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運用黑板課程管理系統於混合語言口譯教學--台灣個案研 究
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執 行 期 間 ： 99 年 08 月 01 日至 100 年 07 月 31 日 執 行 單 位 ： 國立臺灣科技大學應用外語系
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運用黑板課程管理系統於混合語言口譯教學--台灣個案研究
Applying the Blackboard Learning System to a Mixed –Language Interpreter Training Course—a Taiwan Case Study
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Applying the Blackboard Learning System to a Mixed-language Interpreter Training Course: a Taiwan Case Study
Sheng-jie Chen, Ph.D.
Associate professor
National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan
Abstract
The goal of this study was to investigate the experience of learning of the five foreign students and five Taiwanese students in 2010 and 6 foreign students and 4 local students in 2011 in a Black Board Learning System (BLS) based non-language
specific interpreter training course in the graduate school of applied foreign languages at a university in Taiwan, and the instructor’s experience of teaching them. The results of the study indicated that the BLS has facilitated interpreter training of foreign students and local students. Training activities should be structured carefully to facilitate digital learning among foreign and local students. In terms of materials, the VOA videos and texts proved to be effective in serving as source input for students to interpret into different languages, but videos from TED.com are more relevant for conference interpreter training. Additionally, foreign students should also be required to provide videos of their own languages to interpret into English or Chinese in the classroom. Foreign students should be asked to interpret from their mother languages into English and should submit their transcriptions for the instructor to evaluate them during the test. Multiple-assessment methods should be used for triangulation when assessing foreign students’ interpretation. There should be at least two students of each working language so that they can check each other’s interpretation and interpret for each other. There should be at least one student interpreting in the booth, with each student interpreting for ten minutes each time, all the time, so that everybody gets a chance to practice simultaneous interpreting. Students should realize the sometimes “chaotic” nature of this type of training when many languages are used at the same time, and they should learn to get used to it. Different materials should be used as input. Finally, students should be given as many opportunities to interpret on the podium as possible.
Keywords: Non-language-specific interpreter training, mixed language interpreter training, peer checking, multiple-assessment methods, foreign students, conference interpreting.
運用黑板課程管理系統於混合語言口譯教學--台灣個案研究 陳聖傑
國立台灣科技大學應用外語系副教授
摘要
有愈來愈多的外國學生來台唸書，學中文，與學口譯，但是這些學生的中文 程度大多數很差，他們和老師的工作語言不同，而且大部份外國學生只能口 譯英文和他們本國的語言，而且和本地生一起上口譯課。本論文的目的在探 討 2010 年五位外國學生和五位本地生，與 2011 年六位外國學生和四位本地 學生在台灣一所科技大學應用外語系研究所上 Blackboard Learning System (BLS)為媒介的混合語言口譯課的學習經驗，與教師的教學經驗。研究結果 顯示 BLS 促進本地生和外國學生的口譯學習，Voice of America (VOA)上的 影音資料因為是沒有版權的公共財所以可以上傳至 BLS 促進數位學習，但是 如果是要學習會議口譯，則應使用 TED.com 上的演講影音資料，它也是沒有 版權的。外國學生學口譯時應使用多樣的評量方式，以便相互印証，每一種 語言至少要有兩位學生，才能相互指正，與相互翻譯。每一堂課上課時必須 有一位學生在口譯間輪流口譯，每位學生口譯十分鐘，以便學習同步口譯。
學生必須了解混合語口譯訓練本來就會有點混亂，必須去適應它。應使用多 元的材料當作訓練教材，最重要的是學生必須多多給予機會上台口譯。
關鍵詞: 混合語言口譯訓練、同儕評估、多樣評估方法、外國學生、會議口 譯。
1. Introduction
More and more foreign students are coming to Taiwan to study, to learn Chinese, and to learn interpreting, yet no previous studies have investigated their experience of learning. Most of my foreign students had one thing in
common—their Chinese was poor and they learned to interpret in English and their mother languages with the exception of an American student who
interpreted in English and Chinese, and a Macau student who interpreted in Chinese, English, and Cantonese. In the last few years, I also have had students from Burma, Indonesia, and the Philippines in my undergraduate interpretation classes, but because they had lived in Taiwan for many years, their Chinese was much better than that of the other foreign students mentioned above. So they learned to interpret in English and Chinese with local students. The course that the existing study (hereafter referred to as both the pilot study and the main study) investigated used the non-language specific interpreter training approach because no instructor was available who could teach interpreting to students of so many different working languages.
