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

Then the study investigates on the fourth year English students of Foreign Languages Departments, Vinh university about applying short-term memory as a skill in the process of consecutiv

VINH UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT of FOREIGN LANGUAGEs

==== ====

Hoµng thÞ lam

DEVELOPING A SYSTEM OF GAMES TO ENHANCE SHORT-TERM MEMORY FOR INTERPRETER STUDENTS

AT VINH UNIVERSITY

(PHÁT TRIỂN HỆ THỐNG TRÒ CHƠI ĐỂ NÂNG CAO TRÍ NHỚ NGẮN HẠN CHO SINH VIÊN NGÀNH PHIÊN DỊCH TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC VINH)

GRADUATION THESIS Field: Interpreting

Vinh, 2011

Student: Hoàng Thị Lam Supervisor: Nguyễn Thị Lan Phương, M.A

Vinh, 2011

First and foremost, I am greatly thankful and deeply indebted to Foreign Languages Department, Vinh university for granting me the chance to carry out this research.

My greatest indebtedness and sincerest appreciation are due to my supervisor, M.A Nguyen Thi Lan Phuong who supplied useful materials and gave me lots of precious advices and essential corrections to complete the study.

My sincere thanks also extend to students from class 48B1, B2 in Foreign Languages Department, Vinh university for taking time to response the survey questionnaire Without their co-operation this thesis would have not come to an end Much love and gratefulness go to my father, my mother and my brothers who gave

me unconditional and uninterrupted emotional support and enormous energy to fulfill this study.

I also would like to convey my special thank to my closed friends for their help and constant encouragement throughout.

Finally, although I received many advices and assistances, I feel that the study is far from perfect Therefore, it is my sole responsibility for shortcomings that the study may have.

Vinh, May 16, 2011 Hoang Thi Lam

Short-term memory is a topic that has been discussed by many researchers However, there is still not much effectively practical tools that support this one In this thesis, the author gives the readers a brief account of issues relating to short-term memory Then the study investigates on the fourth year English students of Foreign Languages Departments, Vinh university about applying short-term memory as a skill in the process of consecutive interpreting From the findings, the author suggests some main types of short-term memory enhancing games for consecutive interpreting purpose These games are illustrated by practice and particular examples with the aim at improving the use of short-term memory skill in study and practice of consecutive interpreting.

Table of contents

Page

Acknowledgements i

Abstract ii

Table of contents iii

List of diagrams and Figures v

Abbreviations used vi

part a: introduction 1

1 Rationale of the Study 1

2 Aims of the Study 2

3 Scope of the Study 2

4 Methods of the Study 2

5 Format of the Study 3

part b: development 4

chapter 1: Theoretical background 4

1.1 Interpreting 4

1.1.1 Definition of Interpreting 4

1.1.2 Types of Interpreting 4

1.1.3 Skills Needed in Consecutive Interpreting 5

1.1.3.1 Listening Skill 5

1.1.3.2 Memorizing Skill 6

1.1.3.3 Note-taking Skill 7

1.1.3.4 Transference Skill 7

1.1.3.5 Public Speaking Skill 8

1.2 Short-term Memory in Consecutive Interpreting 8

1.2.1 Definition of Short-term Memory 8

1.2.2 Characteristics of Short-term Memory 9

1.2.3 Components of Short-term Memory 10

1.2.4 Roles of Short-term Memory in Consecutive Interpreting 10

1.2.4.1 Retaining the Source Language 11

1.2.4.2 Understanding the Source Language 11

1.2.4.3 Expressing the Source Language 12

1.3 Games to Improve Short-term Memory in Consecutive Interpreting 12

1.3.1 Definition of Game 12

1.3.2 Features of Games 13

1.3.3 Types of STM Games 13

1.3.4 Benefits of Short-term Memory Games in Consecutive Interpreting 14

1.4 Summary 15

Chapter 2: Methodology 16

2.1 Introduction 16

2.2 Participants and their Background 16

2.3 Instruments 16

2.4 Procedure 16

2.5 Findings and Discussion 17

2.5.1 The Awareness of Short-term Memory in Consecutive Interpreting 17

2.5.2 The Real State of Applying Short-term Memory Skill 19

2.5.2.1 The Student’s Real Memory Capacity 19

2.5.2.2 The Real Problems of Short-term Memory Usage 24

2.5.2.3 The Students’ Real Practice of Short-term Memory Enhancement 26

2.5.3 Students’ Preference about Short-term Memory Enhancing Games 28

2.6 Summary 29

Chapter 3: Some suggested Short-term memory enhancing games in Consecutive Interpreting 31

3.1 Introduction 31

3.2 Suggested Short-term Memory Enhancing Games 31

3.2.1 Short-term Auditory Memory Games 31

3.2.2 Short-term Visual Memory Games 38

3.2.3 Word Memory Games 43

3.3 Summary 44

Part III: conclusion 45

1 Recapitulation of the Study 45

2 Application of the Study 45

3 Suggestions for Further Study 46

References 47

online References 48

List of diagrams and Figures Page Diagram 1: Atkinson–Shiffrin memory model (1968) 6

