A teaching model for consecutive interpreting dissertation

It can be safe to say that listening plays a vital part in the whole interpreting students in the EFL environment should be trained in listening skills through a system o f carefully gra

THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

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Sydney - November, 20UU

C H A P T E R 1: I N T E R P R E T I N G T H E O R Y A N D P R O C E S S

1.1 Interpreting vs Translating1.2 Modes o f Interpreting

1.2.1 Simultaneous interpreting1.2.2 Consecutive interpreting

2.1 Listening Skills For Consecutive Interpreting

2.1.1 Identifying the topic2.1.2 Predicting

2.1.3 Understanding the organisation o f speech2.1.4 Lislcning for details

2.1.5 Untlcrslanding syntax and vocabulary o f speech2.1.6 Undcrslanding pronunciation and accents2.1.7 Retaining information and note-taking

2.1.7.1 Memory2.1.7.2 Note-taking2.2 Listening Materials For Consecutive Interpreting

2.2.1 Live presentations2.2.2 Recorded materials2.2.3 Authentic material2.2.4 Non-authcntic material2.2.5 Techniques in listening material development2.2.6 liig h l considerations oil listening material development

C H A P T E R 3: T E A C H I N G S P K A K I N G S K I L L S

3.1 Spcakine Skills For Consecutive Interpreting

3.1.1 Recalling information and note-reading

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3.1.2 Turn-taking3.1.3 Expressing ideas3.1.4 Meaning negotiation3.1.5 Public speaking

3.2 Speaking Materials

3.2.1 Forms o f speaking materials3.2.2 Some considerations on material development3.2.3 Techniques in material development

C H A P T E R 4: S U G G E S T E D I N N O V A T I O N O F I N T E R P R E T E R S T R A I N I N G

P H O G R A M M K Л Т T H E E N G L I S H D E P A R T M E N T , H U F S

4.1 Antcccdcnts4.2 Introducing Innovation4.3 Innovation Receivers

4.4 Barriers to Change

4.4.1 Lack o f tcachcrs’ awareness and readiness4.4.2 One-way communication

4.4.3 Many changes4.4.4 Lack o f funding4.4.5 Lack o f staff development4.4.6 Lack o f rewards

4.4.7 Lack o f responsiveness to student needs

4.5 Implcincntalion Process

4.5.1 Redesigning 1/T course outline4.5.2 Designing interpreting textbook4.5.3 Improving assessments

Л number o f people have iniluciiccd ihc development o f my dissertation I am especially gratcliil lo my supervisor, Dr G illian Perrett (the University o f Sydney) whose erudite knowledge, sharp comments and careful proof-reading o f earlier drafts

patience, encouragement, and support during the w riting o f this dissertation

1 am also indebted to Ml* Nguyen Xuan Vang (Rector o f Hanoi University o f Foreign Studies) who continued to inspire me and make me tlinik this dissertation is all

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M y sincere thanks go to Frank Trinh (former I/T lecturer o f University o f Western Sydney Macarthur) whom 1 have consulted so frequently, and who has given me greater insight into the profession and helped me so much at every stage

1 would like to thank Dr Stuart J Campbell and Dr Sandra Hale (senior I/T lecturers o f University o f Western Sydney Macarthur) for their generosity in providing practical materials for the input o f my final draft

Last but not least, I must mention my appreciation o f Mr Nguyen The V i nil who has contributed innovali VC ideas ill discussion, and sharpened my own

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IN ỉ Ì Í O D U C r i O N

ЛІІІшііцЬ Vietnam is IU>1 a m iillia ilu irn i nation like /\iislralia, ІІ1СІС is still an increasing demand l'or intcrprclcrs, due lo two main factors Firstly, w ith the с uric lit irreversible trend o f globalisiition, VicliKim is rapidly inlcgraling iiilo the region and the world

and is applying Гог the membership o f the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Obviously, the language о Г /\S H /\N and the WTO is English However, most o f the Vietnamese uovcrnmcut о I'll ci als cannot communicate in English and therefore have to

more and more foreign investors u) comc lo this country lo look for business opporluniucs and establish jo in t ventures And few foreigners speak Vietnamese lo any level o f understanding and prollciciicy As a result, interpreters are invited to smooth

In the north o f Vietnam, the Hanoi University o f Foreign Studies (HUFS) is one o f the leading institutions in training iiitcrprclcrs and translators Each year about 300 students graduale IVom the English Dcparlmenl o f the University with ІІЛ degrees in iiU ciprcùiig/lianslalion (Ivimlisli-Viclnamcsc and VicUiamcsc-linglish) And their

organisations and/or the UN aucncics ill Viclnam

According to informal surveys and my personal observations over the past 9 years o f teaching at llic U nivcrsily Iraiiicc intL'rprctcrs often Гас с many problems such as inability to catch ihc message, to store the message and to deliver ihc message in the target language properly These problems may also be seen among graduates in the initial years OỈ' llìc ir w orkiim I ile These problems may collie from I lie ir poor listening and speaking skills in IZnglisli which in turn badly al feet the interpreting quality Our l/T tcachcrs arc always prcocciipicd with finding ways to liclp students overcome the problems In my opinion, one w ay o f doing this is to improve the listening and speaking skills o f students in the I Irsi place and then their interpreting skills w ill be upgraded

ol the University, aged bclwccn I 7 and 22

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inlci ргсііпц ill 111 US I he clisscrlation Cillìlìol includc ( ill 니 llcrprcling skills InK il docs

inlcrprctiim process

Chapter One starts w illi llic distinclion hclwccn intcrprclinụ and translation, and mentions the two major modes ol m icipictinu w ith ihc locus on the consccutivc interpreting Then it looks al the іпісгрпліпц process from I lie views о г dilTerent authors, and comcs up with llic suuucslcd proccss, winch contains three main aspccls:

l i s l c n i i m , c o m ’c r s i o i i ІІІКІ S Ị ì c a k i i m

ᄂ ' h a p l c r Two p r e s e n t s С І Ц І1І s p c c i l k * l i s l c i i i i m s k i l l s lor C01Ì S C C11Ũ V C i n t c i p r c t i n g , r a n g i n g

from idcntifyinu, ihc main topic, lislcniim lor details to memory and notc-laking skills It also allcmpts lo clcmoiislralc llic lypcs оГ listening materials, some icclmiques in dcsigninu practice activilics lo develop listcninu skills, and eight considerations on material development

