Developing exercises to improve short term memory for english maors at vinh university

List of Figures and Tables Figure 1: Difference types of memory Figure 2: Major headings of LTM Figure 3: Gile’s Model Effort for Consecutive Interpreting Table 1: Average time of storin

In addition, I am greatly indebted to Foreign Languages Department for offering

me a great opportunity to carry out my study, to all teachers of the Foreign Language Department for their support and encouragement.

I would also extend my sincere thanks to the students from class 47B English for their enthusiasm when participating in my survey and their contributive ideas to my work.

My warmest thanks are due to my parents for their unconditional love, support and encouragement.

Finally, I would like to thank all my friends who gave me a lot of useful ideas, good advices, encouragement and spiritual support.

Vinh, May, 2010

Nguyen Thi Hoai

Abstract

Interpreting is a demanding and challenging job A professional interpreter must

possess an ability of combining many skills in order to perform the task of orally

transferring the text from one language into another one Those skill are listening,

note-taking, memorizing, public speaking, etc Among these skills, memorizing

(especially STM), is a crucial key which decides the success of the interpreting

task Recognizing the importance of STM in interpreting, the author has carried

out the study with a small survey to investigate the factual state of students’ use

of STM as well as difficulties they encounter when applying STM in interpreting.

The findings of the survey show that most of students still have many problems

when applying short-term memory in interpreting Thus, some exercises have

been proposed as models for students to practice with the hope to contribute a

modest part in improving STM for interpreting students in Vinh university.

Table of content

Page

Acknowledgement i

Abstract ii

Table of contents iii

List of figures and tables iv

List of abbreviations v

Part i introduction 1 Justification of the Study

2 Aims and Objectives of the Study

3 Methods of the Study

4 Scope of the Study

5 Design of the Study

Part ii development Chapter 1 theoretical background 1.1 Interpreting

1.1.1 Definition of Interpreting

1.1.2 Modes of Interpreting

1.1.3 Stages of Interpreting

1.2 Short-term memory

1.2.1 Definition

1.2.2 Characteristics of Short-term memory

1.2.3 Differences Between short-term memory and Long-term memory

1.3 Short-term memory and Interpreting

1.3.1 Role of STM in Interpreting

1.3.2.Short-term memory and Consecutive Interpreting

1.3.3 Short-term memory and Simultaneous Interpreting

1.4 Memory Exercises

1.4.1 Types of Memory Exercises

1.4.2 Characteristics of Memory Exercises

1.4.3 Effects of Memory Exercises on Short-term Memory

1.5 Types of Memory Exercise to Improve STM in Interpreting

1.5.1 Retelling in Source Language

1.5.2 Shadowing

1.5.3 Mnemonic to Memory

1.5.4 Exercises with Interference

1.5.5 Memory Games

1.5.5.1 Story Telling

1.5.5.2 Pexeso: Matching Pair

1.6 Summary

Chapter 2 the survey 2.1 Introduction

2.2 Aims and Objectives

2.3 Subject of the Survey

2.4 Instrument

2.5 Procedures

2.6 Findings and Discussion

2.6.1 The Factual State of Vinh University Students’ Use of STM

2.6.2 Difficulties Encountered When Using STM as an Interpreting Skill

2.6.3 The Students’ Practice of STM Improvement

2.6.4 The Role of Teacher in STM Application for Students’ Interpreting Skill

2.7 Summary Chapter 3 Some suggested exercises for improving short-term

memory

1 Suggested Primary Methods for STM Enhancement

1.1 Auditory STM Improvement

1.1.1 Comprehensive Listening

1.1.2 Intensive Listening

1.2 Visual STM Improvement

2 Suggested Advanced Methods for STM Enhancement

2.1 Retelling in Source Language

2.2 Shadowing

3 Memory Games

3.1 Storytelling

3.2 Matching Pair

Summary

Part iii Conclusion 1 Summary

2 Suggestions for Further Studies

References .

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

List of Figures and Tables Figure 1: Difference types of memory

Figure 2: Major headings of LTM

Figure 3: Gile’s Model Effort for Consecutive Interpreting

Table 1: Average time of storing source language utterance

Table 2: Average length of information that can be remembered best

Table 3: Percentage of information that remembered after the first listening

Table 4: Percentage of information that remembered after the second listening

Table 5: Percentage of information that remembered after the third listening

Table 6: Way of remembering the source information

Table 7: Time needed to rearrange information before interpreting

Table 8: Time spent to forget information

Table 9: Common situations encountered when applying STM in interpreting

Table 10: Self-evaluation of interpreting work

Table 11: Types of information causing difficulty to remember

Table 12: Reasons of difficulties when using STM in interpreting

Table 13: The frequency of practicing STM in interpreting

Table 14: Methods adopted to practice STM in interpreting

Table 15: The aids supporting for STM when interpreting

Table 16: The kinds of memory exercises usually used in class

Table 17: The effectiveness of memory exercises

Table 18: the reasons choosing the exercise to improve STM

Table 19: The effectiveness of STM training measures

Table 20: Teacher’s role in improving students’ memorizing skill

1 Justification of the Study

In the age of global integration, the need of mutual understandingamong countries in the world is increased However, there existcommunicative barriers between them because of different languages Beingconsidered as bridge of human communicative interaction, the profession ofinterpreter is an effective mean to break these barriers Thus, interpreting isnow becoming an attractive and potential career However, the work ofinterpreting is not simple and always demanding and challenging