Diagram 2: Short-term Memory Components (Baddeley, 1990) 10

Figure 1: Viewpoint on importance of STM in Consecutive Interpreting 17

Figure 2: Levels of concerning about enhancing Short-Term Memory skill 18

Figure 3: Times of listening needed to remember a piece of information 20

Figure 4: Average length of information that can be remember best 21

Figure 5: Frequent situations when using STM in the consecutive interpreting process 22

Figure 6: Students’ self-evaluation on short-term memory skill 23

Figure 7: Types of information leading difficulty to memorize 24

Figure 8: Factors influence in remember information 25

Figure 9 Frequency of STM practice 26

Figure 10: The student’s practice about short-term memory enhancing methods 27

Figure 11: The effect of STM improving methods 27

Figure 12: Preference for using STM enhancing games 28

Abbreviations usedSTM: Short-term memory

LTM: Long-term memory

CI: Consecutive interpreting

SI: Simultaneous interpreting

SL: Source language

TG: Target language

part a: introduction

1 Rationale of the Study

For a long time, interpreting has become an essential part of human's life Itenhances international understanding, socio-cultural awareness, professionalcommunicative activities, implementation of technologies and so much more amongcountries by converting a language into another one It is generally believed, therefore,that interpreting plays a vital role in the global society and culture

However, whether inexperienced or experienced, all interpreters find this jobdemanding and challenging It requires full concentration, exact understanding of what iscommunicated in both languages, and good expression of thoughts and ideas Weihe

Zhong (n.d) stated that “Among all the skills and techniques required for a professional

interpreter, short-term memory skill is the first one which should be introduced to trainee interpreters” It affects the process of storing and retrieving information for the purpose

of consecutive interpreting which is exploited more frequently than other types ofinterpreting In fact, only some interpreters are able to use short-term memory effectively.Interpreter trainees often encounter difficulties when practicing and applying it Thepressing and necessary issue is how to improve short-term memory skill in consecutiveinterpreting

Many books and publications have mentioned the theory of memory andmemorization techniques for consecutive interpreting but none of them gives a clear andadequate system of exercises in terms of games to make the best use of short-termmemory Actually, the description is rather brief and exercises in those books could beuninspired, unattractive to readers and even could cause pressure to learners Meanwhile,

as a matter of fact, learning is more effective if the practice is interesting and comfortable.Interpreter students will learn faster and retain more when they are engaged, involved andhave fun During the process of interpretation learning, moreover, the interpreter trainees,especially the author’s peer interpreter ones, are very eager to improve the interpretationquality in general and capacity of short-term memory in particular through jolly games.For the above stated reason, the author has decided to carry out the study entitled

“Developing A System of Games to Enhance Short-term Memory for Interpreter Students at

Vinh University” with the hope of helping them improve the effectiveness of consecutive

interpretation

2 Aims of the Study

The primary aim of the thesis is to identify the current situation of applying STMskill in consecutive interpreting of the fourth year English students at Vinh university.The thesis also aims at investigating difficulties that students of English, the would-beinterpreters, may encounter when employing STM in the interpreting process and thengiving practical games of using STM in support of effective consecutive interpretingbasing on the students’ difficulties Additionally, all people who are interested ininterpreting work can consider the paper as a useful reference helping them to improveinterpretation.

To achieve those aims, the study is intended to address the following questions:

1, What are the attitudes of the fourth year English students at Vinh universitytowards role of STM in consecutive interpreting?

2, How do students self-evaluate their STM skill at consecutive interpreting?

3, What difficulties do the 4th year English students at Vinh university often have inapplying STM in consecutive interpreting?

3 Scope of the Study

The study only focuses on STM enhancing games in consecutive interpreting butnot other activities

Besides, due to the limitation of time and capability, investigating all students would

be difficult Thus, the survey is applied to only 4th year English students at Vinhuniversity with the total of fifty-one

4 Methods of the Study

The study uses the qualitative approach for getting the in-depth knowledge todiscover the interpreter trainees’ opinion about developing games to improve Short-termmemory in consecutive interpreting It also employs the quantitative method through thesurvey questionnaire which indicates the difficulties, the causes that create those ones andthe students’ factual practice as well

Regarding the study process, firstly the author searches and reviews referencedocuments relating to the topic Next, the author investigates the current situation of thefourth year English students at Vinh university on their way of using STM skill as asupport for the interpreting study From the findings, short-term memory enhancinggames are suggested for the purpose of consecutive interpreting

5 Format of the Study

The study is composed of three main parts: The introduction, the development andthe conclusion.

The introduction provides the readers an overview of study including the reasons forchoosing the topic, aims, scope, methods used to carry out the research and format of thestudy

The development consists of three chapters Chapter 1, theoretical background,deals largely with conceptions relating to interpreting, short-term memory in consecutiveinterpreting and short-term memory games as well The survey with a specifiedmethodology from the simple to complicated methods is done in the Chapter 2 In chapter

3, the suggested games to improve short-term memory skill in consecutive interpretingare given so as to help the would-be interpreters overcome their problems during theinterpreting process

The conclusion summarizes the study, indicates the benefits of the paper and givesthe suggestions for further studies

In addition, references that include all the literature referred in the paper and anappendix are presented at the end of the thesis

According to Shuttleworth & Cowie (1997, p.83), interpreting is an “ oral

translation of a written text”.