According to Sandrelli and Hawkins (2006), interpreter training consists of two major components: In the classroom, students practice interpreting under close supervision of the instructor. After class, the students practice the
interpretation tasks on their own. Both are important for the students to become proficient in interpreting. Therefore, it is important to have a means for the instructor to store audios, videos, and texts that are accessible to the students; and to enhance interactions among students and the instructor to simulate a situation where the interpreter has to interact with the speakers, the conference organizers,
and other individuals involved. This study proposed an innovative solution:
training the foreign students together with local students because in international conferences in Taiwan simultaneous interpretation in multiple languages and relay interpreting are quite often used. This study will answer the following research questions:
1. Can BLS facilitate non-language specific interpreter training? If the answer is positive, how?
2. How to obtain digital training materials without violating copyright law?
3. How to structure training activities to facilitate cooperative learning among foreign and local students.
4. How to evaluate the quality of interpreting of foreign students?
5. How did the students react?
2. Literature Review
When conducting a study in which relevant literature is scarce, related
cross-curriculum materials may be reviewed, so this existing study reviewed literature on non-language specific interpreter training, computer assisted interpreter training, course management system, and interpreter training approaches. It is through cross-curriculum that the study objective may be established for students to become self-regulated learners, and this is also the goal that interpretation researchers should strive for (Gile, March-April, 2001).
2.1 Non-language specific interpreter training
Little has been studied on non-language specific interpreter training in
academic settings. Most of the previous studies have focused on mixed language interpreter training for refugee community interpreting; medical interpreting; law enforcement or intelligence gathering (by FBI in the United States); orprofessional interpreters, who wanted to enhance their interpreting skills (Chen 1999). Interpreter training has almost always been language specific (Robin Setton, 2006, personal conversation); however, when interpreter training for students whose working languages the instructor does not understand, the
non-language specific interpretater training methods may be used. In this kind of training, the instructor does not share all the working languages with students.
Several researchers have conducted this kind of training before. Viaggio (1988), a former UN Chief Interpreter, offered a mixed language interpreter training course to three groups of interpreters, who interpreted into Spanish from Russian, French, and English. Mackintosh (1991) offered a non-language specific interpretation course to working interpreters of different languages to enhance their English skills. Schewda-Nicholson (1994) offered a mental health interpreter training course with five working languages in one class. She has also offered an
interpreter training course for the FBI that used eight different working languages
in one class. Chen (1999) saw a need for mixed language interpreter training, so he offered a non-language specific interpretation course at a community college in southwestern United States. The participants; who included speakers of Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Portuguese, Chinese, and English; were mostly interpreters recruited from AATIA (Austin Area Translators and Interpreters Association) in Austin, Texas. Most of the participants were local court, community, and conference interpreters who took the course to update their interpretation skills. Chen used the decomposition model of course design to structure the training components that consisted of shadowing, abstracting,
paraphrasing, summarizing, multiple tasking, sight translation, sight interpretation, consecutive interpreting, and simultaneous interpretation. At the end of the
training, the participants were asked to interpret simultaneously at an AATIA conference using improvised simultaneous interpretation equipment (with a small FM transmitter and several FM radio receivers) and received good feedback from the audience. Chen based his study on a pilot study that lasted for more than two years that he had conducted at a university in the same area. The structure of the existing study will mainly be based on Chen’s model.
2.2 Computer assisted interpreter training
Computer Assisted Interpreter Training (CAIT) consisted mainly of the following previous studies. In Taiwan, Yang (Yang, 2002, Yang, 2003a, & Yang, 2003b) and her research team built a computer learning website to offer audio and texts for training interpreters of Chinese and six foreign languages. Chang (2006) conducted a study on how using Moodle, an open-source community-based tool for learning, could offer students an online learning community for fostering cooperative learning. According to Sandrelli (2001), a CD ROM was used in liaison interpreter training of English and Italian at a university in the UK. Sandrelli (2003) reported that the Interpretations prototype was created for training students to do simultaneous interpretation by practicing interpreter training tasks. Sandrelli and Hawkins (2006) introduced Black Box 4.0 that could simulate live conferences through campus network. The University of Salamanca (in Spain) in 2004 published a CD ROM with materials for teaching consecutive and simultaneous interpreting in three languages (Jalón et al. 2004). Sandrelli and Hawkins (2006) introduced a Virtual Interpreting Environment (VIE) that offered software that facilitated interpreting in booths. The first Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) for interpreter training was launched by the Interpreting Department of the University of Geneva (Sandrelli, A. & Jerez, M, 2007).
The VLE also contained teachers and student learners supporting tools and the Student Tracker (Motta, 2006).
2.3 Blended learning
In the existing study, I used Blackboard Academic Suite, which is a course
management system (CMS). A CMS is a computer program or integratedplatform consisting of several web-based tools to support a series of learning activities and course management procedures (Severson, 2004). More and more universities implemented CMSs because of the evolution of educational
technology, that promised to bring about higher quality, learner-centered
education; and to deliver more independent and active learners (Swinney, 2004).