Interpreting consists of such phases as listening, decoding, storing,transferring and delivering the information These process are supported by

some interpreting skills such as note-taking skill, memorizing skill, publicspeaking skill etc If one process in this chain does not go smoothly, theinterpretation will be unsuccessful Among these skills, memorizing is animportant one which help the interpreters store particular data in their mindand then recall when interpreting It decides the success of interpreting task.Therefore, it is understandable when some interpreters who are very skillful

at listening, note-taking public speaking, etc fail to transfer the sourcelanguage text into the target language due to bad memory In interpretation,short-term memory is more helpful than long-term memory It allowsinterpreters to hold amount of information in mind and readily available statefor a short period of time

That is the reason why at the first term of interpreting course, theinterpreting students in Vinh university are taught about short-termmemory’s characteristics and the way to improve it However, with thelimited time of practice in training curriculum, students haven’t had manychances to practice and improve their STM and many students desire to havemore chance to practice and improve their short-term memory Recognizingthe importance of short-term memory to interpreting, and the need toimprove short-term memory to meet requirement of interpreting task, theauthor chooses topic: “Developing exercises to improve short-term memory

in consecutive interpreting for English majors at Vinh university”

2 Aims and Objectives of the Study

This graduation thesis aims at developing exercises to improvestudents’ STM In order to achieve that aim, the research attempts to:

- Investigate the factual state of Vinh university students’ use ofshort-term memory

- Analyze difficulties they encounter when using short-term memory

in interpreting

- Evaluate short-term memory practice and improvement ofstudents.

- Propose some kinds of memory exercise to improve short-termmemory

3 Methods of the Study

To complete the study, quantitative approach was employed with theuse of the survey questionnaire Besides, the author also utilize thefollowing methods:

- Collecting information from reference books, internet, etc

- Consulting the supervisor, other teachers in the Foreign LanguageDepartment and classmates

- Consulting the graduation thesis of former students

4 Scope of the Study

Within the scope of a graduation thesis, the author only focuses onsome exercises of STM which is believed to be in accordance with the need

of selected students Further research may be needed in order to reach ageneralization

5 Design of the Study

The study consists of three main parts:

Part I: Introduction This contains the justification, aims and objectives,methods, scope, and the design of the study

Part II: Development with 3 chapters:

Chapter 1: Theoretical Background The chapter provides the definition ofinterpreting, its modes and phases The part also introduces the definition ofshort-term memory, its characteristics, the differences between short-termmemory and long term memory, the definition of memory exercises, theircharacteristics and suggests some kinds of memory exercises to improveshort-term memory in interpreting

Chapter 2: The Survey This investigates factual state of students’ use ofshort-term memory, difficulties encountered when using short-term memory

in interpreting, students’ practice to improve short-term memory and the role

of teacher in improving students’ short-term memory

Chapter 3: Some suggested exercises to improve short-term memory Thispart proposes some kinds of exercise to improve short-term memory

Part III: Conclusion The part includes the summary and the suggestions forfurther studies

The paper also contains Acknowledgement, Abstract, Table of Contents, List

of Tables and Figures, List of Abbreviation, References and Appendices

Part II: development Chapter 1: Theoretical background

1.1 Interpreting

1.1.1 Definition of Interpreting

There are different definitions of interpreting Each definition viewsinterpreting from different corners

According to Adolfo (1996:5), interpreting means “the oral transfer

of message between speaker of different languages is thus one of the oldest

of human activities, and the role of interpreters is arguably one of the oldest

of profession “.

Ginori and Scimone (1995:11) define “Interpreting is to transfer

orally a text from a language to another”

It is necessary to distinguish interpreting and translation so that thedefinition of interpreting is clarified There are some differences betweeninterpreting and translation The first difference is that interpreting is thespoken transference while translation is the written transference This meansthat interpreter occurs in real time with the presence of the parties for whomthe interpreter renders an interpretation On the other hand, translation is thetransference of meaning from text to text

The second difference is the time Translators have more time toconsider and revise each word and sentence by accessing to resources such

as dictionaries, glossaries, etc before delivering their translation Whereasinterpreters have a very short period of time to listen, analyze, transfer andreconstruct before their interpretation in the target language is delivered

As a result, the accuracy in translation is higher than in interpreting.Translators have time to cover all details of source language text whileinterpreters try to achieve total accuracy at all times, so details of the originalspeech can be omitted from the interpretation into the target language, with apause

a few seconds to several minutes

CI is usually used in high level political talks, pressconferences, speeches for welcoming address, speeches for banquets, twolanguage negotiations for industry or business, drafting committees, court

interpreting and tourism with the aim to help people overcome the languagebarrier.