Pöchhacker ( 2004 ) suggests the following definition: “ Interpreting is a form of

Translation in which a first and final rendition in another language is produced on the basis of a one-time presentation of an utterance in a source language” ( p.11).

In professional parlance, interpreting can be understood as “the facilitating of

communication from one language form into its equivalent, or approximate equivalent, in another language form” (Wikipedia, n.d)

Overall, interpreting is a service activity with communication function whichtransforms a source text, either in oral or sign or even written form, from one languageinto a target language When interpreting a source-language text, interpreters only hear orsee the text once and have to convey the ideas of the target text under time pressure

1.1.2 Types of interpreting

Basing on the working mode, interpreting can be classified into varied types

Actually, there are two main types of interpreting: simultaneous interpreting and

consecutive interpreting.

Simultaneous interpreting is a mode in which “ the interpreter renders the message

in the target-language as quickly as he or she can formulate it from the source language, while the source-language speaker continuously speaks” (Wikipedia, n.d).

In contrast with simultaneous interpreting, consecutive interpreting is a mode in

which “ the interpreter speaks after the source-language speaker has finished speaking.

The speech is divided into segments, and the interpreter sits or stands beside the language speaker, listening and taking note as the speaker progresses through the message When the speaker pauses or finishes speaking, the interpreter then renders a portion of the message or the entire message in the target language” (Wikipedia, n.d)

source-Consecutive interpretation is rendered as "short CI" or "long CI" In long CI, the

interpreter takes note of the message to aid rendering long passages In short CI, however,the interpreter relies on memory, each message segment being brief enough to memorize.Consequently, consecutive interpreting requires a good STM Even though someinterpreters takes notes, many simply rely on their memory, especially for the shortutterances

1.1.3 Skills Needed in Consecutive Interpreting

As mentioned above, interpreting is a challenging job which requires the interpreter

to constantly develop knowledge and experience It is the disciplined study and repeatedpractice of many techniques and skills that bring victory to the interpreters The principleskills that the interpreter needs include listening, memorizing, note-taking, transferenceand public speaking skill As mastering of these skills, the interpreters will obtain thegood interpreting quality

1.1.3.1 Listening Skill

Listening skill is the primary basis for a successful consecutive interpretation This

is the phase that the interpreter receives the input of information It is impossible for him

to do the next phases in the consecutive interpreting process without listening There are 4common types of listening: active listening, inactive listening, selective listening andreflective listening

First of all, active listening is a process in which the listener engages closely to thecontent of the conversation without judgment This type of listening requires participants

to listen and respond, which helps improve mutual understanding

In contrast, inactive listening is simply being present when the conversation takesplace without obtaining the information A person hears the words, but his mind iswandering and has no communication

Neither similar to active listening nor inactive listening, selective listening is to onlylisten to what the listener wants to or expect to hear and block out further message Oncethe expected message is heard, the listener would formulate the reply right away, eventhough the speaker might not finish yet

Another sub-type of listening is reflective listening This is considered one of themost complex types of listening, involves the process of actively listening as well asworking with interpretation and observation of how the message takes place to increasemutual understanding

The interpreter with the duty of understanding the meanings and intentionsexpressed in SL and then expressing those ones in TL should practice to improve hisactive listening, and reflective listening.

1.1.3.2 Memorizing Skill

Since the interpreter commonly receives SL speech with one time of listening, agood memory is required for him

According to Peng Danlin (2004, p.206-208) “ Memory is a psychological process

which a person gradually accumulates and remembers his individual experience It also can be explained in terms of coping with information that the process of encoding, storing and extracting the absorbed information” Thus, memory is a type of mental

process in which items are classified, stored and brought back later According tocognitive psychology, there are three categories of memory and identifies them as types

of sensory store, short-term memory and long-term memory

Sensory memory preserves information in its original sensory form for a brief time,usually only a fraction of a second

Short-term memory is a limited capacity store that can maintain unrehearsedinformation for up to about 20 seconds It is responsible for storing informationtemporarily and determining if it will be dismissed or transferred on to long-termmemory It is lost after sometime if there is no reference or need of recollection to it

By contrast, long-term memory can store much larger quantities of information forpotentially unlimited duration A long-term memory is anything one person remembersthat happened more than a few minutes ago It can last for just a few days, or for manyyears

The relation among those three types of memory is shown in the following figure:

Diagram 1: Atkinson–Shiffrin memory model (1968)According to the Atkinson-Schiffrin model, the process of remembering informationbegins when sensory inputs are registered by sensory memory If information in sensory

Sensory Memory

Sensory Input

Short-term memory

Storage

Retrieval

memory is attended to, it enters short-term memory where a person becomes aware of theinformation and can rehearse it repeatedly until it is transferred to long-term memory.When required, the information can be retrieved from long-term memory and re-enteredinto short-term memory.

