Note-taking strategies and techniques

Participants were asked to share their note-taking strategies and techniques, and

identify whether there were differences between the two settings. In addition to the strategies and techniques they claimed to have used, they were also encouraged to share those they thought they should have adopted or would aim to adopt in the future.

4.2.4.1 Logic and structure

Four participants (20% of all participants), mostly Y1, commented that they focused a lot on note structure and logic between messages when they took notes in the SSR setting. This was because SSR allowed them the time to first digest the messages and then structure the notes to reflect the concept in the source text, which was hard to achieve in the FSR setting. After they understood the messages, they could use

“indentation (A1, B2)” or “superposition (B2)” to demonstrate the structure of the messages.

In contrast, in the FSR setting, there was not enough time for participants to structure the notes based on logic. Therefore, as A2 has said, “My strategy in the FSR setting was to try to put the information together while I was producing the target.” She added that this strategy was not ideal, because “although I understood most parts of the speech, I did not work out the linkages until I was producing my target. I needed time to think of the linkages [while I was producing the target], so my delivery became bumpy.”

B4 also reported “I lost some transition words in my target” To solve this problem, B7 remarked that “I think next time I should mark more linkages in my notes.”

Nevertheless, B4 believed that “I don’t think writing the transition words down is possible in a setting like [the FSR setting] because of the time pressure. The only thing to do is to try to remember the transitions.”

In sum, more Y1 participants alluded that the strategy to focus on note structure was only applicable in the SSR setting. In addition, there was no consistency on strategies to safeguard the linkage of the source text in the FSR setting.

4.2.4.2 Listening versus note-taking

Despite the fact that some participants suggested it was difficult if not impossible to focus on note structure in the FSR setting, four participants (20% of all participants) believed that they should have focused more on listening and comprehension and write less in the FSR setting. For instance, one claimed that “I made sure I got hold of the logic before writing notes to keep the structure clear in the FSR setting. (B7)” He pointed out he did so by “allocating more of my attention towards listening.” Likewise, B4 stated that “I told myself to put more Effort on listening instead of writing.” Perhaps echoing this concept, B10 noted that “I did not write down things, such as narratives, that I understood” in the FSR setting, possibly because she wanted to allocate more mental energy to listening and comprehension.

In sum, several participants posited the view that it would be helpful if they focus less on note-taking, and more on listening in an FSR setting.

4.2.4.3 Note quantity

Five participants (25% of all participants) reported aiming for fewer notes as a strategy in the FSR setting.

“I stored the main messages in memory and only wrote down numbers or things that I would probably forget.” (B3)

“I wrote the keywords and reminded myself to remember the information I stored in memory.” (A5)

“I only wrote keywords or summaries.” (A9)

“I supposed I could recall what [a few keywords] stand for.” (B1)

“I summarized while I listened. For instance, I didn’t write down the adjectives.” (B3)

One Y2 participant posited the opposite view.

“I felt that I could handle the SSR, so I usually wrote a few words after I understood a chunk of information. But in the FSR setting, I wanted to write more, and write things as soon as I heard them, because I felt that I couldn’t remember them after only a short while [because new messages kept

arriving].” (A9)

It seemed that there was a dilemma. Writing less perhaps is a way to save

processing capacity for other Efforts, but deciding what to write takes mental processing, which also requires processing capacity (see 4.2.2.2).

4.2.4.4 Full words versus incomplete words

No consistency was observed in the participants’ responses in this category. A10 and B1 described their strategy of using more abbreviations or incomplete words in the FSR setting. B1 stated that she normally writes “full words to guarantee that I can decipher them later.” Yet, in the FSR setting, more words were written in the form of incomplete word, because “it was more important to listen to the next message.” On the other hand, A3 claimed that he knew thinking of a shorter version of a word would take

time, so he decided to write more full words in the FSR setting. It seemed that strategies concerning this matter differed among participants.

4.2.4.5 Language versus symbols

Four participants (20% of all participants) believed that in any FSR occasion, they would want to use the note-taking technique of writing fewer words more symbols such as “lines (B8)” or “arrows (B10) more to make note-taking more efficient.” In fact, not using enough symbols was named in five (50%) of the Y1 participants’ responses when asked about their self-perception on their note-taking skills so far.

4.2.4.6 Chinese versus English

Two participants (10% of all participants) reported aiming to write more in Chinese (TL) in both settings to make it easier for them when they delivered the interpretation, but believed that this technique was difficult to be applied in the FSR setting.