This existing study focuses on blended learning instead of fully fledged online learning. Colis and Moonen (2001) indicated that blended learning is a mixture of traditional F2F and digital learning in order that learning occurs both in the classroom and online, with the online learning serving as a continuation of F2F learning. According to Coates, James, and Baldwin (2005), the sudden popularity in the use of course management systems (CMSs) has been changing the way the students learn and the way instructors teach. It has been a tendency towards using CMSs in addition to traditional learning modes. Lennon and Maurer (2003) posited that when properly supported by technology, teachers and learners both benefit by creating a significantly enhanced educational experience for students and teachers through the integration of e-learning tools and
pedagogical design. Severson (2004) suggested that instructors learning to use technology to plan their teaching must learn to choose appropriate tools, and be trained and supported to assume the new teaching role as a facilitator or coach. In order to assume these new roles, the instructors must learn to use CMSs, learn how to provide facilitating e-learning environments, and learn how to effectively use the features of the CMSs (Severson, 2004). In addition to attending seminars, tutorials, conferences, etc. the instructors must be supported to integrate teaching and innovative course administration skills into their teaching (Severson, 2004).
The instructor must also think carefully when it comes to pedagogy. Barr and Tagg (1995) posited that there is a paradigm shift toward constructivism in the United States and reported that institutions of higher learning emphasizes more on producing learning and less on providing instruction. I have learned how to use the BLS by using a tutorial and receiving constant supports from the staff of the Computer Center of the university involved.
2.4 Interpreter training approaches
Gile (March-April, 2001) indicated that up to now there have been no interpreter training theories that are scientifically proved to be effective. However, there are basically two major interpreter training approaches: The sink or swim approach and the task based skill training approach. According to Weber (1984), the sink or swim approach required students to learn interpreting by actually interpreting either consecutively or simultaneously. Viaggio (1988), a former UN chief interpreter, mentioned that he was extremely scared when he was first asked to interpret in an interpreter screening test, so obviously this is not a training method for beginners. The skill training approach was advocated by Lambert (1991, 1992a, 1992b, 1992c).
According to this approach, students are required to practice the following training tasks to develop interpretation skills: active listening, shadowing, oral summary, paraphrasing, aural cloze, multiple tasking..…etc. Consecutive interpretation is taught before simultaneous interpretation. I interviewed through e-mail instructors of
interpretation courses from Xiamen University and Beijing University of Foreign Studies in China, and the University of Bologna at Forli in Italy, only to find out that different interpretation instructors used different interpreter training approaches based on the two main aforementioned approaches.
2.5 Use students’ favorite learning styles
Lujan and DiCarlo (2006) administered a visual, auditory, reading/writing, kinesthetic(VARK) questionnaire to identify student's preferences for special ways in
which information is presented to them and found out that most students (63.8%) preferred multiplemodesof information presentation. Based on the findings, the researchers suggested that the instructor should conduct instruction that caters to the students’ preferences, avoid treating all students similarly, and avoid using the ways they prefer by using others.
3. Research Method 3.1 Data collection
In the existing study I used the grounded theory research methods to collect the following data: (1) my reflections on the selection and management process of the videos, texts, and other materials on the BLS; (2) the results of the synchronous and non-synchronous discussions; (3) my observation notes; (4) interviews and student feedback that student participants offerred throughout the semester; (5) and video recordings of the students’ interpretation at the end of the semester. To enhance reliability, I used multiple data collection methods. According to Glaser and Strauss (1967), the grounded theory approach favors the use of multiple data sources relating to the same phenomenon. In addition, according to Yin (1994), case study research can use qualitative data only, quantitative only, or both. Data analysis for each case involved creating concepts by coding which “... represents the operations by which data are broken down, conceptualied, and put back together in new ways. It is the central process by which theories are built from data” (Strauss
& Corbin, 1990, p. 57). I used the grounded theory in analyzing the data through different forms of coding. According to Strauss and Corbin (1990), there are three types of coding: open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. Open coding involves the labeling and categorizing of phenomena as shown by the data. Axial coding refers to the phase of developing main categories and their sub-categories.
Selective coding is the integration of the categories that have been developed to create the initial theoretical framework. “The core category must be the sun, standing in orderly systematic relationships to its planets.” (Strauss & Corbin, 1990, p. 124). An important activity during coding is the writing of memos. Corbin and Strauss (1990) posited that writing theoretical memos is a fundamental part of doing grounded theory to systematically record all the categories, properties, and hypotheses; and create questions that come from analysis.
3.2 Participants
In the interpretation course in 2010, participants of this study consisted of the instructor and ten students (two male and eight female). Among the students, two were men and eight were women; five were local students and five were foreign students.