Memory in consecutive interpreting is fulfilled by the combination of sensorymemory, short-term memory and long-term memory However, short-term memorylargely occupies the place Because sensory memory degrades so quickly that interpreterwould see the display, but be unable to report the items before decaying and theimmediateness of consecutive interpreting requires no much time to use long-termmemory Moreover, in a consecutively interpreted situation the interpreter has to do histask with different information, context and speakers Therefore, in most cases, short-termmemory is what an interpreter should concern in CI Since STM skill directly associateswith the thesis, it will be presented in detail in the later part

1.1.3.3 Note-taking Skill

Note-taking is also one of the most important skill in CI It is the part of the wholeprocess of consecutive interpreting including: understanding, analysis and re-expression.Notes help the interpreter call up information in the speech with cues or signals Withnote, the main ideas, the secondary elements and the links among them become clearerand easier for the consecutive interpreter to visualize In order to turn notes into aneffective supported tool to better the interpreting quality, the interpreter should know:what to note ( main ideas, links and verb tense) , how to note ( abbreviation and symbols)and when to note ( as soon as possible with out waiting for a complete unit of meaning)

A good note-taking skill will help much for a good interpretation

1.1.3.4 Transference skill

Transference is the process of transferring a SL word to a TL text as an interpretingskill An interpreter can transfer a work or an idea by three main ways: transferringsentence by sentence into TL, paraphrasing and simplifying The first way is used mostfrequently while the two last methods are mainly applied when the interpreter encountersthe new private names, cultural words or technical term, etc It is difficult for listeners tounderstand such abstract words so the interpreter’s role is to explain or amplify so that thetarget listeners can understand the SL speaker’s idea thoroughly

1.1.3.5 Public speaking skill

Speaking in public is the final factor determining the success of a consecutiveinterpreter because it presents the product of previous stages After listening, memorizing,note-taking and transferring, the interpreter then delivers what the SL speaker said to TLlisteners If he is unconfident, nervous, abashed and then stammers, sputters, the listeners cannot understand or become confused with what the message means Consequently, he fails togive out his interpretation Skillful public speaking generally requires the ability to varyvoice, use body language, prepare suitable appearance and show positive attitude This isreally a complicated skill However, effective public speaking can be developed bypracticing.

In summary, interpreting is the art which requires the interpreter to effectivelycombine many skills like listening, memorizing, note-taking, transferring, publicspeaking, etc Among of them, memorizing skill, especially short-term memory, rises as acrucial skill determining the success of a consecutive interpretation Therefore, it isnecessary to discuss more deeply about short-term memory skill

1.2 Short-term Memory in Consecutive interpreting

1.2.1 Definition of Short-term Memory

In order to understand thoroughly the study, the notion of STM should be broughtout despite the existence of different viewpoints

A definition of STM is “ the ability to apprehend and maintain awareness of a limited

number of elements of information in the immediate situation” ( Dr.Kevin & MC Grew, n.d).

English Definition Dictionary defines STM is “ the section of the memory storage

system of limited capacity ( approximately 7 items) that is capable of storing material for

a brief period of time”.

Mayer (2003) stated that “ your short-term memory is a system for temporarily

storing and managing information required to carry out complex tasks such as learning, reasoning, comprehension”.

Generally, STM allows a person to recall something from several seconds to as long

as a minute without rehearsal It is involved in the selection, initiation and termination ofinformation-process functions such as encoding(1), storing(2), and retrieving(3)

STM’s capacity, according to Miller (1956, p.81-97), has a span of seven chunks ofinformation, plus or minus two However, memory capacity can be increased by chunkingwhich takes individual units of information so as to group them into larger units Hence,

( 1) receiving, processing and combining of received information

( 2) creating a permanent record of the encoded information

( 3) calling back the stored information in response some cues for use in a process or activity

when the interpreter separates disparate individual elements into larger blocks,information becomes easier to retain and recall.

1.2.2 Characteristics of Short-term Memory

Short-term memory is characterized by the temporary, limited capacity, loss ofinformation, immediate recall, rehearsal maintenance and chunking

First of all, STM is used temporarily It holds information for current use only andthen quickly forget Most of the information kept in STM will be stored within 30

seconds “Peter Son ( 1959) found it to be 6-12 seconds while Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968)

and Hebb ( 1949) states it is 30 seconds” ( Zhong, W n.d)

Secondly, the capacity of STM is limited Amount of information that can be stored inSTM just ranging from 4 to 9 items An often cited figure is plus or minus 7 items, based on theresults of a famous experiment on STM The psychology George Miller, as mentioned above,suggested that a person can store between 5 and 9 items in STM Modern estimates of thecapacity of STM are lower, approximately 4 chunks of pieces of information

Next, STM is characterized by the rapid loss of information The information is lostthrough not only decay but also displacement The decay occurs when the time is over.Meanwhile, displacement is the result of receiving the new information This enforces thememory with limited capacity release the former message to obtain the new one

In addition, the average person’s STM allows him to recall the informationimmediately after the message is sent out When the time has passed, he will be slower atrecollecting the information until he evenly can not recall it

Besides, rehearsing information in STM will help to transfer to LTM As long asone person rehearses items they can be maintained indefinitely When that person stopshearing, memory for information is often lost