Chaplcr Three considers wliat spc^kiiui skills l'or coiisccutivc iiilcip rctin g consists of, what the problems arc and how the problems arc possibly tackled The skills arc put in

dilTcrcnt resemeli by d ilic rc n l authors The Iasi sedioli is on liovv to design ski 11-foeused

;icli \ Ilics Гог llìc ÌI1Ì|ÌI4)\ cmcnl OÍ sjK'iikiiii； skills

Chapter I'our analvscs llic stains տ ւ օ o l'th c present interpreting curriculum al 11UFS, and introduces three feasible innovations in the areas o f course outline, textbook and asscssmcnls Il considers all innovation rcccivcrs, and anticipates possible resistances to chaimc The cmpliasis is on slops to implement those innovations successfully in the specific conditions о I I IU1;S

The Conclusion slims up ilic main ideas o f the previous chapters, and presents the full tcachiim model w ith lislcninu and spcakiiiu skills positioning in the logical SCC|UC11CC

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The disscrtalioii serves lour hcnclils l.’irst，it w ill possibly help the 1/T fellow teachers

al 111JFS to have better awareness оГ students' dilTicultics in listening and speaking Second，il provides intcrprctinu stiklcnls al 11U1;S with possible solutions U) listening and s|K4iking problems Third, it smzgesls some Icchiiiqucs in designing listening and speaking acli\ itics especially ior consecutive iiitcrprcling, with a view to providing more opporluniúes Гог practicc l'or sUidcnls And fourth, il suggests some feasible innovations for the present curriculum o f interpreting to belter respond to student needs and changes in the Vietnamese society

Due lo lliiancial constraints аікі distant livin g from Vietnam at present，it is impossible Гог me to collect inform alion from home The data arc thcrcibre mainly gathered by the review o f literature rclatinu to ililcrprcling, listening and speaking skills, curriculum innovation, and llic parliù|Xìiìl observation

The listening and speaking skills in llic teaching model presented in this dissertationcannot be considered

continuously, and can be

liUcrprcting is practised a lot in dilTcrcnt aspects o f life in Vietnam Bcl'ore becoming professional interpreters, students have to study hard and acquire professional knowledge such as the main characteristics of interpreting and translating, major modes

o f interpreting, and key components o f the interpreting process These are also the contents o f this chapter

For people outside the profession and many users o f interpreting services, there seem to

be no diffcrcnccs between interpreting and translating In fact, there is a dear distinction between the two According lo llic National Accreditation A uthority for Translators and

information and ideas from one language into another language by means o f speaking Therefore, interpreters arc conccrncd w ith the spoken word And translating or translation is rendering the meaning o f a written text into another language in the way that the author intended the text Translators arc concerned w ith the written word Interpreters and translators often work into and out o f two languages, sometimes even three or more languages The language o f origin is called the source language (SL), and the language into which the text is to be transferred is called the target language (TL)

differences m irror the diffcrcnccs between spoken and written language In terms o f the proccss o f comprehension, the written text is static as it remains unchanged o il the paper, allowing the translator to consult it at his/her own pace, in his/her own lim e and

dynamic, the interpreter has no time to refer to resources, and has no alternative but to

do careful preparation, both lexical and conceptual, o f the subject matter before the

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Harris also points out furl her differences:

as pronounccd bv others: by people talking various dialects o f them, and by some who speak them abnormally bccausc o f poor éducation or because they are nervous or because these languages arc not native to them (Harris, 1981，cited in Dollerup and Loddcgaard, 1992, p 197)

In oral communication, the listener encodes a message o f his/her own according to what the speaker is saying In written communication, the words arc in a fixed form and are sim ply taken in by readers, therefore producing a less immediate effect upon the rcccptor (Nida, 1964, p 123)

The translator has the whole text to assist comprehension whereas a complete picture o f the argument in interpreting can only be obtained at the end And in the case o f simultaneous interpreting, the 4whole picture，does not even exist (M artin, 1991，cited

in Dollerup and Loddegaard, 1992, p 197)

Another difference is the relationship between the author and the translator versus the relationship o f the speaker and the interpreter The translator works in isolation from the author and the T L readers, while the interpreter works in the same communication context and environment w ith both speaker and T L audience And as the result o f the

w orking environment, the interpreter can get and make optimum use o f direct feedback from the listeners such as asking for clarification, explanation or repetition, etc in his/her rendition As for the translator, feedback from the readers is always too late to

m odify the translation (Martin, 1991, cited in Dollcrup and Loddegaard, 1992,p.l98)

The matter o f time is a crucial difference between interpreting and translation The

dictionaries, glossaries, handbooks, encyclopaedia, and the like when s/he comes across

d iffic u lt words or idioms in order to select words w ith equivalent effect This is never the case for the interpreter who is often assumed to know every single word spoken by

s/he is 4at times looked at w ith suspicion’ (Ginori and Scimone, p 12) Speed is what

m ainly distinguishes the interpreter from the translator The interpreter is expected to

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start talking as soon as the other party has finished, and long pauses between a segment and its interpretation make the audience nervous and doubtful o f the interpreter’ s capabilities However, speed is often inversely related to accuracy Research shows that the faster a text is interpreted, the less accurate the intcrpretatkm w ill be; whilst the longer a person takes to translate, the more accurate the results w ill be (or should be)

where 1 is the lowest and 5 the highest consideration (Ginori and Scimone, pp.37-38):

speaker may use different ways to express the same idea, but the interpreter renders it only once Differently, in translation the T L text tends to be longer than the SL text

In short, the differences between interpreting and translation originate m ainly from the differences between spoken and written mode They fall into four main areas: (i) the process o f comprehension, (ii) the relationship between the interpreter, speaker and audience on the one hand, and the translator, author and readers on the other, ( iii) thematter o f time versus accuracy, and (iv) the length o f the text

The emphasis o f this dissertation is on interpreting rather than translation So from now

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It is w idely agreed by different authors (e.g M ikkclson, Ginori, Scimonc, Gile, Fenton,

consecutive interpreting.

