Ethical

(acquired before, in-stage and post-translation process)

- Good ability to use the library of dictionaries and reference materials

- Analytical skills

- Ethical behavior

(acquired before translation process)

- Subject knowledge (acquired before translation process) - Good memory

- Note-taking skills

understanding the text

in source language 2.Translatingmentally 3.Orally performing in target language

1 Reading for understanding the text insource language

2 Translating

3 Performing in written form in target language

1 Listening and understanding the text in source language

2 Interpreting

3 Orally performing in target language Table

2 Comparison among sight translation, translation and interpretation

The table once again shows that sight translation have many features in common with translation as well as interpretation The blended nature of sight

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translation cause some controversies and inconsistencies when it is applied in the training curriculum The issue of when and to whom sight translation is suitable to be taught remains questionable In the book “Textologie und Translation”, Verlag (2003) reviews some significant opinions of many scholars and researchers about sight translation According Verlag’s book, some researchers like Feal (1981) and Laplace (1989) “recommend training in sight translation only after training in consecutive” (cited in Verlag, 2003, p.273) Gile (1995) claims that sight transition exercises are not suitable for beginners because “the constant presence off the SL text before their eyes may increase the risk of interference” ( However, “Ilg depends the view that sight translation should be introduced as early as possible in the training programme” (Ilg & Lambert 1996, cited in Verlag 2003, p.273)

2.2 Related studies

While translation and interpretation have been the research topics for many linguists as well as scholars around the world, it seems that little attention is paid to sight translation Therefore, it remains a relatively unexplored territory

In the article “Shared attention during sight translation, sight interpretation and simultaneous interpretation”, Lambert (2004, p.294-306) claims the types of processing involved when subjects perform sight translation compared to both sight interpretation and simultaneous interpretation However, sight translation is not given sufficient attention to in his research Moreover, the results gained imply that sight interpretation should be included in any cognitive approach to a simultaneous-interpreter training program

Amparo Jiménez Ivars (n.d.), University Jaume I, conducted a research titled

“Sight translation and written translation: A comparative analysis of causes of problems, strategies and translation errors within the PACTE translation competence model” The research proves that sight translation can be considered an interpreting modality In addition, it points out the nature of sight translation modality Problems

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and strategies used to solve them in sight translation and written translation are also investigated in the research Results reveal that more errors made in sight translation than in in written translation

Another comparative research is made to compare sight translation and interpreting In the work entitled “Sight translation and interpreting: A comparative analysis of constraints and failures”, Agrifoglio (2004) describes sight translation by putting it aside interpreting to compare Sight translation is compared to both simultaneous and consecutive interpreting Results of the research give indications that interpreters confront different difficulties and overcome those difficulties by various efforts in each mode, sight translation or interpreting Agrifoglio makes a conclusion that “sight translation emerges as a complex and unique technique, whose cognitive demands on the interpreter are by no means less than those of simultaneous and consecutive.”

In 2009, Visintin and Campos carried out a research on sight translation; however, they considered it as a cognitive tool in language learning The work’s name

is “Sight translation as a cognitive tool in language learning.” According to the researchers, it is certainly that sight translation is useful in learning language because it can be used as a pedagogic strategy

Notably, in the research “Mastering sight translation skills”, Sampaio (2003) focuses much on sight translation scenarios The research takes into account some definitions as well as theoretical views about the nature of sight translation, the skills and abilities it demands In this research, sight translation teaching is discussed in accordance with interpreter training program

In Vietnam, sight translation has not been explored much So far, there seems to have been only one graduation paper by Hoang (2011) on this territory The graduation paper provides initial findings on the ways of teaching sight translation in Translator and Interpreter Training Division, Faculty of English Teacher Education, Universities

of languages and International Studies In addition, the research also presents

in class Actually, the six exercises follow a progress They are about different skills, not only sight translation Actual sight translation activity only comes in the exercise six Those six exercises can be summarized in the table following:

Table 2: Elif Ersozlu’s exercises used in a sight translation course (Ersozlu, 2005)

Type of

exercise

Description

Exercise 1 Students go through three periods: They are given a text (250 -300

words) First, they scan Then, they skim the text Last, they are asked comprehension questions after reading the text The aim of this exercise is to develop reading comprehension and fast reading skills Exercise 2 In the following weeks, the instructor chooses texts from various fields

and gives only the titles of the texts and asks students to use their passive knowledge on the subject Then, the instructor randomly chooses keywords from the text and asks students to make logical connections between those keywords and form a bold outline of the text The aim of this exercise is to enable the students to use their passive knowledge and make logical connections between the facts Exercise 3 The same text used in the previous exercise will be used in this

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exercise This time, the students are asked to analyze the text in detail What is the type of the text? Is it informative? Is it vocative? Those questions will prepare the student for the translation process

Exercise 4 In this exercise, students will have to practice:

- Focusing on the message of the sentence/ paragraph rather than the meaning of the word

- Guessing the meaning of the word by using contextual clues Exercise 5 For this exercise, the students are handed out texts, which are written

in complex sentence structures Then, they are asked to determine the smallest semantic units in each sentence The aim is not to use the same grammatical structure but to give the same message in the target language

Exercise 6 This exercise will help students to focus on the meaning rather than the

structure and the words of a given text The students are given texts written in their native language and they are asked to "paraphrase" each sentence

Summary

The chapter explains three key concepts of the research, translation, interpretation, and sight translation and provides readers with the studies related to sight translation

3.1 Setting of the study

The study was conducted at Translator and Interpreter Division, Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University in northern Vietnam (TITD, FELTE, ULIS, VNU) and English Department, Hanoi University (ED, HANU) Being the two most famous leaders in teaching translation and interpretation of Vietnam, the two universities have applied many methods to improve the quality of training Sight translation is being taught in the curricula of the two universities as a supporting tool for translation and interpreting training Students at University of Languages and International Studies are required to perform sight translation at the beginning their translation and interpreting courses in the first semester of Year four Sight translation

is considered as an official part of the translation and interpreting courses In translation course, teachers prepare sight translation exercises in accordance with the themes in the curriculum and let students practice every two weeks In interpreting course, sight translation is introduced and taught to seniors in the first four weeks At Hanoi University, although sight translation is not considered as an official part of translation or interpreting courses students still have chances to practice sight translation when they are in the first semester or Year four Translated texts of various forms such as newspaper articles, interviews are still delivered to students to sight

of seniors whose major is translation and interpreting is quite large, purposive sampling was applied A small survey was carried out among teachers from English Department at Hanoi University to identify who teach sight translation in their translation or interpreting lessons The researcher chose the four teachers representing

a range of attributes, with differences in terms of variables criteria Then, the researcher asked those four teachers to recommend three classes that are taught sight translation

3.2.2 Participants

Three lecturers who are teaching translation and/or interpretation in TITD, FETE, ULIS and three others who are teaching translation and/or interpretation at ED, HANU were chosen to participate in interviews This means that there were six lecturers taking part in this study in total They were chosen in accordance with two criteria: being teacher in one of the two divisions/ departments and teaching sight

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translation in the curriculum Fourth-year students whose major in interpreting and translation from ULIS, and HANU was chosen to fulfill the questionnaires

The number of lecturers and students is shown in the following table:

Table 3: Number of lecturers and students

09E24: 14 09E25: 24 Total: 53

English Department, HANU

09A9: 26 12A9: 27 Total: 79

As mentioned in the preceding paragraph, fourth-year students in Translation and Interpreting Division, ULIS, VNU and seniors in English Department, HANU were among the target participants of the research Their participation plays an extremely important role in the study The fourth-year students at both universities were chosen because they are supposed to have some experiences in learning translation and interpretation as well as some ideas about sight translation through the subject of Translation Theory At ULIS and HANU, translation and interpretation are actually taught as subjects in the first semester of Year 3 Second-year students just