In CI, because the interpreter does not need to split his attentionbetween receiving the message and monitoring the output, as required insimultaneous, all his attention is paid to analysis and reformulation of thetext thereby producing a more accurate and equivalent interpretation As

Seleskovitch (1978:28) points out “In consecutive interpreting, the

interpreter has the advantage of knowing line of the argument before he interprets” There fore, he can easily understand meaning of the message and

the standard of accuracy is higher

In simultaneous interpreting (SI), the interpreter renders hisinterpretation while still receiving the source utterance This means that theinterpreter works at the same time with the source language speaker whospeaks continuously into a microphone The simultaneous interpreter, sitting

in a sound-proof booth, listens speaker’s voice through an earphone andtransfers speech into target language via the microphone that transmits theinterpreter’s words to those listening that language

In SI, the interpreter does not have time to analyze the message tounderstand the full implications of each sentence, he has to work on themessage bit by bit Therefore, the standard of accuracy in SI is lower than in

CI and the required profession level in SI is higher than in CI

Beside simultaneous and consecutive modes, there are some othermodes of interpreting such as whispered interpreting, relay interpreting,liaison interpreting, sight interpreting These modes are less popular than thetwo above However, they play important role in breaking language barrierbetween two or more different language speakers

1.1.3 Stages of Interpreting

Interpreting is a quick and complex process It requires thecombination of many skills at the same time In order to interpret a text, the

interpreter must be able to receive and understand the incoming message andthen express its meaning in the target language In order to accomplish thistask, the interpreter must go through an overlapping series of cognitiveprocessing activities These include: attending to the message, analyzing themessage for meaning, visualizing the message nonverbally, and finallyreformulating the message in the target language Those cognitive processingactivities can be summarized as listening skill, analyzing skill, memorizingskill, transferring skill and reconstructing skill

An interpreter needs to have a good listening skill This is the first andthe most important because the interpreter can not work if he can not hearany thing Analyzing skill helps the interpreter understand whole meaning ofthe message A good memory and effective note system are also importantrequirements for the interpreter to recall information

Depend on the level of the interpreter, those cognitive processingactivities may happen quickly or slowly However, they are necessaryactivities in interpreting process and they support each other in order that theinterpreter can deliver a final perfect product

1.2 Short-term Memory

1.2.1 Definition

Before learning short-term memory, it is necessary to understand whatmemory is Memory is the mental activity of recalling information that youhave learned or experienced That simple definition, though, covers acomplex process that involves many different parts of the brain and serves us

in disparate ways Memory can be short-term or long-term

Short-term memory (STM), in term of psychology, is defined as aconscious, brief process in a person’s mind

According to Dental Dictionary, STM is the ability to retain and recallrecent events or experiences

Sports Science and Medicine defines that STM is a component of theinformation that must remain for a minimum of 20-30 seconds orinformation will be lost.

Those are different definitions, however, all of them refer to thecapacity for holding a small amount of information in mind in a short period

of time and readily available state STM allows to recall for a period ofseveral seconds to a minute without rehearsal

1.2.2 Characteristics of Short-term Memory

The first characteristic of STM is the limited duration The duration ofSTM is believed to be in the order of seconds, usually from 2 to 20 seconds

Smith (1985:38) notes that “Short term memory…has a very limited

duration We can remember…six or seven items only as long as we give all

of our attention to them.”

STM is also characterized by a limited capacity of up to seven pieces

of independent information, depending upon the experimental design used toestimate capacity Types of information stored in STM are often sounds,words and images

Other characteristic of STM is that the appearance of decay which isconsidered as the primary mechanism of memory loss STM works basicallythe same as a Computer’s Ram in that it provides a working space for shortcomputation and then transfers it to other part of the memory system ordiscards

Short-term memory should be distinguished from working memoryand which refers to structures and processes used for temporarily storing andmanipulating information and sensory memory which stores in very shortperiod of time These differences is shown in the figure below:

memory

Short-term memory

Long-term memory

Loss of information Loss of information

Within about 1 second within about 15-20 seconds

Figure 1: Different types of memory

1.2.3 Differences Between Short-term Memory and Long term Memory

Long term memory (LTM), other level of memory, is defined as asystem for permanently storing, managing and retrieving information forlater use LTM is a learning process in contradiction to STM

In term of duration, LTM can store information in a longer period oftime than STM Usually, information stored in LTM can be recalled weeks,months, even years later Meanwhile, STM stores items for only around 10-

30 seconds

Also, their functions is quite different LTM is used to recall generalinformation about the world that learned on previous occasions, specific pastexperiences, specific past events, etc Therefore, the information stored inLTM need to be encoded for later recall Meanwhile the function of STM is

to recall recent events, so STM requires primary information arrangement forimmediate usage

In terms of structure, LTM is much more complex than STM InSTM, the brain receives and stores input for a few seconds or a few minutes.There is no encoding or concentration of information Therefore, theinformation goes “in one ear and out the other” Where as, the informationstored in LTM needs to be encoded for later recall and requires a consciouseffort to recall, it goes through a complex process STM is typically divided

up into three major headings: episodic memories, which are personalmemories about experiences got at specific time; semantic memories (factualdata not bound to time or place), which can be everything from the names ofthe planets to the color of someone’s hair, etc and procedural memory,which involves skills and routines performed so often that they do notrequire conscious recall Those types of LTM are shown in following chart:

LONG-TERM MEMORY

DECLARARIVE (Facts) PROCEDURAL (Skills)

Semantic Episodic

Figure 2: Major headings of long-term memory

1.3 Short-term Memory and Interpreting

1.3.1 Role of STM in Interpreting

As mentioned above, STM is an essential part in the process ofinterpreting It is believed that interpreting is an STM-centered activity,which includes encoding of information from the source language, storing ofinformation, retrieval of information and decoding of information into targetlanguage Depend on different modes of interpreting, STM has differentroles to interpreting process, however, its role is undeniable

The most important thing to the interpreter when he gets input is that

he has to remember what he has just heard He may have excellent analyzingskill or skilled public speaking capacity but he will have nothing to say if hedoes not remember what he has been heard Thus, his interpretation fails

That is reason why Phelan (2001: 4-5) mentions that “The interpreter needs

a good STM to retain what he or she has just heard and a good LTM to put the information into context Ability to concentrate is a factor as is the ability to analyze and process what is heard”.