1.2.1 Sim ultaneous interpreting

Simultaneous interpreting can be defined as interpreting /an oral discourse w hile listening to it A simultaneous interpreter docs not wait for a speaker to finish a segment and pause before beginning to interpret, but speaks at the same time as the speaker In fact, there is a time lag between the moment the interpreter hears a thought and the

Some advantages o f simultaneous interpreting are that it is really time-saving and less disruptive than other forms o f interpreting This mode is commonly practised at international conferences and forums where presentations are many but the time is lim ited Simultaneous interpreting can be subdivided into the categories below:

a) Electronic hook-up is used for large meetings, conferences and conventions

The interpreter sits in a sound-proof booth, and does the interpreting at the same time o f listening, w ith the aid o f some equipment such as headphones, earphones, microphones, amplifiers, and the like (Fenton, 1996)

b) Out-of-booth interpreting is applied when no booth is available In this case,

the interpreter sits at a distance from the speaker, listens to the speech throughheadphones, and speaks softly in a microphone the interpretation o f the speech (G inori and Scimonc pp.18-19) This type o f interpretation is not unusual in Vietnam where financial sources are the с ю т т о п constraints for conference organisers

c) Sight translation is the interpreter’ s reading aloud in one language o f a text

which is written in another language The time for processing and rendering the message approaches the simultaneous technique This mode is often used in

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d) Whispered interpretation is cxcrciscd when there is a small number o f persons

who speak a given language The interpreter is placed next to them, or between them，or behind them, and renders the interpretation parallel to what is being said for those people only I f they want to contribute something to the meeting, the interpreter w ill shift to the consecutive method In theory, whispered interpretation needs not be simultaneous, but in reality it usually ends up being

so bccausc the speakers tend to ignore the interpreter and keep talking continuously (Ginori and Scimonc, P.19)

Due to its high level o f complexity and w ithin the framework o f this dissertation, simultaneous interpreting is introduced in b rief here for information only On the other hand, more in-depth presentation w ill be given to the mode o f consecutive interpreting

1.2.2 Consecutive interpreting

Consecutive interpreting refers to listening to a speech in one language, then transferring the message orally into another language w ith a certain relay between the speech and its interpretation (Ginori and Scimone, p.17) So only one person is speaking

at a time And consecutive interpreting can be divided into two types: unilateral and bilateral interpreting (Bui and Dang, p.36)

a) Unilateral interpreting may be clone sentence by sentence, (segment by

segment, and paragraph by paragraph), or it may consist o f the summarisation o f the whole speech which may last from several minutes up to h a lf an hour or longer The former is often used in one-way communication situations such as lectures and presentations, and the latter in such usual situations as exhibitions, trade fairs and the like This mode requires excellent memory retention and note- taking skills o f a very high order The interpreter must produce the meaning o f

order, or no serious omisskms o f details

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interpreting, which contains two-way communication and which is the common practice in courts, hospitals, interviews and other “ triangular” situations It is also used in conferences where a small number o f participants meet, and there are a lack o f electronic hook-up facilities In this case, the interpreter norm ally sits next to the speakers, and docs the interpreting at intervals (Turner, p 19) The dialogues and/or talks arc often between doctors and patients, solicitors and clients, foreign investors and partners, bank managers and clients, and so on

In Vietnam, both unilateral and bilateral types arc common, and the latter is frequently used in escorting a group o f foreigners in visits to local organisations, whereas this type

is practised more often in courts and hospitals in the m ulti-cultural context o f Australia Besides the simultaneous and consecutive modes, there are other informal types or genres o f interpreting (see Appendix A)

1.3 Interpreting proccss

In interpreting situations, a speaker generally speaks to either T L listeners only or to

rendition o f the spccch o f the speaker, the interpreter has to go through an interpreting process，the aim o f which is the succcssful transference o f inform ation and meaning to the receivers Different authors look, at the interpreting process from a different perspective, and therefore describe it w ith different terms

The first phase includes the follow ing requirements: listening and analysing the SL spccch, short-term memory，and note taking And the last phase requires reconstruction

o f the speech, reading o f the notes, and reproduction o f the speech in the TL

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Гог G inori and Scimonc, the interpreting process contains three main steps (1995，p.33):

In their model, the first step is understanding, which consists o f four complementary elements:

+ knowledge o f subject m atter

A nd the final step is delivery, which is made up o f two main elements:

Going into more detail, Fenton (1996) catégorisés the interpreting process into five phases:

According to this model, first, the interpreter must have excellent hearing to receive the input message w ithout any interference Then, the message has to be understood This is the most important stage bccausc understanding failure w ill result in a breakdown o f communication Next, the interpreter deciphers the message by getting rid o f all specific words and retaining the concept and idea only A fter that, the concept and idea are transferred into the target language During the transference operation, the message is influenced by cultural and contextual factors Finally, the message is delivered to T L listeners in the output stage Fenton argues that there are two types o f output: i) the interpreter transfers the meaning w ith an equivalent idiomatic expression; and ii) the interpreter transfers the meaning w ithout finding an equivalent idiomatic expression, and has to rely on other communication strategies such as paraphrase or circumlocution, and so on

It can be noticed that despite different terms used by different authors in describing the interpreting process, there seems to be a broad agreement in two things: (i) the first phase o f the process is L IS T E N IN G and (ii) the last phase is S P E A K IN G

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each o f these operations, then the next two chapters w ill deal w ith the listening and speaking stages in more depth.

and memory First, the interpreter must have good listening skills to receive the message accurately and fu lly It can be safe to say that listening plays a vital part in the whole

interpreting students in the EFL environment should be trained in listening skills through a system o f carefully graded exercises, and should be exposed to authentic materials and different accents to prepare for the future career

U nderstanding is extremely important Once the message is taken in by listening, it has

to be processed to be understood ‘ No interpretation w ould exist, i f the interpreter did

message, the interpreter must have a thorough knowledge o f the SL and T L ，their cultures, and the subject matter in question

M e m o ry is o f crucial significance in interpreting Suppose an interpreter caught the words, understood the message, but did not remember anything from his/her experience, how could s/he interpret it into another language? M em ory is studied by psychologists who talk about different types o f memory such as: short-term memory, medium-term memory, long-term memory, rational memory, emotional memory, and associative memory (G inori and Scimonc, p.21) Among them, short-term memory (S TM ) and

process o f interpreting STM holds the message for a short time and so it is useful for the sentcnce-by-sentcnce interpreting A nd L T M retains the message in the memory for

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a very long time, for example: our names and addresses L T M is useful for storing knowledge about language structures, vocabulary, relevant subject matters and cultures Listening skill w ill be dealt vvilli in more detail in the next chaptcr.