Like other mixed language interpreting classes, the experience of learning interpreting and working languages were diverse among the students. All the Chinese students can speak Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese, and English fluently. One Chinese student has learned interpreting for two years. Another Chinese student has learned interpreting for one and a half year. Eight students had learned interpreting for one semester. None of the students had formal interpreting experience. The foreign students consisted of one French, two Buryat persons (Russians), one Macauian, and one Spanish. The two Buryat students can speak Russian and the Buryat language. They can also speak some Mongolian and Mandarin Chinese. The Spanish student can also speak Chinese, English,
and Cantonese (the language she uses at home in Spain) fluently. The Macau student can also speak Chinese and Cantonese excellently. English is the common working language in this study. A total of nine working languages (Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese, English, Spanish, Cantonese, Spanish, French, Buryat language, and Russian) were used in this class. In the study in 2011, participants consisted of six foreign students and four local students. They were all female. Among them there were two Indonesian students, four Russian students (two were from the course in 2010), and four Chinese students (one was from the course in 2010). Russian, Indonesian, English, Buryat language, and Mandarin Chinese were used in this class. I served as
teacher-researcher-participant in both the pilot study and the main study. I have been teaching conference interpreting since 1993 and conducted a study on non-language specific interpreter training in the U.S. in 1999. I am a full time associate professor of interpreting pedagogy and research at the university involved in this study and I also serve as a free lance conference interpreter of Mandarin Chinese and English.
3.3 Research site
The research was conducted in an interpreter training laboratory in a university of science and technology in Taiwan. This lab is equipped with an online server, computers, and microphones for the instructor and 24 students. There are two sound-proof booths for simultaneous interpreter training. Both students and the instructor have access to the BLS online. It is a paperless class because all the course materials, including videos, text files, PowerPoint files, etc. are uploaded to the BLS. At the beginning of the semester, the students were trained to become familiar with the BLS. The course materials were used in the classroom and were also available for the students to download for self-practice after class. Students were encouraged to participate in synchronous and non-synchronous discussions in the forum which is part of the BLS. All the functions of the BLS were fully explored and used in the existing study.
4. The Implementation of the BLS Based Non-language Specific Interpreter Training Course
4.1 The BLS has facilitated interpreter training of foreign students and local students Videos and related scripts from VOA were downloaded to my personal computer and then uploaded to the school’s BLS as training materials. The results of the study indicated that they have facilitated the interpreter training of foreign students and local students. Videos and transcripts from VOA (http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/) were used in this class because of the following reasons:
(1) Students prefer video materials over audio materials or texts.
(2) New videos and scripts are uploaded by VOA regularly, so every semester I can download new videos and texts as course materials. Students who take new
interpretation classes with me can learn with new materials covering a wide range of topics each semester.
(3) Videos all come with scripts, which are especially helpful to EFL students who occasionally experience difficulties understanding the contents of the videos.
(4) VOA videos and texts cover a wide range of topics including news about USA, Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Middle East, American Life, Arts, Entertainment,
Economy, Education, Environment, Health, Human Rights, Law, Lifestyles, News Analysis, Religion, Science and Technology, and Sports.
(5) Background knowledge, which students acquired by interpreting the VOA videos, is essential to interpreters. From the BLS, students download the videos to their computers for interpreting practice and then upload their transcripts and translation of the videos to the BLS for other students to critique. The materials enable them to learn to prepare before interpreting.
(6) All the videos are approximately of the same length and level of difficulty.
4.2 VOA videos and texts are public domain and copyright free, so they may be freely uploaded to the BLS to facilitate digital learning
VOA videos and texts are public domain, so they can be uploaded and downloaded free of charge with the exception of some videos that belong to other news agencies. It is very important that the materials uploaded to the BLS should be copyright free. Toward the end of the study we also used speeches from TED.com which are more relevant to conference interpreting and are also copyright free.
4.3 Videos and texts in Chinese and English enable students to learn to interpret local news
Videos and texts in Chinese and English provided by Formosa TV
(http://englishnews.ftv.com.tw/) enable students to learn to interpret local news. In answer to the demands of the students for learning to interpret local news, I used videos and texts in both Chinese and English from Formosa TV by posting the URL of the site on the BLS because they are copyrighted. Each week, students interpreted important and interesting news stories of the week. This site is unique in that each video comes with a Chinese text and an English text, but they are all slightly different in content so students can only refer to the bilingual texts, but not reading aloud word by word, when interpreting the videos.
4.4 Structuring training activities to facilitate cooperative learning among foreign students and local students
There should always be practice in interpreting tasks that students can prepare in advance and those that they have to perform interpreting without preparation. In every conference, interpreters have to interpret presentations or speeches that they can prepare in advance and also interpret those that they can not prepare in advance because there is no materials for them to prepare. Therefore, in an interpretation class, the training activities should include not only those that students can prepare in
advance, but also those that the students have to interpret with little or no preparation.
4.5 Warm-up exercises
Short to medium consecutive interpreting of talks, on topics related to current events (e.g. the most serious dust storm in Taiwan) delivered by students for the other students to take turns interpreting into different languages, is performed at the
beginning of each class session to serve as a warm-up exercise to prepare students for interpreting videos from VOA or other foreign language sources. This task also provides opportunities for students to practice speaking in English, which is good
because all the students are learners of English as a foreign language.