For the trained professional interpreters, STM is extremely important.Because they are not allowed to omit any part of source language

Especially, in court interpretation It is not acceptable to omit anythingfrom the source, no matter how fast the source speaks Thus, not onlytransferring skill but also memory is necessary in interpreting.

1.3.2 Short term Memory and Consecutive Interpreting

According to Gile (1992:191, 1995b:179), consecutive interpretingconsists of two phases: a listening and reformulation phase and areconstruction phase which are illustrated by the formula:

Phase one: I = L+M+N

I = Interpreting

L = Listening and analyzing the source language speech

M = Short term memory required between the time information is heard andthe time it is written down in the notes

N = Note-taking

Phase two: I = Rem + Read + P

Rem = Retrieving message from their STM and reconstructing the speechRead = Reading the notes

P = Producing the target language speech

Listening and reformulation phase

Listening and analyzing effort

(listening and analyzing the source language speech)

Short term memory effort

(storing information just received before they are

Retrieving and reconstructing effort

(retrieving message from STM and reconstructing the speech)

Reading effort(reading the notes produced at the first phase)

Figure 3: Gile’s Effort Model for Consecutive Interpreting

It can be seen clearly from the chart above that, STM appears verysoon, at the first phase of consecutive interpreting process It is the linkbetween what is heard and what is noted down Thus, the interpreter willhave nothing to take note and then interpret if he can not memorize

1.3.3 Short-term Memory and Simultaneous Interpreting

SI process is illustrated by Gile’s Effort Model for SimultaneousInterpreting as follow

SI = L + M + P

SI = simultaneous interpreting

L = Listening and Analysis, which includes “all the mental operations

between perception of a discourse by auditory mechanisms and the moment

at which the interpreter either assigns, or decides not to assign, e

meaning(or several potential meanings) to the segment which he has heard.”

M= Short-term Memory, which includes “all the mental operations related

to storage in memory of heard segment of discourse until either their restitution in the target language, their loss if they vanish from memory, or a decision by the interpreter not to interpret them.”

P = Production, which includes “all the mental operations between the

moment at which the interpreter decides to convey a datum or an idea and the moment at which he articulates (overtly produces) the form he has prepared to articulate” (1995a:93)

Gile emphasizes that the memory effort is assumed to stem form theneed to store the word of a proposition until the hearer receives the end ofthat proposition The storage of information is particularly necessary in SI,since both the volume of information and the pace of storage and retrievalare imposed by the speaker

In short, Gile emphasizes the significance of short-term memory inboth modes It is actually one of the specific skills which should be imparted

to trainees in the first stage of training Among all the skills and techniqueswhich are required for a good interpreter, memory skill is the first one whichshould be introduced to trainee interpreters

1.4 Memory Exercises

1.4.1 Types of Memory Exercises

The importance of memory to human is deniable Especially in thepast, when people lived in ages with no paper, speeches were committed tomemory, lawyers depended on their memory in court, and poets regularlydrew on their enormous powers of recall to recite long passage of verse,memory was ranked as one of the most important tools Aware of theimportance of memory, people at that time, especially the Greeks and latterthe Romans developed initial kinds of memory exercise to keep human’s

memory active and sharp like mnemonic, audible, etc Those kinds ofexercise have been modified along the time in order that they are appropriatewith the user and bring to the user highest efficiency.

People can improve memory through two main types of memoryexercise, physical exercises and mental or brain exercises Physical exercisesinclude some kinds daily exercises such as walking, yoga, etc Elsayed,Ismail, and Young (1980) explained the reason why physical exercises canenhance cognitive function That is physical exercises help increasetransportation of oxygen and glucose to the brain, as well as increase self-esteem and decrease psychological distress which result in improvedperformance on complex psychological tasks

Mental exercise or brain exercise is another kind of memory exercisewhich is very effective to keep memory sharp They are puzzles, games,riddles and other brain-challenging exercises and activities which areusually used in interpreting training such as retelling in source language,making story, shadowing, etc These mental exercises help build newconnections between brain cells and strengthen those that already exist Theyexercise and sharpen people’s mind by forcing brain to involve in a series ofcomplex mental tasks, including mathematics, logical reasoning, patternrecognition, etc

1.4.2 Characteristics of Memory Exercises

Both types of memory exercises are simple and easy to practice Forphysical exercises, users can treat them as a task in their routine They canpractice through morning exercise For mental exercises, it need more effort

of the users because when practice mental exercises, brain has to involve inmany complex tasks However, it is not necessary to spend too much timefor practicing, 30 minutes a day for practice is thought to bring the highestefficiency

The users are interested in practicing such kinds as puzzle, game orriddle because these kinds are really interesting Moreover, they do notcreate any pressure of being exercised for users but make them feel relaxand excited.