stored in the memory, into the T L as quickly and as accurately as possible Interpreting

is an immediate proccss, which leaves the interpreter w ith no time for consulting rcfcrcnce materials As a result, interpreters must be able to think quickly and "on-their feet" For a smooth conversion, the interpreter should have an in-depth knowledge o f the T L and its culture, be able to control various factors such as time factors (speed vs accuracy), culture-bound factors (proverbs, sayings, and jokes), and ambiguity factors (mistakes and ambiguities) (G inori and Scimonc, pp.37-40)

the least important In reality, this end product is what the two parties need to understand each other; and in interpreting exams, this is the product which teachers need to assess students’ performance Suppose the message goes through all other stages but gets stuck here, there w ill be no interpretation at all This would be like a beautiful picce o f music played in a w ell-functioning stereo but w ith no speakers, consequently nobody can understand and enjoy this music It is also important to note that speaking for consecutive interpreting is not the response to the SL utterances but

ideas For good delivery, interpreters have to obtain a number o f skills through training and practice This issue w ill be explored in more depth in Chapter 3

In short, interpreting is dilTcrcnt fm m translation, and contains two major modes, namely simultaneous and consecutive interpreting And it is w idely agreed that the input and output o f the interpreting process arc listening and speaking respectively It is these two skills in consecutive interpreting which are the main focus o f this dissertation And the fo llo w ing chapter concentrâtes on listening skills

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-The first activity for the interpreter in any interpreting setting is to listen carefully to speakers, and w ork out what they say The interpreter’ s failure to catch and understand the uttcranccs w ill mean no interpretation at all So in the interpreting process，listening

Although people may have some difficulties in listening even in their mother tongue due to different accents, technical topics and the like, it is w idely agreed that they can listen to L I speech w ith ease (Underwood, p l) So the focus o f this chapter is on Vietnamese learners’ listening to English Specifically, the chapter w ill look at listening subskills needed fo r consecutive interpreting, different types o f listening materials, e.g live vs recorded, authentic vs noil-authentic, and suggests some practical techniques in using those materials to design skill-focused activities for students

2.1 Listening skills for consecutive interpreting

First o f all, interpreters have to comprehend utterances which they hear They can do that by using tw o listening approaches: bottom-up and top-down (Nunan, 1991, PP.17- 18) The iorm er refers to reformulation o f meaning o f aural messages from uttered sounds, words, phrases, sentences and the like The latter refers to the use o f background knowledge and contexts to make sense o f listening texts Successful interpreters are those who can use both approaches skilfully They use the bottom-up approach to listen for details, and the top-down approach to predict what w ill be spoken next

Some common listening situations for interpreters are meetings, interviews, seminars, trade fairs, lectures, and the like In these situations, listening means a lot o f things for interpreters, and can be broken down into the follow ing subskills (in the logical sequence o f interpreting performance): identifying the topic, predicting, understanding the organisation o f speech， listening for details, understanding the syntax and vocabulary o f spcccli, understanding pronunciation and accents, and retaining inform ation and note-taking

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One o f the principal skills which the interpreter must develop in Older to ensure succcssful comprehension and interpretation is the ability to identify the topic o f vvliat is said (Anderson and Lynch, p.401) This can be done by catching key words in the uttcrancc plus the use o f background knowledge The topic is often stated right at the beginning when two parlies meet For example, i f an interpreter catches such key words

Rccognismg the topic w ill then help the interpreter activate all the knowledge about the subjcct matter, listen w ith better focus and therefore fo llo w the argument more easily

As for background knowledge, it can be accumulated by extensive reading, listening to radio and T V programs and the interpreter’ s sclf-exposurc to a variety o f relevant topics

It is usually easier said than done For Vietnamese learners, the topic may be missed for some reasons First, speakers may use technical terms, or professional jargon, which are unfam iliar to learners Consequently, learners tend to stop listening and try to w ork out the meaning o f those terms, and thus let the rest o f speech d rift away Second, speakers may speak too fast, especially when it is their speaking habit Thus, learners may be overwhelmed, and their minds may go blank

The terminology challenge could be solved by encouraging student interpreters to expand their general and specific vocabulary day by day McCarthy (1990, pp 124-131) rccommcnds some strategies for learning vocabulary such as word association (e.g university: lccturcis, students ), synonyms (e.g intelligent, clcver.••), antonyms (e.g hot - c o ld )，and so on Students arc advised to keep pockct-sizc vocabulary handbooks and learn about 7 (the magic number) new words each day Students should also build up their own glossaries o f the fields where they are likely to w ork in the future In facc-to-facc situations, students have to develop skills to ask for clarifications

o f new words or jargons In addition, students should develop skills to guess the meanings o f unfam iliar words by using the context clues And when speakers speak too

speak more slow ly please? ’)，and try to catch the important words o f the uttcrancc rallier

than every word According to common rules, important words are ol'ten pronounced more clearly, or stressed w ith higher pilch or repeated several times

fa m ilia rity w ith the clichcs, collocations, idioms and proverbs w ill help interpreters anticipate what w ill come next without the need to listen to the whole utterance For

in glass houses [should not throw síonesỴ or 'A n apple a day •• [keeps the doctor awayY before listening until the end o f the utterance The two factors above are very

problematic fo r foreign language learners because subtleties o f intonation, stress and collocations are d iffic u lt to teach Fortunately, most predictions depend more on the third factor, i.e logical sequence relations such as cause-effect relation, contrast relation and so on For instance，the use o f 'although’ or 4but，or 'however’ signals something contrasting w ith what comes before For example, ‘ Tom didn’ t make good grades in

connector 4B U T ’ helps the interpreter figure out the message that Tom ’ s sister is a good student However, it should be noted that in some cases, speakers may not complete the clichés or collocations or proverbs strictly, but may use the first h a lf and change the second h a lf o f the word combination to make new effects A viv id example is the use o f

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On the oilier hand，the interpreter can make cxtralinguislic anticipation by using good knowledge o f the interpreting situation, o f the subject matter, and o f the spcakcr(s) to

inlcrprclcrs lend to shape tlic meaning o f the spccch according to their existing schcmalic script rather than the true content o f what is said Consequently, 'inappropriately applied background knowledge can lead to m isinterpretation’ (Anderson and Lynch, p.49) Mcncc, interpreters should regard prediction as an aid o f comprehension rather than dictating the meaning o f the utterance When predicting is used properly, it can help interpreters understand and fo llo w listening messages w ith case

2.1.3 Understanding the organisation o f speech

Together w ith predicting, interpreters can gain better listening comprehension when they understand the organisation o f spcech Speech can be divided into two main categories: structured and unstructured In the former, such as prepared lectures, presentations, written speeches and the like, the output is w ell prepared and clearly organised, therefore easy lo follow In the latter, such as small talk, everyday conversations, and friendly chats, the speech is spontaneous and much less organised, so

d iffic u lt to follow However, the two types o f speech have some common characteristics: important words are usually stressed; speakers tend to send out some

change o f pitch to warn the movement from one point to another; speakers may use a signilìcaiit pause to indicate the end o f one point and the beginning o f the next one; speakers may use a movement o f the hand or head to show a shift from one idea to another (Underwood, pp.l 1-12) Awareness o f these characteristics can help interpreters understand the organisation o f speech more efficiently