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have chances to be familiar with translation practice No information of sight translation is officially provided to them Third-year students do not have many experiences with interpreting, so they just perform some simple activities of interpretation Although sight translation is mentioned in the Translation Theory courses, it just stops at the level of “introduction” and “theory” Students do not have opportunity to perform sight translation during the lectures Therefore, fourth-year students were the most suitable participant for the research because they provided the most comprehensive picture of sight translation learning They have both theory and practice experiences in sight translation

The process of collecting data also included the participation of lecturers from the two universities As the title of the study “sight translation teaching method” suggests, the participation of lectures also plays an essential part They are the people who directly teach sight translation and give assessment of students’ sight translation performance in the training curricula Moreover, most of them have from three to fifteen years of teaching experiences Hence, they provided the researcher with various perspectives of sight translation teaching Due to the factual situation and the frame of time, the number of lecturers taking part in the study is six (three lectures per university)

3.3 Research instruments

The research plans to make an attempt to answer the research questions from both quantitative and qualitative approaches A combination of two data collection methods including questionnaire and interview were employed for collecting data

3.3.1 Interview

Interview with six lecturers were chosen as the first research instrument because of some reasons Firstly, it was very useful for the researcher to obtain detail information about teachers’ perceptions and opinions Since the research aims to

1 Which year of students do you start teaching sight translation to? (first, second, third, or fourth year?) Why this year?

2 If you have a chance to teach second-year students, will you teach them sight translation?

Six interviews were conducted in order to gather information from six lecturers at the two universities Three interviews were in TITD, FELTE, ULIS, HANU and three others were in ED, HANU The aim of the interviews was to answer research question

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3.3.2 Questionnaire

After conducting interviews with lecturers of the two universities, questionnaire will be applied with fourth-year students Among research instruments, questionnaire was the only practical approach when the researcher had to deal with more than one hundred students as described previously Questionnaire provided the researcher with responses in a standardized way Moreover, because of the time constraint and the large number of students, questionnaire was supposed to tackle this difficulty because

it was often relatively quick to collect information The research can save a great amount of time when using questionnaire First of all, structured interview was used to ask six lecturers of the two universities about their method of teaching sight translation Then, online or face-to-face questionnaires were delivered to the students

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of the two departments of ULIS and HANU to find out which sight translation method(s) most of them like

3.4 Procedures

3.4.1 Data collection procedure

Step 1: Pilot questionnaires

The first versions of questionnaires were piloted on a randomly selected group

of students from the two universities At each university, the researcher intended to choose six students from three classes The aim of this step is to examine the quality of the questionnaire Piloting students were asked to give their feedback and suggestions

on the questions Then, the research considered carefully those feedbacks and made some changes

Step 2: Interview lecturers

At this step, the researcher contacted six lectures via phone numbers, emails, etc to make an arrangement which is most convenient for the lecturers and researcher The lecturers’ right of confidentiality was made clear at the beginning of the interviews The interviews were carried out in Vietnamese; however, the English version was included in the Appendix of this paper Responses were recorded

Step 3: Distribute questionnaires

The revised version of questionnaires after the researcher receives feedback and suggestions from piloting students were officially distributed Questionnaires were intended to be distributed at the beginning of the lessons or at break time On-line questionnaires were used because the researcher couldn’t come to the participants’ classes

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3.4.2 Data analysis procedures

Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were carried out to analyze data For the interviews, the researcher intended to apply qualitative analysis with the employment of different data processing instruments because data obtained may be not expressed in numerical forms The data collected are the opinions, attitudes of the lecturers about sight translation teaching methods By using qualitative analysis method sometimes researchers can make use of the direct quotations from our participants Besides, for questionnaires, since the results gained were in numerical form, they will be coded via quantitative analysis

3.4.2.1 Data from instrument 1: Interviews

Step 1: Take notes and transcribe the data collected

All the recordings made in the process of interviewing lectures were carefully transcribed During this step, if there is anything unclear, the researcher contacted the lecturers for further explanation