Finally, chunking information is the method to boost STM capacity The capacity ofSTM varies with the meaningfulness of material A chunk is a memory unit so STMcapacity is not limited by a physically defined unit but by a meaningfulness unit

1.2.3 Components of Short-term Memory

In the work “ Human memory: Theory and Practice”, Baddeley (1990) proposed the

STM formulation According to him, STM consists of 4 components:

(1) Executive control system(2) Episodic buffer

(3) Phonological rehearsal loop(4) Visuospatial sketchpadThe first component is executive control system This permits a person to controlthe deployment of attention, switching the focus of attention and dividing attention asneeded

The second component is episodic buffer which functions as a temporary, limitedcapacity store that allows the various components of STM to integrate information andserves as an interface between STM and LTM

The third component is phonological rehearsal loop which permits a person to userecitation to temporarily hold on to verbal information

The fourth component is visuospatial sketchpad This one permits a person totemporarily hold and manipulate visual images

In short, when generalized in STM description, the interactions among thosecomponents is shown in the following figure:

Phase 1: CI = L ( listening) + M ( short-term memory) + N ( note-taking)

Phonologicalrehearsalloop

ExecutivecontrolsystemVisuospatial

sketchpad Episodic buffer

In this phase, the interpreter is asked to listen attentively and actively to the originalspeech, then the interpreter’s STM is used to store the messages that have been heard toput them either in memory or in notes or both.

Phase Two - Reformulation phase:

CI= R (Remember)+R(read the notes)+P( produce the speech in the target language)

In this phase, the interpreter retrieves the messages from short-term memory andproduces the speech in the TL

Thus, according to Gile’s Effort Model, CI is an short-term memory- centeredactivity, the process of CI could be re-constructed into the following structure:

CI = Encoding of information from the SL + Storing information + Retrieval of information + Encoding information into TL.

As a result, a qualified consecutive interpreter must have a good STM It isreasonable and necessary for an interpreter or would-be one to know about the importance

of STM in consecutive interpreting as follows: retaining SL, understanding SL andexpressing SL

1.2.4.1 Retaining the Source Language

When the interpreter achieves a good understanding of the SL, he produces anadequate interpretation Therefore, understanding the SL is the first crucial for the success

of CI Meanwhile, STM gives an interpreter a great favor to retain the SL duringinterpreting consecutively If an interpreter lacks ability to remember, there is no chancefor him to fulfill his obligation STM helps the interpreter to finish his first- stage job thatremember the SL as much as possible It is obvious that STM plays a great role inretaining the SL

1.2.4.2 Understanding the Source Language

Basing on the success in retaining the SL, the interpreter has to grasp the main idea

of the SL May be there are some differences from the SL, but the interpreter can notaffect the accurateness and effectiveness With the help of STM and the former successone, the interpreter can understand what kind of academic field it refers to, what the mainidea is or what the speaker is going to do Because of immediateness of CI, an interpreterneeds to acquire quick response to different situations He doe not have enough time tothink about the SL Meanwhile, STM is used to analyze and process SL informationquickly and exactly Consequently, it is impossible that an interpreter finishes hispreparatory work (understanding the SL) without the help of short-term memory

1.2.4.3 Expressing the Source Language

STM gives a consecutive interpreter a hand to express the SL The final aim of CI isreappearance of the SL in the TL By using STM, the interpreter get to know what he hasretained and understood, and then put it into TL Thus, the interpreter speaks theinformation out according to storing and understanding

In short, STM’s role played in CI is much significant It is key to success ofconsecutive interpreting

1.3 Games to Improve STM in Consecutive Interpreting

1.3.1 Definition of Game

“A game is a structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes

used as an educational tool.” (Wikipedia, n.d)

Ludwig Wittgenstein was probably the first academic philosopher to address the

definition of the word game In his Philosophical Investigation, Wittgenstein

demonstrated that the elements of games, such as play, rules, and competition, all fail toadequately define what games are Wittgenstein concluded that people apply the term

game to a range of disparate human activities that bear to one another only what one

might call family resemblances

French sociologist Roger Caillois, in his 1957 book Les jeux et les hommes (Games

and Men) (extracted from Wikipedia, n.d) defined a game as an activity that must have

the following characteristics:

fun: the activity is chosen for its light-hearted character

separate: it is circumscribed in time and place

uncertain: the outcome of the activity is unforeseeable

non-productive: participation does not accomplish anything useful

governed by rules: the activity has rules that are different from everyday life

fictitious: it is accompanied by the awareness of a different reality

Crawford (2003) defined game as: an interactive, goal-oriented activity, with activeagents to play against, in which players (including active agents) can interfere with eachother

To conclude, games generally involve mental or physical stimulation, and oftenboth

Many games help to develop practical skill, serve as a form of exercise or perform

an educational, simulational or psychological role

Secondly, each game comes with its own tools Each tool belongs to a particulargame and it cannot be used with any other game For instance, a deck of playing cards can

not be used to play in the Story Telling game Besides, some games do not utilize any

obvious tool; rather, their interactivity is defined by the environment

Thirdly, each game also requires a set number of people to play it A game can be

played alone or it can be played with others For example, whereas Solitaire is card game that only one player at a time can play Soccer can allow 11 players per side on a field at

any given time Therefore, it is necessary to know how many people can be featured in aspecific game

In short, a game is a form of an organized activity that is mainly characterized bythe rule, tool and the number of player Those key elements will define the overall context

of game

1.3.3 Types of STM games

There are some different ways to classify STM games In the Sheetal Mandora’sarticle ( March 21, 2011), based on the age, two main ways of categorizing STM games

were suggested: STM games for kids and STM games for adults.