These types of memory exercises are also proved to be very effectiveand they can improve human’s memory in short time This is clarified infollowing part

1.4.3 Effects of Memory Exercises on Short-term Memory

How effective is memory exercise? This is an interesting topic formany researchers

Rogers, Mayer and Mortel (1990) conducted a study with 80volunteers They measured cerebral blood flow and cognitive performanceusing the radioactive Xe inhalation method and a standardized cognitivescreening As the results of this study, Roger et al proposed that regularparticipation in physical activity and minimize cognitive decline bysustaining optimal “cerebral perfusion”

Results of the Mac Arthur Foundation Study (Kahn and Rowe, 1998),the New England Centenarian Study (Perls & Silver, 1999) also confirm theimportance of memory exercises in improving STM

The researchers have done study on different participants withdifferent kinds of memory exercise However, the results of these studiesshow that memory exercises have great effects on improving STM

1.5 Some Types of Exercise to Improve STM in Interpreting

1.5.1 Retelling in Source Language

Retelling in source language is an effective exercise to strengthenSTM There fore it is used frequently in class practice and most of studentsadmit its effectiveness in improving STM

Retelling in source language is a type of memory exercise in which theinstructor either reads or plays a recording of a text of about 200 words for

the trainees to retell in the source language To promote the effectiveness ofthis exercise, note taking should not be allowed The trainees try toremember as many details of the source text as possible and then retell it inthe source language in the first instance, trainees should be encourage toretell the text in the same words of the original to the largest possible extent.

This type of exercise should be widely used in memory trainingbecause it is quite simple and using this exercise does not require manymaterials and teaching aids Moreover, the exercise can be carried out withthe large number of trainees

After a certain time of training on retelling, the trainees should use thefollowing tactics of the exercise to enhance their STM Those tactics areCategorization, Generalization, Comparison and Description

(a) Categorization: This is a type of exercise in which the trainees are

asked to group items of the same properties The basic principle ofthis exercise is to find out the link between items and the logicalorder or sequence of items

(b) Generalization: The exercise is designed to draw general

conclusions from particular examples or message from theprovided text This exercise is useful for holding general content ofthe source language text which is long and specific Generalizationalso helps students strengthen the ability to sum up and memorizethe main ideas of speech

(c) Comparison: focuses on noticing the differences and similarities

between different things, facts and events This exercise helpsSTM distinguish the features of separated objects and rearrangethese objects into categories

(d) Description: Practicing this exercise, students are asked to

describe a scene, a shape or size of an object, etc that are involved

in the source language text

1.5.2 Shadowing

Shadowing exercise is defined as “a paced, auditory tracking taskwhich involves the immediate vocalization of auditory presented stimuli,i.e., word-for-word repetition in the same language, parrot-style, or amessage presented through a head phone” (Lambert, 1899:381)

Practicing shadowing exercise, the instructor either reads or plays arecording of a text about 200-250 words The trainees are asked to repeatevery word they have just heard as a parrot Usually, the trainees start torepeat after listening 2 or 3 words

This kind of exercise is recommended for training of SimultaneousInterpreting, especially the splitting of attention skill and the STM in SI.Like in SI, the trainees repeat the words nearly at the same time with thereader Shadowing is the combination of several tasks such as listening,speaking and one another skill, usually writing At the same time, thetrainees record the input, deliver out put and write down a list of number indefinite order It is the slitting of attention skill

For the first time practicing this exercise, the trainees would find itimpossible because they can not split their attention to many tasks at thesame time However, after some times of practice, they will find they areable to practice the exercise and interested to do that This type of exerciserequires much effort and high concentration ability from the trainees

1.5.3 Mnemonic to Memory

Another tool which is effective in memory training is Mnemonic toMemory In broad term, mnemonic is a device such as a formula or rhyme,procedure or operation that are used as aids in remembering In narrow term,Scrugg and Mastropieri define “a mnemonic is a specific construction oftarget content intended to the new information more closely to the learner’sexisting knowledge base and, therefore, facilitate retrieval”

Mnemonics are methods for remembering information that isotherwise quite difficult to recall There are variety of mnemonic techniques,including keywords, peg words, acronyms, loci method, spelling mnemonic,phonetic mnemonic, etc the basic principle of Mnemonics is to use as many

of the best functions of the human brain as possible to encode information

There are several mnemonic techniques, as mentioned above,however, five following techniques are usually used to facilitate memory

(1) Acronyms: are formed by using each first letter from a group of

word to form a new word This technique is particularly effectivewhen remembering words in a specified order Acronyms are verycommon in ordinal language and in many fields Some examples

of acronyms include NBA (National Basketball Association),LASER ( Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission ofRadiation), etc

(2) Sentence/ Acrostics: Like acronyms, the first letter of each word

is the subject to remember However, in acrostics technique, theseletters are used to make a sentence Fore example, you have toremember a list of words (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Genus,Species) which are not related to each other You’ll pick up such

letters KPCOGS and then make a sentence like: Kings Phil Came

Over for the Genes Special that easier for you to remember.

Acrostics technique is helpful when remembering a list in aspecific order Moreover, this is less limiting than acronyms.Because if your words do not form easy-to-remember acronyms,using acrostics may be preferable

(3) Rhymes and songs: Rhyme, repetition, melody and rhythm can all

aid memory This is reason why people in ancient time when there

is no writing can remember long stories and poems The use ofrhyme, rhythm and repetition helps the story teller remember and

helps too stimulate STM Following is the poem “30 day hathSeptember”, a simple example of mnemonic:

30 days hath September Thirty days hath September, April, June and November;

February has twenty eight alone, All the rest have thirsty one, Excepting leap year that the time When February’s days are twenty-nine.