Step 2: Present the information

The research questions 1 and 2 were answered in this step The researcher will synthesize all details collected in the interviews Some comparisons and contrasts may

be made during this process

3.4.2.2 Data from instrument 2: Questionnaire

Step 1: Code the data

Responses from questionnaires were qualified and analyzed Charts were used

to compare the students’ opinions about the kind of sight translation exercises they find most effective During this step, if there is any unclear response, the researcher will contact the students if their personal information is provided in the questionnaires

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Step 2: Present the information

The research questions 3 and 4 were answered in this step The researcher will compare and contrast the data to answer research question 3 Question 4 will be answered by synthesizing activity

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CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

The previous chapter has detailed the methodology of the study by describing and justifying reasons for the choice of participants, data collection instruments as well

as the procedures of data collection and analysis In the fourth chapter, collected data will be analyzed to find out the answers to the four research questions

4.1 Research question 1: What kinds of exercises are applied to teach sight

translation by lecturers of the two divisions at the two universities?

Thanks to interviews with six lecturers from the two universities, different types

of sight translation exercises applied to teach students of translation and interpretation

in the two divisions were found out The collected information evoked that sight translation is paid more attention to at the University of Languages and International Studies than at Hanoi University That is the reason why the number of sight translation exercises designed by ULIS lecturers is bigger than the number of those created by HANU lecturers In addition, the exercises of ULIS lecturers are also more sophisticatedly designed than that of HANU lecturers In short, kinds of exercises for students at TID, FELTE, ULIS and ED, HANU to practice sight translation can be summarized in the table below

Table 4: Types of sight translation exercises designed by lecturers from ULIS and HANU

Type of sight translation exercise

Number

of ULIS lecturers

Number

of HANU lecturers

Type 1: Students prepare texts in groups at home,

and then submit to teacher In class, teacher only uses

some paragraphs from the texts to ask students to

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perform ST

Type 2: Teacher prepares short passages (about 10

sentences) on PowerPoint according to the week’s

topic Students are asked to perform ST in turns

Then, important noun, verb phrases… or structures

are omitted Students have to fill in the blanks

Type 3: Students bring text they prepare to class

Teacher will collect all the text and ask students to

choose in turns randomly a text to perform ST

Type 4: Students perform ST with source texts used

in Translation lesson in the preceding week as a way

of checking homework

Type 5: Students perform ST with slides of poems,

famous sayings, phrases prepared by teacher The

slides are set to run automatically

Type 6: Students perform ST with documents

provided by teacher and related to the content of the

audio they will interpret later

Type 7: Students perform ST with documents

provided by teacher and related to the content of the

text they translate later/ before

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while at HANU, almost interviewed lecturers used the same ones At ULIS, only Type

2 was used by all three teachers interviewed Meanwhile, at HANU, Type 6 and 7 were used by all three teachers Also, all three teachers at HANU used Type 4

Type 1: Students prepare texts in groups, and then submit to teacher In class, teacher only uses some paragraphs from the texts to ask students to perform ST

This exercise was used in Translation lessons by only one teacher from ULIS According to this teacher, the texts that students prepared at home should be submitted

to her in advance Students mainly chose articles or news for this activity After teacher’s approval, students would study the texts at home She emphasized the

“spontaneity” of sight translation activity; therefore in class she only used some extracts from the texts prepared by students earlier to ask them to perform sight translation The extracts might be printed on papers or presented on slides She said

that “if they (students) don’t study the text carefully, they still have difficulties in translation and can’t produce good sight translation although they already have the materials in advance.”