Visuals can give с lues to the organisation o f speech In the settings o f seminars, small conferences, lectures and meetings, speakers sometimes use visuals such as OHP, slides, white boards or pictures to illustrate their arguments These visuals carry a lot o f inform ation by giving the overview o f the organisation o f speech, main points,

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significant statistics, and diagrams lo show the connection or movement o f each element Misunderstanding may occur when learners analyse words in isolation without connccling them w ith the accompanying visuals (Ur, pp.20-21) Therefore, interpreting students arc encouraged to make fu ll use o f those visual clues

Spoken discourse is not usually well organised Speakers often frame their words as they go along and change what they arc going to say in accordance w ith their listeners’ reactions, or they arc sim ply not prepared in advance, or 4they change their minds in mid-scntcncc and go ОІТ al tangents’ (Underwood, pp.11-12) To tackle this problem, students arc advised to pay attention to informative titles o f the discussion issues as the titles may prompt the main themes o f the talks Next, students should concentrate on searching for the message, not giving up hope even when there is an interruption in their inform ation reception proccss (Underwood, p i 2)

Good knowledge o f dificrcn t text types can help understand the organisation o f speech Spoken texts can be divided into three types: static, dynamic and abstract (Brown and Yule, 1983，p l0 7 i)

Figure 6 shows two scales o f d iffic u lty increasing from left to right when the input

exposure to different types o f input through extensive listening and reading, which help them grasp main characteristics, the language, and the textual structures o f each input type

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It is w ell known that Vietnamese speakers arc inclined to use unstructured speech and to

Experience shows that this indirect style gives interpreters the feeling o f being in a 'm aze', struggling to find the way out Possible strategies for interpreters arc to be patient and calm, to attentively follow the developments o f events to work out what speakers are driving at, aiid to develop the skill o f checking understanding

2.1.4 Listening for details

interpreters have to listen carcfully for all the details such as statistics, dates, listed

lecture and give only a 5-minute interpretation In examinations, teachers use details to mark student performance, and in rcal-lilc interpreting situations, the two parties need details for succcssful communication For example, when interpreting this sentence into

bccciusc they have a lo t o f p o le n lia l \ i f the interpreter omitted the name o f one

company, the interpretation would be incomplete, and i f this was a test, interpreting students would have marks deducted due to omission o f this detail

Listening for details can be affccted by cxplicitness o f information, which refers to the amount o f information available to the interpreter and contains three kinds: redundancy, sufficiency and referring expressions (Anderson and Lynch, pp.50-53ff) Too much redundancy (as in a spontaneous spccch) may result in interpreters interruption o f and/or distraction from the line o f argument, while too little redundancy (as in a prepared speech) may rcducc the time to proccss details, and is likely to produce high density o f information (Gilc, 1995, p 173) Next, interpreting students w ill face comprehension problems i f listening texts do not provide explicit information and require some inference In speech, speakers often use pronouns to refer to people or objccts which have been nicnlioiicd before And when referring to many people and objccls, pronouns arc likely to mislead listeners and interpreters (Anderson and Lynch, p.53) To cope w ith redundancy, students should stick to the line o f argument and

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students should develop skills o f 'listening between the lines’ to catch the inferred meaning And problems with rcibrriiig expressions can be overcome by doing more grammar exercises about rci'crcncc, and paying attention to pronouns, which stand for singular and plural nouns

The speed o f speakers can be a mailer in listening for details Research has proved that a good speed o f speaking is 100 words per minute, allowing listeners to perceive the message w ell (Burgess, p 15) 1 lowcvcr, in reality speakers tend to speak faster, especially when they arc nervous or cxcitcd, making it hard for interpreters to catch the details or providing too many details ill a short turn To deal with the speed problem, there may be two strategies First, student interpreters must develop skills to elicit a repetition or speed reduction by speakers, so that full comprehension can be reached

lo interpret a ll the ílcíaHs ()J your Sj)ccch \ Second, students need to improve tlicir

listening fluency by not trying to catch every word because 'much o f what we hear is

stress (Hubbard et al, P.213) to identify the content words and signals in order to decode

key words may be enough for students to understand the conveying message (i.e ‘ I ’ d

Furthermore, students need to identify sounds when listening for details For example,

in a court ease, the interpreter misheard the word beard for beer in the question 'D o you

During the listening stage, interpreters may lose the ability to concentrate on details due

to fatigue, speakers’ clumsy way o f speaking, uninteresting topics, acoustically unsuitable rooms, etc (Underwood, P.19Í) Another possibility is that novice interpreters may be affected by nervousness and/or panic in formal situations, e.g a meeting in the prcscncc o f the C hief Executive Officers o f two companies, a signing ccrcmony in the prcscncc o f ASEAN Financial Ministers and so on And students’ minds may go blank in examinations where great significance is attached to the

accuracy o f the interpreting performance In classrooms, those problems can be tackled

passages in Older to improve students’ ability o f listening endurance Second, students arc encouragcd to build up their confidence through activities such as role-play in which they have the opportunity to cxpcriencc different roles and feelings

2.1.5 Understanding the syntax and vocabulary o f speech

Listening for details can be backed up by understanding the syntax and vocabulary o f spccch Language structures arc very important for perceiving meaning For instance,

messages more accurately For instance, having known that adjective stands before nouns in English, the interpreter w ill wait till the end o f a noun phrase before rendering the phrase into an equivalent Vietnamese structure in which noun stands before adjective However, students should remember that too much concentration on structures is countcr-productivc Sonic students tend to focus too much on trying to understand every word (Underwood, p 13) As a result, missing a word in an utterance may be seen as missing a link in the chain o f argument, therefore students cannot catch

up w ith the follow ing uttcranccs And listening problems occur when students come across syntactically complex language input The simple reasons are that learners have a restricted set o f grammatical structures ill comparison w ith native speakers (Anderson and Lynch, pp.37-38), so they have to make a lot o f language processing efforts while listening Practical strategies for interpreting learners arc that language improvements should never be ignored, and knowledge o f grammar, structures, and syntax should be regularly upgraded

It is also necessary for interpreters to have an extensive vocabulary, both specific and non-specific In consecutive interpreting, interpreters often work in a specific context, e.g a business negotiation, or a confcrcnce on population, and so on As a result, they must build up as many technical terms (o f the areas which they are going to interpret for) as possible O f course, new words arc unavoidable in listening, so students should develop the skills o f guessing unknown words in context Sometimes on the sideline o f