(4) Method of Loci: This technique is really useful to remember

speeches with unrelated items Using this technique requires thecombination of organization, visual memory, and association Theprinciple of the technique is that the trainees associate each part ofwhat they have to remember with a landmark in a route you knowwell and then create a vivid visual memory of the “path” and objectsalong it, after that visualize it when interpreting Following is anexample of this technique

My own place list is a window in the kitchen, the microwave oven, the sink, the stove, the refrigerator, the front door, the television and so

on Now, I can’t normally remember a list of three things by the time I get to the grocery If, however, I imagine wads of toilet paper hitting the window, dish soap boiling in the microwave, cucumbers dancing

in the sink, potato chips burning on the stove, and the refrigerator full

of magazines.

(5) Chunking: This technique is useful for remembering numbers It is

formed base on the idea that STM capacity limits vary from about

4 to about 9 items When using “chunking” to remember, usersdecrease the number of items held in memory by increasing thesize of each item Fore example, to remember a phone number like

64831996, you create :chunks” of numbers by breaking thatnumber string into small string as 64, 83, 19, 96 Thus, instead ofremembering 8 individual numbers, you are remembering 4 largenumbers.

1.5.4 Exercises with Interference

One another type of memory exercise that is advised to apply in class

is exercise with Interference In this exercise, students will record speecheswith specially “inserted” noises as a background This is a kind of splittingattention

This exercise is provided in order to prevent information loss in theSTM, since the environment and other information present in the storagemay reduce the information encoded Practicing this exercise will helpstudents reduce the influence of external environment to STM wheninterpreting Also, this is a very effective method to enable the students toconcentrate and thus strengthen their STM

1.5.5 Memory Games

In the previous section, the author has introduced some kinds ofmemory exercise However, exercises usually make the trainees have thefeeling of fear Exercises create the pressure for the trainees when practicing.Therefore, in this section, the author introduces the trainees several games towork out their memory These games will bring fun and interest for playerswhile their STM is improved

1.5.5.1 Story telling

Story telling is the way you make up a story that connects unrelateditems or facts you need to remember, thus making them easier to recall.Since the items are put in a logical framework instead of in unrelatedassociation, it is much easier to remember and recall the information

Story telling is usually used for remembering list of items, objects orlocations However, number of items or objects is not too large, if not it takes

much time and effort to weave together a story that in cooperates all theitems in a list or even the trainees may find it difficult to make up a storywith too many items At that time, story telling become a rather complextask, not a game any more The game can be carried out individually or ingroup, but it is more interesting and effective when using technique in agroup.

1.5.5.2 Pexeso: Matching pair

Pexeso involves matching pair of like cards or tiles from a largegroup, when one of each group is hidden Pexeso can be played with a set ofcards or tiles that includes pairs of picture or numbers Using half of a pack

of standard playing cards, just remove 2 of the 4 suits, so you have just 2aces, 2 kings, 2 queens and so on

Start by laying out 24 of the cards, making sure the 24 cards consists

of 12 matched pairs Once face down, move the cards around so that you donot know where any single card is located Turn one card over at a time, take

a look at the number or object, and then turn it face down again Repeat thisprocess until you turn over a card that matches a card you turn over earlier.Now find the card’s “mate” by remembering from the earlier where it islocated As you find a matched pair, remove them from the group Thenumber of cards dwindles until all the pairs are matched

The game is rather effective in improving the ability to remembernumbers and locations which are common type of information containing ininterpreting text Also, we can replace cards by other materials like pictures

or colors to examine STM’s encoding ability

1.6 Summary

This chapter has introduced the overview of interpreting and memorytheory which covers a wide range of aspects from the definition and themodes of interpreting Also, the author discussed definition, characteristics

of short-term memory and the differences between short-term memory and

long-term memory The focus of the study is developing exercise to improveshort-term memory Therefore, the author also thoroughly discussed thetheory of some kinds of exercise used to improve short-term memory All ofthe mentioned theories would be a good foundation for what is beingdiscussed in the next chapter.

Chapter 2 The survey

1 Introduction

In the previous chapter, a brief overview on theoretical background

on the research topic has been provided This chapter is a research on thefactual state of students’ use of STM; difficulties they encounter when usingSTM as an interpreting skill; the students’ practice of STM and the role ofteacher in improving students’ memorizing skill

Those data are collected through a survey questionnaire consisting of

19 questions The questions are designed based on the research topic, theauthor’s experience and relating reference sources The findings of the

research in this chapter will be the fundament to propose suggestions andsolutions in the next chapter.