Via this exercise, students could enrich their vocabulary about different topics They also had time to deal with long and complicated structures in the texts before coming to class It means that they spent at least two times with the text, which might help them to remember what they learned more easily and longer Another benefit of this exercise was that it did not take much time for teacher to prepare It also could be carried out in case there was no support from electronic devices like computer or project The interviewed lecturer used this exercise in three or four first weeks of Translation course in year 3 to help her students practice sight translation, which they were taught in Translation Theory course During these three or four weeks, the teacher spent about 20 minutes each class on this exercises (one class lasts for nearly 3 hours) At a higher level, Type 1 will be replaced by Type 2 in which students do not know the text they have to translate in advance

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Type 2: Teacher prepares short passages (10 sentences) on PowerPoint according

to the week’s topic Students are asked to perform ST in turns Then, important nouns, verbs, phrases or structures are omitted Students have to fill in the blanks

This type was used in Translation lesson by all three ULIS lecturers interviewed Texts were in different forms such as articles, news, reports, thesis, etc Teachers designed slides for student to translate in class

Firstly, one student had to look at the slide and translate immediately after being called by teacher Teacher would give comments on student’s performance when

he or she finished translating With this exercise, students were given chances to translate under time pressure like in interpretation Although the whole passage was presented in front of them, they did not have enough time to read it in advance Thus, they did not know what is going to come next, which is one of the most significant features and challenges of simultaneous interpreting

As a result, they might be confronted with new words or long and complex sentences They must quickly overcome this obstacle in order to ensure the fluency of their translation After sight translation task, some important or difficult nouns, verbs and adjectives were omitted Another student was asked to complete the paragraph The level of difficulty increased when longer phrases or structures were cut out According to teacher C, the main purpose of this exercise was to help students learn

vocabulary and collocation in different contexts “In interpreting, when they (students) cannot catch the whole sentence, they can base on the words they are able to listen to and guess the message of speakers according the content of the speech.” Teacher B also added that “this activity helps students to practice reacting to new words or phrases It will be easier to remember one word if you can speak it out.” This kind of

exercise required that the classroom must be equipped with computer and project It

The way this exercise was carried out was not different from Type 1 described before After receiving texts from students and approving the texts, teacher would analyze them in terms of vocabulary, structures and grammars Then, some extracts from the texts would be cut out from the text Teacher might type them on slides on PowerPoint program or print them out In class, in each turn, one student would be asked to perform sight translation with an extract This student might look at the slide

or choose any piece of paper to decide what he or she will translate

This type of exercise was taught in four first weeks of the Advanced Interpretation course and often accounted for 20 to 30 minutes each week These four weeks were spent on introducing sight translation before students study simultaneous

interpreting The teacher applied this type of exercise shared that “the news that students prepare are not quite long They often consist of 8 to 10 sentences Because they are prepared individually, there are a variety of topics for students to choose Therefore, they can improve their vocabulary besides learning translation skills.” Since this type was used in Interpretation, “while one student is performing sight translation, another one can be asked to take note and be the interpreter”, this teacher

said

It was carried out at the beginning of some Translation classes to check whether students remembered their previous class or not It took about fifteen to twenty minutes to be conducted It was not the whole text that would be re-translated orally, but only some important or interesting extracts Teacher E at English Department,

Hanoi University shared that “Actually when I let students do this exercise; I didn’t tell them that they were doing sight translation exercise My main goal was to check student’s comprehension after my Translation class This exercise also helped them recall their translation I think they will remember better.” However, all five lecturers

agreed that although it has the same input and output as sight translation, this activity

is more of repeating students’ last week translation versions In addition, this activity

was not used regularly and did not last long in one translation class

Type 5: Students perform ST with slides of poems, famous sayings, phrases prepared by teacher The slides are set to run automatically

This type was applied by two lecturers from the University of Languages and International Studies It was also designed on PowerPoint by teachers and was used in Interpretation class The slides were set to run automatically One student had to look

at the slides and perform sight translation Each slide might contain line(s) of some poetry, some famous saying or idioms The slides run continuously so that the student

had to be quickly to translate “This is a way to practice interpreting under time pressure To some extends, this method sounds really like simultaneous interpreting except for the input, which is written This can be considered as a “bridge” to lead students from consecutive interpreting to simultaneous interpreting”, teacher B said