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appropriate In this ease, the interpreter has to use the non-specific vocabulary Experience shows that Vietnamese students often have difficulties in interpreting everyday conversations bccausc this area is often ignored in interpreting programs For vocabulary development, students need patience and equip themselves w ith efficient learning strategies (see 2.1.1)

2.1.6 Understanding pronunciation and acccnts

Meanings arc not only realised in oral discourse by the phonemes but also by pronunciation, i.e intonation, stress and sounds There are two main functions o f intonations: i) indicating grammatical meaning, e.g changing a statement into a question, and ii) showing the speaker’ s attitude, e.g surprise, anger, and happiness (Hubbard et al., pp.218-220) 'A nd changing the stress can alter the meaning o f an

falls on “ M ary” , the focus is on the objcct ‘ I saw yesterday’ , it is ‘ M ary，not ‘ T om ，or

interpreting students to be exposed to and to practise word/sentence stress, and major intonation contours in conncction with scntcnce types, e.g Wh-question = tailing tone,

P 8 4 )

Vietnamese learners should pay due attention to some English sounds which do not

[bother] for [border] then their interpretation w ill be wrong In addition, it should be noted that 4one o f the problems o f English pronunciation is the way words run into one

Vietnamese says the scntcncc "T ủ i ih i 'cli ein ỞC\ (meaning "I like eating hot c h illi， ) s/he

pronounccs cach word separately rather than running the words together As a result, a Vietnamese student may hear something like /к е к з ѵ іі/，and is very like ly to think that it

to be able to listen accurately, and recognise linking sounds in English, students should

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practise pronunciation and sound linking, which can be found in some materials such as

Kernel Lessons D rills by Robert O ’ Neil, M odern English Pronunciation Practice by

In terms o f accents, there arc no ‘ wrong’ accents but only accents which arc more or

both native and noil-native English speakers who come from different countries in the world And both the native and non-native English pronunciation may be problematic Students arc usually exposed to the accents and pronunciation in the classrooms where tcachers tend to pronounce words dearly and slowly Then Illings seem to turn upside down when students meet native English speakers who do not speak as slowly and

students to listen to non-native speakers either The speakers are likely to have unclear pronunciation and strong accents due to the influence o f their mother longues Indian English is an example And in terms o f methodology, the communicative language teaching (C LT ) method advocates understandable accents rather than native-like ones

As a result, lots o f learners speak English w ith their mother tongue accents, for example, F ilip ino English, Vietnamese English, Singaporean English, and so on And in some cases, these accents arc really d iffic u lt for interpreters to understand

In Viclnam , interpreters arc often exposed to English w ith Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese, and A S E A N accents duc lo the strong presence o f business people from those countries In this contcxt, lim ilcd experience in understanding different accents

w ill be a big disadvantage for prospective interpreters So besides the two most typical English accents - i.e the B ritish and American standard accents ֊ student interpreters need to be exposed to as wide a variety o f accents as possible One way o f doing that is listening to different radio stations (VAO , BBC, A B C , v o v , etc.), and satellite T V programs in English (available in the гГарс Library o f HUFS) Another strategy is to listen to recordings o f non-native Bnglish A t 1IUFS, students have chance to practise the standard pronunciation regularly in the language laboratories, and the modern multim edia laboratories Besides, students are able to record tapes o f meetings and international conferences (w ith noil-native accents) for personal use at home

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2.1.7 R etaining in fo rm a tio n and note-taking

In listening for interpretation, meanings o f aural messages have to be stored in memory

to be rendered into the T L, otherwise all above-mentioned efforts w ill become useless Generally speaking, interpreters can retain input information by remembering or taking notes ol'uttcranccs

wording is stored for b rie f periods o f time, and long-term memory (L T M ) where more permanent information is stored (Clark and Clark, p 135) Both STM and L T M are necessary fo r consccutivc interpreting

STM tends to store verbatim conlcnt, w hile LT M tends to retain meaning Research has shown that ‘ listeners build an interpretation from verbatim wording, but then get rid o f lliis wording soon after crossing a scntcncc boundary, leaving only the interprétation’ (Clark and Clark, pp 138-139) In general, memory o f consecutive interpreters could be affected by lour main factors: i) type o f language, e.g a conversation, a speech or a presentation; ii) poor sclf-confidcncc, e.g having negative expectations about one’ s memory capacities; ill) health status, e.g inability to listen attentively due to ill health, side cffccts o f médication, faliguc or chronic pain; and iv) stress, e.g memory lapses due to conccrns about loo heavy workload, grief, or relationship problems (Clark and

There are some practical strategies to enhance memory capacities: focusing attention, adding meaning to what is heard, reducing the amount o f inform ation to be remembered and mnemonics (Sargcant and Unkcnstcin, pp.67-81) Experience shows that they are all useful for consecutive interpreting

Focusing attention: To remember well, it is necessary for listeners to pay attention to important information and turn away from any distractions Rehearsal and repetition are good tactics to locus attention For example, to remember the name o f a person or a

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location，it is best to repeat it several times And it is a good idea to memorise poems, proverbs or collocations by repeating them over and over again.

A d d in g m eaning: Common methods are associating, visualising, and rhymes First, making associations w ith something listeners already know can help remember new

Vietnamese due to sim ilar pronunciation Some people’ s names can be memorised w ith ease when they arc linked w ith names o f famous authors, actors, or leaders And

p.61), e.g heart fo r love, pigeon for peace, book for knowledge, and so on Second, the power o f visualisation cannot be (Jellied in memory skills, and is depicted in the modern saying, 4A picture is worth a thousand words’ Picturing things in one’ s mind is a quick way o f remembering descriptions o f happenings and processes in chronological and logical sequence Third, it is proved that rhymes help people remember longer, e.g nursery rhymes So in certain eases, ІІ interpreters somehow find a rhyme for the utterances, the message w ill be stored easily

R educing the am ount o f inform ation to be remembered: First, information can be put into groups This is a good technique to remember long numbers (e.g the number

and long lists in which items arc grouped into categories Researchers have proved that people’ s memory capacity is rigorously related to the 'm agic5 7 ± 2 rule o f memory (G inori and Scimonc, p.23) It is reported that people normally have no problem in

As a result, interpreters often group longer sentences into meaning fu ll chunks according to the 7 ± 2 rule Second, acronyms can be used to squeeze the amount o f information This Icchniquc is often applied to remember the names o f organisations, e.g U ND P instead o f the United Nations Development Program, MOSTE instead o f the