4.6 Interpreting VOA videos and then summarizing
This task can be divided into two kinds: Each student is assigned to perform short to medium consecutive interpretation, depending on the student’s interpretation ability, with several videos in the classroom. After the student has completed
interpreting, she/he summarizes it in English for the other students to interpret into their mother languages. In addition to interpreting the VOA videos, foreign students were also required to interpret videos in their mother languages that they had
downloaded from the Internet. For instance, the Russian students interpreted videos in Russian or the Buryat language into English.
4.7 Each video is played first for all the students to shadow
For students to get familiar with an English video, before it is interpreted by a student, it is played thoroughly once for all the students to do shadowing. Students take turns shadowing by turning on a microphone and speaking.
4.8 Interpreting in the booth
In order for the students to develop the ability to interpret simultaneously, I set out a rule to always have one student interpret simultaneously in the Chinese booth and to have a foreign student interpret simultaneously in the foreign language booth.
Thus, students take turns serving as simultaneous interpreters; each interpreting for 10 minutes at a time. This student sits in the booth and interprets into her mother
language, or into English, the talks given by the instructor or students. She has to sight interpret (by listening to the source language, reading the script, and interpreting at the same time) into another language when a student interprets an English video in the classroom. The student who sits in the booth has to interpret whatever she hears on the headset. If she hears a language that she can not understand (e.g. when a Chinese student hears a speech delivered by an Indonesian), she would have to switch to the channel of the interpretation of the foreign student (in this case it is Indonesian) in the booth to listen to her English translation and then interpret.
4.9 Foreign students interpret videos in their mother languages into English In addition to interpreting VOA videos, foreign students are also required to interpret videos in their mother languages into English, which serves as input for the other students to interpret into different languages.
4.10 Whispered interpreting
Whenever a student interprets into a language other than English, she is required to do whispered interpreting for her language peer to interpret into English by
speaking to a microphone.
4.11 The final exam
In the final examination, each student was required to interpret simultaneously a
video for ten minutes. On the day of the test, they took turns standing in front of a video camera and interpreting without referring to a transcript. Their interpretation was recorded for detail evaluation. They were evaluated based on (1) the difficulty of the source language; (2) the direction of interpretation (students who interpret into English would earn a better grade); and (3) the quality of interpretation. I had no problems evaluating the interpretation of the Chinese students. Foreign students had to interpret into English and turn in a copy of the transcript in both their mother language and English translation for me to check. I would check the foreign students’
interpretation into English against the English translation in the script. However, I could only rely on peer check and self-check by foreign students to find out if they had translated the source text, in their mother language, into English correctly.
4.12 Assessing the quality of the interpreting of foreign students by multi-techniques When I told people how I had taught students to interpret into languages that I do not understand, the first question that they asked was “How do you assess the
accuracy of their interpretation?” I used the following multiple-techniques to assess the interpretation of the students who interpreted into a language that I can not understand.
Observing Paralinguistic Cues and Using Multiple-techniques. When foreign
students are interpreting, I look for paralinguistic cues, e.g. hesitations, long pauses, stopping interpreting completely, etc. and decide what other assessment techniques to use to check the accuracy of their interpretation.Summarizing. When a foreign student interprets into her mother language, I ask
her to summarize in English what she has interpreted in order to assess the accuracy and completeness of her interpretation. By doing so, I can find out if she hasinterpreted correctly or completely. This strategy is especially useful when I want to find out if the French student has interpreted correctly because he is the only French speaker in the classroom. This technique is limited in that sometimes an interpreter can not remember everything that he has interpreted because he has to concentrate on interpreting all the time. In addition, the translation errors may be too difficult for him to identify.
Self-critique. After interpreting, the student is asked to comment if she has done
a good job of interpreting. This technique is especially useful when I serve as aspeaker and have to concentrate on speaking for students to interpret into their mother languages.
Relay Interpreting. Relay interpreting means that when a speaker is speaking in
language 1, one interpreter interprets from language 1 to language 2, and another interpreter interprets (relay) from language 2 to language 3. For instance, whenstudent A interprets a video form Russian into English, a Chinese student listens to the English translation and interprets into Chinese. This mode of interpretation is often used in international conferences when interpreters of certain rare languages are unavailable and the interpreters can all speak a common language. For instance, at a conference in Taiwan, when a speaker speaks in Portuguese, a Portuguese interpreter would interpret into Chinese for the other interpreters to relay from Chinese into English, Japanese, and French for the audience of those languages. In relay interpreting, the main interpreter needs to be very strong in interpreting.
Spot Checking. After a foreign student finishes interpreting, I ask her to interpret
certain expression that is in the context of the source language into her motherlanguage for me. After that, I then ask her what that expression means in English.
Back-interpreting. Back interpreting means that when one speaker is speaking in
language 1, interpreter A interprets it into language 2. Interpreter B listens tointerpreter A and interprets from language 2 back into language 1 consecutively or simultaneously. For instance, when a Russian student interprets an English video into Russian, she would whisper interpret into Russian for another Russian student to interpret back into English by using the microphone for the audience on the floor.