According to Mayank’s article (March 2, 2011), STM games are classified into four

main types namely “Concentration”, “Jigsaw Puzzles”, “Pandara’s Boutique”, “Map

The first type of STM games is Auditory Games STM auditory games are the ones

that require the player to encode, store and retrieve the information within a short period

of time with the aid of the acoustic input such as speaker, radio, recorder, television, etc

The second type of STM games is Visual Games The player participates in this type

has to store the visual information as the pictures for a few seconds so that it can be used

in the service of on going cognitive tasks

The third type of STM games is Word Games This type allows the player to use

rhymes or alliteration to aid memory so as to retrieve the information in a brief duration

1.3.4 Benefits of Short-term Memory Games in Consecutive Interpreting

Short-term memory games have advantages and effectiveness in learningconsecutive interpreting in various ways:

In the first place, STM games are a type of exercise that helps trainees improve theirmemory power It is truly considered that through participation in STM games theinterpreter trainees’ memory capacity is expanded Each STM game strengthens one ormore specific sub-types of STM Games relating to recall acoustic information within ashort period of time help the trainees enhance their auditory STM skill Also, games interms of remembering pictures assist to improve their visual STM skill and gamesretrieving the sense of information in a brief duration boost their semantic STM Thus,playing STM games is educational and beneficial to all interpreter trainees involved bybettering STM functions With enough practice and effort, they may be able to achieve agood STM skill which helps much in consecutive interpreting Consequently, the morepractice they give themselves with STM games, the more effectively they will use STMskill in the process of interpreting

Short-term memory games not just allow students to practice STM skill but givethem fun, attraction together with challenge Many students find theory boring Therepetition, endless lectures, pop quizzes and standardized tests turn a lot of them off andactually discourage people from learning However, if they are engaged in funny STMgames, it is surprising how much they can learn These memory games will highlymotivate interpreter trainees to get involved and participate actively in the STM trainingactivity

Besides, STM games are often simple in design but have a profound effect on howpeople think, process thoughts, retain memory and improve concentration Therefore, theplayer has not to grind for training but still get the enhancement

Moreover, STM games can be played effectively in various situations such as: atclass, at home, in the English club, in the park, on the seashore, etc That really helpsstudents increase their frequency of practice As a result, STM games is a bridge to linktheory and practice

In conclusion, STM games extremely are a useful and effective tool to enhanceSTM skill in consecutive interpreting By practice over and over, interpreter trainees willboost their STM power and this contributes to produce a success interpretation.

1.4 Summary

So far, in this chapter, the following issues have been discussed:

Firstly, an overview of interpreting including definition, types of interpreting as well

as skills needed in interpreting have been presented Two main types of interpreting are SIand CI in which CI is used more frequently and STM rises as a significant issue

Secondly, definition, characteristics, components and roles of STM in consecutiveinterpreting have been discussed As for consecutive interpreting, it should be noted thatSTM skills are the top requirement of consecutive interpreter trainees as well asinterpreters when they do their job since it helps to expand the memory capacity, tomemorize and retrieve information exactly in the limited time And with the specificfeatures, STM indirectly makes the interpretation go smoothly

Thirdly, various definitions, features and classification of STM games as well asroles of games in improving STM in CI have been mentioned It is reasonable to givegames to better STM in CI for interpreter students in particular and the interpreters ingeneral by basing on major types of STM games including: Auditory short-term memorygames, visual short-term memory games and words games

Chapter 2: Methodology

2.1 Introduction

This chapter focuses on investigating the fourth year English students’ opinion atVinh university about importance of STM skill, the real difficulties when they employedSTM as a consecutive interpreting skill and their preference on using games as a STMimprovement tool for the purpose of consecutive interpreting Those findings arefoundation to develop a system of STM games in the next chapter

2.2 Participants and their Background

The survey was conducted for the fourth-year English students of the course

2007-2011 at Vinh university However, only English students from group B have learnedinterpreting in their curricula, only those selected students were asked to answer thestudent survey questionnaire Fifty-one students from two classes of 48B1 and 48B2 inForeign Languages Department at Vinh university participated in the survey They havelearnt Interpreting subject for 3 semesters and they have already been trained to exploitand better STM skill in CI Therefore, they are fully aware of the importance of STM skillwhile interpreting consecutively

2.4 Procedure

The investigation was carried out through a phased process as follows:

The first phase was piloting questionnaire to see if it was obtaining the resultsrequired or not First of all, the questionnaire was sent to supervisor to read through andfind out any ambiguities which the author has not noticed Then the author sends out anumber of questionnaires to some students from class of 48B-English to pilot Thequestionnaire was then revised and necessary changes were made

The second phase was conducting the survey Sixty questionnaire papers weredelivered to sixty English students in Foreign Languages Department at Vinh university

They were introduced about the study, given instruction and explanation of the key anddifficult terms to answer all 13 questions of the survey Fifty-one copies of questionnairewas returned with the students’ responses.