2 Aims and Objectives

With the aims to investigate students’ use, practice and improvement

of STM as well as to suggest solutions for the problems that studentsencounter when applying STM in interpreting, the survey questionnairefocuses on the following factors:

- The average length of information that students can remember and theduration of those information in STM

- The percentage of information that students can memorize afterlistening

- Some common difficult situations when using STM

- Some kinds of information that cause difficulty in memorizing

- The factors that influence in memorizing skill

- The frequency of students’ practice to improve STM

- Some common types of memory exercise

- The effectiveness of those memory exercises

- The students’ opinion about teacher’s role in improving their STM

3 Subject of the Survey

The theme of the thesis is “Developing exercises to improve term memory in CI for English majors at Vinh university” Thus, it is clearthat the subject of the study is fourth-year interpreting students in Vinhuniversity

short-The survey was conducted for 55 students from class 47B English inthe Foreign Languages Department, Vinh university These students arefourth-year students, so they have learned basic interpreting theories as well

as practiced such skills as listening, note taking, memorizing, publicspeaking, etc They also have more experience in dealing with problems thatappear when applying these skills in interpreting process

4 Instruments

In order to achieve the survey objectives, survey questionnaire ischosen as instrument of the survey It is because survey questionnaire ischaracterized by its effectiveness Through survey questionnaire, a hugeamount of information can be collected from a large number of peoplewithin a short period of time Therefore, the researcher can collect a lot ofinformation without spending too much time, effort and financial resources

Moreover, 19 survey questions take form of check list and multiplechoice questions which are short questions The task of students whoparticipate in the survey is only choosing the answer that is the mostappropriate for them Thus, although students are usually not interested inanswering questions, they are willing to do that

Beside survey questionnaire, the researcher also use some othermethods to collect the data Those methods are asking the supervisor andclassmates for help and advice; talking to the participants to clarify moredetails and reasons why they choose that answers; using personal experienceand relating resources to design and analyze data collected

5 Procedures

The survey is implemented through 3 different steps:

- Step 1: Designing and organizing the survey question In this step, theauthor designs question based on the major theoretical knowledge inchapter 1 and then organizes the questions in logical order and easyway to get as much information as possible

- Step 2: Delivering the survey questions to students In this step,questionnaire is delivered to the participants Some difficult question

or definition of key terms are explained so that participants can chooseproper answers

- Step 3: Collecting and analyzing data collected The author collectsstudents’ answers and then analyzes those answers to find outcommon problems.

6 Findings and Discussion

6.1 The Factual State of Vinh University Students’ Use of STM

In order to find out the appropriate methods of STM training, theauthor learns the factual state of Vinh university students’ application ofSTM by letting them answer questions which relate to the topic

Question 1: What is the average length of information that you can remember?

Unfortunately, the number of students that can remember a paragraph(usually from 5 to 7 sentences), which is considered as the standard averagelength of information that a beginning interpreter should achieve, are only

15, accounting for 27% This reveals the fact that the number of studentswho can application STM in interpreting is very limited

Besides, there are still 27% of respondents admit that they are onlyable to remember 1 sentence For these students, interpreting classes becometheir fear because they almost can not perform their interpretation at all.

Above statistics shows the fact that the average length of informationthat students can remember is very limited while in real context where thesource language speaker never stops speaking until he finishes expressing amain idea which may be a paragraph in long or more

Question 2: Which percentage of information that you can remember after first

Table 1.2 Percentage of information remembered after the first listening

The foremost noticeable finding lays on the answer B with 74% (41out of 55 students) The average percentage of information that they canremember after first listening is from 20 to 50 % Beside this number, thereare 18% of participants remembering only 10% of content of the text, only4% of them that can achieve 70% of information after first listening It isunderstandable when there is no one can remember full content of the sourcelanguage text

It is surprising that 2 participants, accounting for 4% did not give theiranswer for this question When being asked about this, they said that they didnot give answer because they remember nothing after first listening

Those proportions reflect the state that most of students can notremember content of the source language text only with once listening.Meanwhile in the real context, the speaker will never repeat what he has saidunless there are technical terms or cultural expression that need to beexplained

Question 3: Which percentage of information that you can remember after the second

Table 1.3 Percentage of information remembered after the second listening

After the second listening, 71% of participants state that they canremember 50 – 70% of information, 15% of them can remember 27% ofinformation and only 2% (1 student) can achieve full content of the sourcelanguage text In comparison with the first listening, percentage ofinformation that students can remember increases With this percentage,however, students have not been able to perform in the real interpretingcontext yet

Question 4: Which percentage of information that you can remember after the third

Table 1.4 Percentage of information remembered after the third listening

As can bee seen from the table 1.4 that there is still a minor number

of students (4%) that can remember only 20 – 50% of the source languagetext after the third listening Where as the highest proportion falls on theanswer B (50 – 70%) with 71% of participants Only 25% of them canremember the full content of the source language text

The figure from the table shows that even after the third listening, only

a few students can memorize all the information in the source text This

prove that the students are not quite successful in applying STM ininterpreting process because they can not summarize the source text withoutrepetition Students find it difficult to control the flow of the source languagethat they continuously receive.

Question 5: How do you remember the information?

A Key words, numbers, figures, etc 53 96

Table 1.5 Way of remembering the source information

On the whole, most students (96%) know the effective way toremember information that is remembering the key words However, fromthe author’s experiences and learning state in the class, the author finds outthat in terms of theory, the students know that they have to memorize the keywords when listening to the source text, but in fact, they try to capture allwords that they hear This is because when getting input, they can not controltheir mind to decide what should remember and what should not This leads

to the overload of memory As a result, the brain will release the formerinformation to receive the new one

Question 6: How long do you need to rearrange information before interpreting?