5. Results and Discussion
To collect data about students’ reactions, I asked them to fill out a form with questions about their experience of learning interpreting in this course in the pilot study, and I asked students to post their feedback in the folder titled “Feedback, comments, and Suggestions about this Course＂in the main study. I followed up by asking them to answer some questions I had about their answers. The feedback is categorized in the following manner: (1) student satisfaction, (2) student feedback about the course materials, (3) student feedback about the teaching methods, (4) student feedback about testing, (5) students’ general remarks, and (6) why the attrition was so high?
5.1 Student satisfaction in this course
All the students were satisfied with the course, but most students believed that if the instructor could speak all the working languages of all the students, the students would learn more efficiently. Eight students believed that they would learn more efficiently if the instructor and their classmates could speak all the working languages of all the students. However, two students (one Russian student and the Cantonese student) believed that they didn’t think so. After using speech videos from TED.com, students all agreed that to be used for conference interpreter training, they are more relevant than VOA news, but VOA videos are more interesting.
5.2 Learning materials
VOA videos are not relevant to conference interpreting because the speakers in VOA videos speak too fast, but they will help students learn news interpreting and interpreting in general. The Chinese student who had interpreted for a DJ competition said that she didn’t believe interpreting VOA videos is relevant to conference
interpreting because the speakers in VOA videos speak faster than normal talks.
However, most of the students commented that despite the differences between VOA videos and conference interpreting, they had all learned interpreting. One Chinese student in the main study commented, “More diversified materials should be used that cover a wider variety of topics.” One Russian student in the main study commented,
“Instead of only news, the course materials should cover movies, speeches, business news, tourism English, etc.” Students unanimously agreed that the materials for the interpretation classes in the future should consist of both VOA videos and speech videos from TED.com.
5.3 Teaching methods
Interpreting free talks is not relevant to conference interpreting. When asked about their comments to whether interpreting free talks, provided by the instructor or
students, are relevant to conference interpreting, the Chinese student who had interpreted for a DJ competition said that interpreting free talks is not relevant to conference interpreting because in conference interpreting, the speakers speak much faster and words used at conferences are more specialized. However, another Chinese student commented that giving free talks enabled him to enhance his English speaking ability.
Back interpreting is useful but tiresome. When asked about back interpreting used as an evaluating task in this course, one Chinese student said that back
interpreting is challenging. Another Chinese student said that it is an interesting task.
A Russian student said that it is a good way to check whether the student understands what she is talking bout when interpreting. Another Russian student said, “Back interpreting is very useful because after that activity, you may be aware of the accuracy of (your partner’s) translation.” However, in the main study, a Russian student said, “… back-interpreting is sometimes tiresome. One can easily loose interest.” A Chinese student in the main study commented, “For the back translation activity, even though we can learn the skill of paraphrasing, we can also lose our interests quickly. Besides, it can take too much time to interpret just one video”.
Peer checking is useful and it would be better if every student has a peer. When asked about their reactions to peer-checking as an evaluation task, the French student commented that it would help if someone could check if his French translation was correct. One Chinese student said that peer checking was useful. One Russian student said that it [peer checking] was a good way to check each other’s interpretation.
Another Russian student said that peer-checking was like self-checking but by another person, so you have a different way to know if you have interpreted correctly.
Spot checking can help foreign students to check the progress they have made.
When asked about their reactions to spot-checking, a Russian student commented that it is an interesting activity. A Chinese student said that spot-checking can help foreign students to check the progress they have made.
Relay interpreting can become confusing. When the students were asked about their reactions to relay-interpreting used as an evaluation task, the Macao student said that it is a good warm up exercise. A Russian student said that it is very interesting just to have a chance to hear different languages. However, several students in the main study commented that they did not like relay interpreting. One student said, “I do not like relay interpreting because it became quite confusing especially when three students worked together [or talking at the same time]”.
Self-critique helps students make progress, correct mistakes, and try harder.
When the students were asked about their reactions to self-critique, the Macau student said, “Self-critique is a way of self assessment which is good and inspiring.” One Russian student said, “Self-critique is a useful task because it helps you to make progress, to correct mistakes, and to try harder.”
Interpreting simultaneously in the booth is like interpreting at a real conference.
All the students agreed that there should always be a student interpreting in the booth in class. When the students were asked about the rule that there should always be someone interpreting in the booth, a Chinese student said “It is good because it gives everyone an opportunity to practice.” Another Chinese student said, “Even though I’ve gotten used to interpreting in the booth, I still can’t catch every word. It is good to always have someone interpreting in the booth because we can not only practice interpreting, but also learn from each others’ interpretation. Therefore, it is important and helpful to us.” The French student said that it is a good idea (to always have a student interpreting in the booth). A Russian student said, “Interpreting in the booth
makes me feel more confident. The reason is that you can focus on yourself only and on interpreting simultaneously. And there is nobody around you so you become happier.” The Macau student said, “Interpreting in the booth is productive and useful.” A Chinese student said, “This is a splendid rule for the class.” A Russian student said, “Even if I can’t understand all that was said in Chinese, I’m trying to interpret it.” One Russian student in the main study commented, “I love interpreting in the booth which makes me concentrate more and train my interpreting ability comparing with interpreting just in the classroom.” Another Russian student commented, “I really like working in the booth because this activity is more like working in a real situation. It gave me a good chance to train myself, to get familiar with possible future situations, and to realize what skills need to be improved”.