The third phase was processing the data For closed-ended questions, the sameresponses were classified into a category with its percentage The final results weregathered, calculated and expressed in terms of percentage rate For open-ended question,the opinion was summarized or quoted to get more detailed information

2.5 Findings and Discussion

Quantitative data as well as qualitative data from questionnaire were analyzed anddiscussed on following main issues:

(1) The awareness of STM in consecutive interpreting(2) The real state of applying STM skill

(3) Students’ preference about STM enhancing games

2.5.1 The Awareness of STM in Consecutive Interpreting

There are two questions investigating the students’ awareness of STM in CI,

including What do you think about role of Short-Term Memory skill in Consecutive

Interpreting? How much do you concern about enhancing Short-Term Memory?

Question 1: What do you think about role of Short-Term Memory skill in

Consecutive Interpreting?

5098.04

Figure 1: Viewpoint on importance of STM in Consecutive Interpreting

The graph in figure 1 shows the fourth interpreter students’ points of view at Vinhuniversity about the role of STM in Consecutive Interpreting It can be clearly seen thatmost students realize how important Short-term Memory is.

According to the graph, the greatest proportion of students (98.04%) affirmed that STM

in Consecutive Interpreting was important and no one considered it as an unimportant skill.This is reasonable because as mentioned in theoretical background chapter, STM plays a veryimportant role in the process of interpreting consecutively It is a phase that supports theinterpreter storing and conveying the information quickly and exactly that helps beginners aswell as professional interpreters to produce the successful interpretation Besides, 1 student(1.96%) thought STM was only important in some certain cases When being asked why, sheexplained that she mainly based on her note-taking to retrieve the information after listening Infact, she do not know that when she uses her notes, it also means that she is employing herSTM with the support of note-taking to recall information

In short, we can see that the fourth-year English students in Foreign LanguagesDepartment at Vinh university deeply understand the importance of STM duringConsecutive Interpreting process Therefore, it is extremely significant to strengthenSTM skills for interpreting learners

Theoretically, interpreting learners have known that they should learn and practice

to improve their STM However, in fact, whether they really show interest in boostingtheir memory capacity or not, we move on to the survey question number 2

Question 2: How much do you concern about enhancing Short-Term Memory ?

4180.39

917.65

1 1.960

Figure 2: Levels of concerning about enhancing Short-Term Memory skill

The illustration presents the students’ concern of STM improvement in 3 levels.Answers for this question reveal the fourth-year interpreter students’ willingness toimprove their STM skill.

As shown from the graph, the most out-standing number, 80.39% of the totalamount of participants, wished to boost their STM This considerable percentage is reasonwhy the author makes an effort to give Short-term Memory enhancing games forinterpreter students with the hope of helping them to produce the successful consecutiveinterpretation Nevertheless, 17.65% of students had a little interest and 1.96% did notconcern about bettering their STM This statistic indicates that they are still not fullyaware of STM improvement although they see its importance Actually, these studentsneed to know that it is very essential to enhance their STM if they want to become ainterpreter in the future

In conclusion, the data shows that the large majority of students of the surveysample were eager to strengthen their STM Exercises, especially interesting STMimprovement games, should hence be suggested to meet the students’ demands

To sum up this section, the data from two survey questions above reveals that most

of fourth-year English students understood the important role of STM skill in consecutiveinterpreting and many of them were aware and willing to improve this skill

2.5.2 The Real State of Applying Short-term Memory Skill

After seeing the students’ requirement, with the aim at providing the appropriateSTM enhancing games in the next chapter, some survey questions were designed to findout the present memory capacity of survey participants, the problems pose to them whenthey use STM as an interpreting skill and the efforts to improve their STM

2.5.2.1 The Student’s Real Memory Capacity

Four following questions were exposed to collect the answers that reveal thestudents’ factual level of STM skill in consecutive interpreting

Question 3: How many times of listening do you usually need to remember a piece

6 11.76

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

A Once B Twice C 3 times D More

than 3 times

Choices Percentage

Figure 3: Times of listening needed to remember a piece of information

The graph represents data on the times that 51 participants required to retain thecontent of speech in their minds As an overall trend, it is clear that 100% of participantscan not remember content of the SL text only with one time of listening

As can be seen from the graph, 41.18% of students expressed their satisfaction oflistening if they receive a piece of information from speaker twice This percentage isfollowed by the highest number (47.06%) of students who needed 3 times of listening tomemorize the source language text Besides this number, up to 11.76% of studentsanswered that they needed more than 3 times of listening in order to remember thespeech’s content Meanwhile, in the real context, the speaker rarely repeats theinformation he/she has given out unless there are technical or cultural terms that need to

be explained Thus, all these students are not able to do their task in real interpretingcontext yet

To conclude, above statistics show that no students can actually achieve the SLcontent after the first time of listening This also means that they are not successful inusing STM skill in the process of consecutive interpreting

Question 4: What is the average length of information that you can remember?