M in istry o f Science, Technology and Environment (in Vietnam), and so on

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MiitMiionics: ІЪс first tcchniquc is 'mclhod o f L o ci', using visual association o io b jccls with a predetermined set o f locations or numbers, e.g associating ten items on a shopping list with ten locations in your house, such as connecting m ilk w ith front door, bread with hall tabic, ctc., or linking numbers with objects which look like the numbers such as associating number 2 with a swan, number 8 w ith two eggs, and so on (W right,

key in the lock und opened I he door Then I íuriìed on íhc liịỉh í, walked to the frid g e and ỈỊCỈVC m yself a beer \ and ifs /lic call see those actions in his/her m ind，s eyes, s/lic can recali the message easily without relying on verbatim wording

As far as the memory capacity is conccrned, during Term 7，students at HUFS are

students are expected to copc with segments o f up to 50-60 words in length The general success at HUFS shows that memory can be improved through practice, starting from simple to complcx activities

interpreter should begin taking notes as soon as one o f the parties begins speaking When taking notes, the interpreter should keep the balance between w riting notes to jog

and notes can be taken in any language which is efficient for interpreters because notes arc only symbols that carry ideas There is no universal note-taking system, so interpreters need to develop their own systems o f note taking which they think fit

Interpreters arc not a 'tapc-rccordcr，in that they cannot remember all the details o f what

is said，cspccially when the spcccli is too long As a result, note-taking skills are very useful to supplement interpreters' information storage capacities It is important to know that notes arc Ulken for the sake o f the notc-takcrs only, therefore notes arc not ncccssarily comprehended by others So it is widely agreed that note-taking has no rigid rules However, there arc two main principles o f note-taking: quick and understandable (James et al., pp.91-92)

(i) Q uick: As the speed o f speaking always exceeds the speed o f w riting, students have

to take notes quickly in order to follow speech They can do that by:

■ w riting down only key words which give maximum information, e.g 'The

■ using abbreviations lo shorten the notes, e.g the example above may be

■ using acronyms, e.g NSW for New South Wales, USA for the United States

o f America, U NIDO for the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, Ѵ Л Т for value-added tax, I IP for horse power, A S E A N for the Association o f South East Asian Nations, or M O TE for the M inistry o f Training and Education (in Vietnam) and so on

three hundred and fifty four), or 10K for ten thousand, 2m fo r two m illio n , 3b for three billion and so on

■ using symbols and signs, e.g □ for increase, develop, □ fo r decrease, go down, > for more than, bigger than, < for less than, smaller than, > < for

■ dividing the noting paper into columns o f 8 - 10 cm in w idth so as to reduce the movement o f the hand while the notes are being taken

speaking stage, students should show some connections between the points by visual presentations such as underlining, spacing, numbering, conventional symbols, arrows, link word or link sign, and so on Notes should also be divided into meaningful chunks

or blocks to mark the placc where speakers hnish cach segment

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The above-mentioned listening subskills arc all important for interpreting performance, and student interpreters need to have practice materials to gain mastery o f those skills

and recorded materials, authentic and non-authentic materials

useful and m otivating for interpreting students Native English speakers could be invited

to the interpreting class and give live presentations about the areas o f their expertise As

it is not always easy to invite native speakers to the class in the EFL environment, other alternatives are student talk and tcachcr talk Students are assigned to prepare a 5- minutc talk on a given topic and then make live presentations in front o f the class for other students to do interpreting practicc And the teacher can also act as a speaker at a conference, and improvise live presentations or speeches for the class to do the interpreting

There arc some major advantages o f ‘ live’ speakers (Underwood, p.95):

and all the environmental, non-verbal clues such as facial expressions, and the gestures could be employed to facilitate the comprehension o f the message

etc.) are immediate and can be responded to naturally

made by native English speakers, teachers and fellow students

proficicncy level by using longer pauses, repetition o f main points, explanations o f

d iffic u lt items, and sim plification o f vocabulary, w hich can be motivating for students

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■ It is often easier to listen lo a visible speaker than a recorded voice.

■ There is no need to use equipment and therefore no fear o f machine failure

■ The student presentations arc very good for public speaking practicc, which in turn

w ill help students feel calm and confident when talking in front o f a large audience

audio/video tapes Those materials can be taken from some listening programs which are relevant to the nature o f consecutive interpreting, such as interviews, speeches, meetings, lectures and so on Some popular listening programs which could be used for

taking, Business Study, Economics and the like It is also possible to record suitable

satellite T V ) It is important to make sure that the recording quality is good and those programs must entail topics relevant lo student needs

Recorded materials have sonic advantages (Underwood, pp.95-96):

■ Students are exposed to a much wider variety o f listening experiences, accents, genres (speeches, news reports, interviews, and so on) and speaking speeds

■ In the context o f Vietnam where most teachers are non-native English speakers,

recorded materials can provide good samples o f native English standards (B ritish, American and Australian)

■ For practicc purposes, recordings can be seen as a patient speaker who w ill repeat

w ithout any change in words, intonation or tone

■ The in v is ib ility o f the speaker somehow increases the degree o f student

the interpreting w ithout seeing speakers, e.g listening to an announcement over loudspeakers at a trade lair and rendering the message to the accompanied group

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arc in use Then，students can benefit íVoiìì visual clues for succcssful listening, e.g facial expressions, gestures, lip movements o f the speaker, and writings on

so that the leaching points arc likely to be presented more clearly and systematically than live presentations

practice at their own speed and in their own time

From the view o f authenticity, listening materials can be classified into authentic and non-authentic materials

meetings, conferences, some radio and T V programs, what is heard in the street, and so

The authentic material has some such features as natural rhythm, intonation, pronunciation, normal rate o f delivery, relatively unstructured language, incomplete sentences, background noise and/or voices，natural starts and stops, and less densely

Those features lead to two main advantages First, students are exposed to the real act o f communication, so w ill be more able to cope w ith ‘ real life ，speech when they enter the authentic situations later Second, students w ill get used to natural accents, informal language, ways o f expressions and the like (Underwood, p 100)

naturalness and spontaneity, and has opposite characteristics to authentic material

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mentioned above Due to ils imnaluralncss, the use o f this kind o f material is not advised.