The teacher should provide more feedback. Almost all students wanted the instructor to provide more feedback. For instance, one student in the main study commented, “It would be better if we could have more feedback from the instructor”.
However, a Russian student said, “The specific feature of this course is that
students seldom get corrections from the teacher. This has its own advantages as well as disadvantages. But in general, I like this kind of method, because it doesn't put a lot of pressure on the students. However, I think some amount of control is needed”. A Chinese student commented, “I believe it would be better if each student could have received Professor Chen’s suggestions every time after the practice.”
News interpreting should be taught. One Chinese student in the main study commented, “The instructor should play a short video of the latest news several times each class session and require students to write down the summary. If the students experience difficulties, the instructor can teach those expressions that the students failed to understand. In this way, students can lean summarizing and enhance their vocabulary.” She said, “Each video played in class should not be too long.” Another student said, “I suggest that before watching some videos like news, which is much more difficult for us, the professor could provide related texts or news articles for us to read or do sight translation to have a basic idea about the news. Thus, it will be beneficial for us to do interpreting after watching the video.”
A field trip should be arranged. One Chinese student in the main study
commented, “The instructor should organize field trips to visit translation agencies or conferences where interpreters are working.” Another Chinese student said, “Maybe we can try to arrange a time to visit an interpretation company or to have a chance to see how professional interpreters work (at a conference).”
Movies about interpreting should be played in the classroom to show how interpreters interpret. One Chinese student commented “The instructor should play movies about interpreting and ask students to provide feedback after watching them”.
Videos in Chinese should be played for Chinese students to interpret. One Chinese student in the main study commented, “We always interpret what our classmates have said in Chinese instead of interpreting Chinese videos. If we could interpret Chinese videos, then we would have more chances to learn how to take notes for Chinese videos.”
Students learn a lot from other students’ PPT presentations. One Chinese in the main study said, “From watching other students’ PPT presentations, I learnt a lot of information about interpreting.”
Learning different modes o interpreting in the same course is better than learning them separately. “From this course, I can practice different kinds of interpreting (SI, CI, shadowing, sight translation, brain-storming) in the same session, which my previous school did not offer.” Commented a student who lad learned interpreting in
her undergraduate program in another university, where sight translation, consecutive interpretation, and simultaneous interpretation were taught separately in different semesters.
CI note taking taught in this course is very useful. One Chinese student in the main study who had taken an interpretation course in another university (but the teacher back then did not teach systematically how to take notes) commented,
“During this semester we did a lot of note-taking, and had a lot of training on
note-taking techniques, which are very useful for all of us. I didn’t know how to take note correctly in my undergraduate program in another school, but now I find myself more confident in doing it.”
5.4 Testing
In the main study, a Russian student commented, “The testing session helps us to improve our speaking, listening, and of course interpreting skills.” A Chinese student commented “When interpreting, the student should be asked to look at the video on the screen instead of the camera.” Another Chinese student in the main study
commented, “I think the final test is quite stressful with a camera putting right in front of you. And I think the approach of interpreting, either in SI or CI, either from 1st language to 2nd or from language or 2nd language to 1st language should be regulated so that the standard of the evaluation would be consistent”. From the perspectives of testing, this may be true, but from the perspectives of student empowerment, it requires further investigation.
5.5 Students’ general remarks
When asked to give other comments, in the pilot study, one Chinese student said, “This is a very practical and useful class that will enhance students’ interpreting skills for sure.” A Russian student said, “I like this course because only this course gives me an opportunity to speak (in English) at all.” However, some foreign students expressed their concerns about their foreign accents. One Chinese student said that he had difficulties interpreting the French student’s English because his French accent was too strong. The French student also commented, “(When interpreting) I’ll
practice to interpret as correctly as I can, but I mostly use synonyms. Does it matter so much that I have a French accent? Some people understand me very well. Some people don’t. It depends.” The Spanish student and the French student both indicated that it would be better if they had a partner who could speak their languages to monitor their interpretation. So obviously, it would be better if there are at least two students of each working language so that they can check each other’s interpretation.
Finally one Russian student commented that speaking in the classroom for others to interpret and interpreting from Russian into English provided the only opportunity for her to enhance her English speaking skills. The other foreign students all agreed that this course is the only one in this school where the instructor will correct their English pronunciation and grammar when they speak.