Table 1.6 Time needed to rearrange information before interpreting

The table 1.6 indicates the time that students need to rearrangeinformation before interpreting Most of the participants (66%) need morethan 5 seconds to retrieve and arrange information before interpreting,followed by a time segment of 4 – 5 seconds with 27% of respondents

Number of students who need 1 – 3 seconds to rearrange informationoccupies the smallest proportion (15%)

As mentioned in the previous chapter, STM in interpreting includesencoding of information from the source language, storing of information,retrieval of information and decoding of information into the target language.These stages happen quickly and continuously Thus, spending more than 5seconds for information rearrangement may cause the loss of information ininterpreting When students spend too much time to rearrange the formerinformation, they will fail to process the new one This shows that studentsare not successful in using their STM to have quick response to the sourcetext

Question 7: How long do you forget information after interpreting?

Table 1.7 Time spent to forget informationUnfortunately, there is a considerable number of students (15%) thatforget information almost immediately after interpreting In this case, thestudents do their interpreting task as a machine They listen to the sourcelanguage text, transfer it into the target language There is nothing stored intheir mind This will cause the disconnection between different parts of thetext

22% of participants state that they forget information after interpretingwithin 6 – 10 seconds while other 27% of them claim that encoded itemsonly disappear in their short-term memory after 10 seconds Taking the

greatest portion (with 36%) is the number of students who forget theinformation after more than 30 seconds.

The fact of time adjustment for information forgetting is acceptable asthe interpreters’ voice appears quite a little moment after that of nativespeakers About 6 – 10 seconds is the reasonable time duration forinterpreters to decode information into target language Therefore, somestudents will deliver a improper interpretation because the informationforgetting time is too short and some others make confusion with otherpieces of information because the time to forget former information is toolong

Question 8: Have you been in these situations?

A You remember all main ideas but in

incorrect order

B After listening a sentence or a

paragraph, you only remember the last

part but forget the first one

C After listening, you remember nothing 5 9

Table 1.8 Common situations encountered when applying STM ininterpreting

The most noticeable situation is that 73% of the students that onlyremember the part of the text they have just listened but forget the formerone This is because their brain does not encode information to the memory.The information just goes “in one ear and out the other”, as mentioned in theprevious chapter

In contrast, there are 5 students, accounting for 9% complain that theyare usually in the situation in which after listening, they remember nothing

This seems to be the most serious problem Actually, immediateforgetfulness is not a characteristic of STM, but at the time they listen, theywere absent-minded because they were thinking something out of the text.This refers to the concentration ability It is clear that students will forgetevery thing immediately after listening if they do not really concentrate inthe text.

Besides, 18% of participants affirm that they can remember all themain ideas of the text, but when they recall the information, they forget thecorrect order of information This problem is less serious than the two abovebecause at least, the students could get information of the text They onlyneed to organize their notes better to solve this problem

Question 9: How exact is your interpreting work?(self-evaluation)

To sum up, the data on the students’ use STM for interpreting purposereveals the fact that students of English major at Vinh university have manyproblems in applying STM in interpreting

6.2 Difficulties Encountered When Using STM as an Interpreting Skill

After collecting data on the factual state of students’ use of STM, it isnecessary to investigate some difficulties encountered when using STM in

order that the author can propose suggestions to overcome these difficulties.Therefore, some questions are designed to find out some common difficulties

of students when using STM as an interpreting skill

Question 10: What types of information do you feel difficult to remember?

A Numbers, private names, dates 22 40

2.1 Types of information causing difficulty to remember

Commonly, students usually find it difficult to remember numbers,private names, dates and list of items with 40% and 38% of respondentsrespectively In addition, 6 students, accounting for 11%, have problem inremembering signal/abbreviation The same proportion (11%) find it difficult

to remember terminology This finding shows that students should pay moreattention to learn pronunciation of private names, practice memorizingnumbers and dates more as well as enrich vocabulary on specific fields such

as economy, medicine, music, art, law, etc

Question 11: Which factor do you think has the most influence in your memory skill?

As shown from the table 2.2 that memorizing skill is affected by manydifferent factors Most of students agree that internal factors are the mainreasons causing the difficulties in short-term memory The factor that isconsidered to have the most influence in memory capacity is concentrationability with 39% of participants As mentioned in the previous chapter,interpreting is a quick and complex process It requires the participants ofmany skills and high concentration ability In memorizing phase, the key toencode information into the memory is concentration Therefore, thelimitation of concentration leads to the immediate loss of information afterlistening.

Standing in the second place, brain structure causes difficulty in usingSTM for 19 students, accounting for 35% of respondents

Besides, 22% of them admit that psychological factors cause problem

in their memorizing ability Professional interpreters are not allowed to bedistracted by the private emotions, feelings and even health condition Thus,

it is clear that students should practice to control their psychology so thatthey can carry out their real interpreting work under great pressure

There are only 2 students, accounting for 4% blame the difficulty inapplying STM for external environment It is a good sign because in realcontext and even in the class, not many students can ignore the attitude ofaudience or outside noise

In conclusion, this section focuses on investigating such types ofinformation that are difficult for students to remember as numbers, privatenames, dates, terminology, etc The author also find out some factors thatcause difficulties for students when using STM like concentration ability,psychological factors, brain structure, etc Thanks to these findings, theauthor can propose suggestions and solutions for those problems

6.3 The Students’ Practice of Short-term Memory Improvement