In short, students need to be exposed to as wide a variety o f listening texts as possible in

and recorded materials, and should be authentic, or as near to authentic as possible, to facilitate students’ language acquisition

In preparing listening materials for practicc in consecutive interpreting, it is suggested

psychologically for rcal-lifc situati이 ÌS (Byrne, P 1 4 Í ) The first approach w ill result in a series o f graded activities w ith the focus on developing individual skills and tackling difficulties The second approach w ill provide students w ith the natural language in challenging circumstanccs lo raise students’ awareness o f the d ifiicu lties in the

2.2.5 Techniques in listening m aterial developm ent

Teachers can use the above materials to design activities w ith the focus on practice and improvement o f each listening subskills Below is a table o f practical activities for each skill

1 Identifying the topic News, what’ s the topic?

2 Predicting What is she going to say?, guessing the gaps, headlines,

interviews, what’ s the clue?

3 U nderstanding the

organisation o f spccch

Sequencing, putting pictures in order

4 Listening for details W hat’ s in the news?，T V commercials, discussion,

io rm -iillin g , answering questions, transcription

O f course, those activities arc only tentative and by no means exhaustive Following are

l'or some specific examples

teachers give students task sheets w ith given categories o f the news, and students listen

listening passage?', or listen to short dialogues and identify what the speakers are

talking about (Byrne, p 16)

What is she going to say?: 下cachcrs collcct short listening passages, both monologues and dialogues In class, the tcaclicr slops the taped conversation (or story) at places

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Interviews: Tcachcrs collcct rccordcd interviews and write the interviewer’ s questions

on another piccc o f paper In class, sludcnts arc given the interviewer’ s questions and they have to prcdict the interviewee’ s answers Then students listen to the tape and clieck (I Iarmcr, 1991, p.232)

W h a t’ s the due?: Tcachcrs choose listening passages which contain some technical terms, and there arc some hints for those terms In class, students are given a list o f technical terms Students listen and guess the meanings o f those terms by using the

Sequencing: Tcachcrs clioosc listening passages about processes and sequential happenings, then jum ble the steps and/or events In class, students listen to the tape and have to put those steps and/or events in good order (Underwood, p.82)

Putting pictures in order: Teachers collcct picture stories and jum ble the pictures In class, students listen and put a series o f jumbled pictures in good order (Underwood, P.53)

W h a t’ s in the news?: Teachcrs record news from radio and television programs, and

P.51)

class, students listen to advertisements and write down details o f products being advertised, e.g price, functions, colour, materials, models, etc (Nunan and M ille r,

1995, p 157)

w ith relevant language structures (e.g how to interrupt, how to ask for clarincation, how lo express agreement and disagreement politely) In class, students are trained to

jo in in the discussion o f s이Ì1C details o f 'liv e ’ presentations at a certain point (Byrne,

p 16)

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F o rm -fillin g : Tcachcrs design some charts, forms, and tables for recorded passages Ill

e.g blank CVs, application forms, landing cards, and so on

A nsw ering questions: I'cachcrs design or collcct some questions for listening passages The questions can be in the forms o f m ultiple choice, or Wh-questions, or Yes/No questions In class, students listen and answer those comprehension questions (U r, 1984,

p p 1 3 3 - 1 3 6 )

Transcription: Teachcrs choose some short listening passages and ask students to listen and transcript them

Dictogloss: Teaclicrs select listening passages spoken at normal speed In class, the teacher plays the tape and pauses shortly after each sentence Students listen, take notes and reconstruct a version o f the passage by using knowledge o f syntax and vocabulary (Nunan, 1991, pp.28-29)

Intonation patterns: Teachcrs sclcct good demonstrations o f various intonations

In class, students listen and repeat intonations patterns after the tape (Nunan and M ille r,

Listening to accents: l'cachcrs prepare recordings o f different accents, bollì native and noil-native In class, the teachcr plays a demonstration recording o f those accents, then has students discuss the main characteristics o f those accents Next, the teacher has students listen to another recording and guess where the speakers come from (Nunan

Listening for differences in meaning: Tcachers select recordings o f word stress In class, students listen to two scntcnccs and mark the word stress to see the differences in

students listen and mark the stress o f the words in given sentences

Attitude: Teachers choose short listening passages in which speakers express their feelings through intonation In class, students listen and use the knowledge o f intonation

to identify the mood, attitude, and behaviour o f speakers (Underwood, P.89)

L isting: Teachers collcct short rccordcd sentences which contain some listing elements, e.g a shopping list, a list o f names, organisations and so on For practice, students listen without taking notes, and try to reproduce a list o f objects, numbers, and the like

Remem bering main ideas: Teachers select segments o f about 30-60 words in length

For practice, students listen and reproduce main ideas o f those segments in the same language o f the segments The sources o f materials can be taken from relevant dialogues, radio broadcasts and different listening programs Alternatively, teachers can choose listening paragraphs o f about 100 words in length Then students listen and summarise each paragraph in one sentence in the same language o f the paragraph

(Mikkelson, 1992).

Rem em bering details: Students choose a newspaper article o f 75-100 words in length, study it for about one minute, then put the article face down and reproduce it as precisely as possible using the language o f the article A follow -up activity could be to render the article aloud in the target language Students are advised to do two passages a

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day for about 12 weeks or until they can speak without hesitation It is a good idea for students to use a tape rccordcr to record and check Ihcir performance (Bui and Dang,

recorded, then students listen to cadì passage once, and recall as much detail as possible

V isualisation: Teachers choosc listening passages which lend themselves to visualisation In class, students arc asked to listen to each passage w ithout taking notes, try to imagine the events in the forms o f pictures as they hear the description Then, students describe the events again from their visualisation (Mikkelson, 1992)

Guided note-taking: Teachcrs prepare some guided notes (with conventional abbreviations and symbols) for selected listening passages In class, students listen and fill in the guided notes (James et al., 1979)

Non-guidcd note-taking: Students could take recordings o f selected listening passages

or ask a friend or member o f your fam ily to read ia irly slowly a passage o f about 300-

400 words Then students listen, take notes and then recall the message as accurately and completely as possible in the language o f the passage (lower proficiency) or in the target language (higher proficiency) Again a tape recorder may be used to check performance The reading should be as slow as required by dictation The practice materials can be taken from local radio broadcasts or special English programmes on

VO A , BBC and the like Another strategy is that students listen to a story (Harmer,

delivered at a slow speed (about 100 - 140 words per minute), take notes and recall as

Surely, different trainers use diiïcrcnt activities to develop listening skills for their student interpreters So i f trainers share their experience w ith one another, the list o f practice activities w ill be more comprehensive And different groups o f learners may prefer different activities Therefore, those suggested activities should be utilised flexibly in specific contexts to belter respond to student needs

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