5 9.8 7

13,73

31 60,78

8 15,69

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

A A clause B A Sentence C 2-3

sentences

D A paragraph

Choices Percentage

Figure 4: Average length of information that can be remember best

The Figure 4 describes the average length of text which varies differently from aclause to a paragraph found to be best to remember to each of the participants in ForeignLanguages Department at Vinh university

In fact, the answer C (2-3 sentences) accounted for the biggest percentage (60.78%)

of respondents However, a piece of information with 2-3 sentence long is not a real textthat interpreters usually receive from the speakers in the factual interpreting task.Practically, in order to make the listeners understand an idea, a speaker has to present his/her idea in terms of a paragraph or more So, a paragraph is considered as a standard ofinformation length that interpreter should be required to remember Yet, just 15.69% ofstudents could use their STM best to memorize a paragraph Whereas, 13.73% and 9.8%

of respondents only could store a piece of information with a sentence and a clause longrespectively This is a serious problem because just remembering a sentence or a clausethe interpreter are not able to understand what speaker said completely Consequently,they will quite fail in producing their interpretation

In conclusion, the Figure 4 presents the fact that the capacity of storing sourcelanguage text of students at Vinh university is very limited Meanwhile, the longer sourcelanguage speech is, the more difficult memory process becomes Therefore, in order tomemorize a longer information, at least a paragraph which was usually found in realcontext of interpreting, students need to pay more attention to STM usage

Question 5: Which situation do you usually face while applying Short-term Memory

in the consecutive interpreting process?

0 0

24 47.06

13

25.49

14 27.45

0 0 0

Figure 5: Frequent situations when using STM in the consecutive interpreting process

(Note: A You forget everything

B You only remember the key words of the text

C You remember the part of the text you have just listened but forget the former one

D You only miss out some details

E You remember all information)

The graph expresses the common situations that interpreter learners may encounterwhile they do their consecutive interpreting tasks From the graph, it is clear that no oneforget everything as well as remember all information This is understandable because theinterpreter trainees with their actual level after 3 semesters of interpreting study, at leastremember something when receive the source language text but can not achieve the fullcontent of speech

We can also see that nearly a half of participants (47.06%) only remembered the keywords of the text after listening the source language utterance On the other hand, there isthe similar proportion of respondents admitted that they remembered the part of the textthey had just listened but forgot the former one, and they only missed out some details,25.49% and 27.45% respectively

These statistics reflects the fact that most students’ STM usage is still limited Theirbrain can not encode enough information of the source language text in order to deliver afinal production of consecutive interpreting successfully

Question 6: How do you self-evaluate your Short-Term Memory skill in

15 29.41

Figure 6: Students’ self-evaluation on short-term memory skillThe graph shows the proportion in 4 STM levels namely excellent, good, averageand not good Overall, no students self-evaluated that they had a excellent STM

It is clear from the graph, the most noticeable percentage (49.02%) of respondentsaffirmed that they have been being at average level Following this rate, 29.41% admittedtheir STM was not good when applying in the process of interpreting In contrast, only amodest number (29.41%) of respondents thought they possessed the good STM skill.Thus, the majority are not able to exploit well STM skill- one of the consecutiveinterpreting skills, then influences to interpretation quality

In conclusion, answers of this question indicate the students’ factual memory ability

of STM Most of them do not achieve advanced level For this reason, it is extremelysignificant to give the effective methods to help them improve their levels

To sum up, above data reveals the actual grade of the fourth year English students at Vinhuniversity at the time of conducting the research This data reflects the fact that students’skillfulness in STM skill in consecutive interpreting is not very good And the reason why thesestudents can not memorize more speech’s content which is employed to convey information totarget language listeners will be answered in the analysis of the following section

2.5.2.2 The Real Problems of Short-term Memory Usage

Some questions were given to find out the real difficulties that interpreter studentsface in the daily consecutive interpreting context

Question 7: Which type of information do you feel most difficult to remember?

8 15.69

7 13.72

20 39.22

16 31.37

Figure 7: Types of information leading difficulty to memorize

The above figure represents the proportion of participants in choosing typesinformation causing difficulties when STM is used as an consecutive interpreting skill.Generally, the results show the various percentage among the typical problems namelynumber, proper name, terminology and list

As shown from the figure, terminology is the most difficult kind that many students(39.22%) chose most It means that their vocabulary, specially technical terms is poor andshould be enriched At the second rate, 31.37% of respondents found difficult toremember a list of items Besides, there is no considerable difference among two kind ofinformation: number and proper name which account for 15.69% and 13.72%respectively Another 9.8% of students chose signal/abbreviation as the most seriousbarrier when exploiting STM in consecutive interpreting

In short, answers of this question indicates that most students still have their ownproblems of memorize information while they use their STM as an interpreting skill.Hence, it is necessary to practice pronunciation of numbers and spelling of private names,enrich terminology as well

Question 8: Which factors do affect you in remembering information in the text?