5.6 Why was the attrition so high?
By the main study in 2011, the French student and four Chinese students had dropped the course. I was surprised by the high attrition, interviewed the students to find out why so many students had dropped the class, and was given the following
answers: (1) Students commented that they did not have enough opportunities to interpret on the podium. They believed that interpreting on the podium is different from interpreting with their microphones on their seats and that they wanted to have more opportunities to interpret on the podium. (2) They had to take other courses to earn enough credits for graduation. (3) Students’ written feedback indicated that it was chaotic sometimes when many languages were spoken at the same time. In the main study, I asked students to practice relay interpreting. For instance, when a Russian student is speaking, one Russian student would interpret into English in one booth. In another booth, a Chinese student would listen to the Russian student’s interpretation in English and interpret into Chinese. To avoid disrupting the class, I also avoided correcting students’ English pronunciation if the errors derived from accent variations due to language differences, but I still corrected their errors if they derived from obvious mispronunciation errors. In responding to students feedback, I encouraged students to interpret on the podium as often as possible and explained to them that relay interpreting can sometimes be “chaotic” and that is what happens at an
international conference and they have to learn to get used to it. Two students in the main study had learned interpreting before, so they brought in the ideas that instead of receiving only task based training (e.g. reading aloud, shadowing, sight translation, brain storming, paraphrasing, etc.), students should also learn to interpret on different topics, e.g. computer science, politics, etc. Therefore, instead of limiting the learning materials to VOA videos and local news videos, I built a new public folder in the discussion board that allows students to post videos on a wide variety of topics for students to practice interpreting.
6. Conclusion
This study has explored the learning experience of the students and the teacher in a non-language specific interpretation course in a graduate school of applied foreign languages at a university in Taiwan. The study results indicated that there is a need for mixed-language interpreter training and this type of training is feasible when language specific interpreter training of students in so many languages is unavailable. Although the students did not express concerns about the instructor’s ability to assess the accuracy of foreign students’ interpretations, from the study it became obvious that for non-language specific interpreter training to be successful, multiple-assessment methods, including peer critique, self-critique, back-interpreting, spot-checking, and relay interpreting, and a combination of some of the aforementioned techniques, should be used. Despite the fact that almost all of the students had only learned interpreting for one semester, all the students agreed that students should take turns interpreting simultaneously for ten minutes each in the booth. The students even used a timer to remind the student in the booth when her time was up. Due to copyright, in this study, most of the time, only VOA videos and texts, and speeches and talks generated by the instructor and students were used; in addition, foreign students interpreted videos in their languages into English. For conference interpreter training, speech videos from TED.com, which are also copyright free, are more relevant. For videos and texts from a local English TV channel, only the URL of the site was provided. In addition, I also encouraged students to post the links of videos on a wide variety of topics and languages to reflect the nature of conference interpretation, to encourage topic based interpreter training, and to expand students’ general knowledge.
Unfortunately, the demand for interpreters of Mandarin Chinese and a foreign
language, such as Russian or French, is much higher than that of English and another
foreign language in Taiwan. How to train foreign students to become interpreters of Mandarin Chinese and foreign languages to meet the Taiwanese market demands is a question that requires further investigation. Last but not least, researchers are
encouraged to apply e-portfolio assessment to facilitate interpreter training, encourage self practice, and expand students’ general knowledge.
Note: The Taiwan National Science Council funded (under the fund number
99-2914-I-011-004-A1) the trip for the author to present the pilot study paper of this main study at the International conference titled Emerging Topics in Translation and Interpreting hosted by the Dipartimento di Scienze del Linguaggio, dell’Interpretazione e della Traduzione (DSLIT) in collaboration with the Scuola Superiore di Lingue Moderne per Interpreti e Traduttori (SSLMIT), University of Trieste, 16-18 June 2010. This existing paper was completed based on the pilot study results.
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國科會補助專題研究計畫項下出席國際學術會議心得報告
日期：2011 年 7 月 26 日
一、 參加會議經過
7 月 9 日搭乘國泰 CX451 自桃園國際 7 月 09 日 台北-香港國際機場 7 月 09 日香港國際機場慕尼黑國際機場
7 月 10 日慕尼黑國際機場 雅典國際機場
7 月 11 日至 7 月 14 日參加 The Athens Institute for Education and Research (AT.IN.E.R.)主辦的 4th Annual International Conference on Literature, Languages & Linguistics 並發表論文
7 月 15 日雅典國際機場慕尼黑國際機場
7 月 16 日慕尼黑國際機場香港國際機場台北
7 月 9 日桃園機塲起飛經香港及慕尼黑轉機於 7 月 10 日旁晚扺達雅典機場，進駐大會安排的 Titania Hotel。
7 月 11 日 8:30 大會開始，首先雅典教育與研究學會主席致詞，之後大會開始分成 3 塲進行，各塲的主題分別是文學、語言學、和教學組。
我在 7 月 11 日 10:30 發表論文，主題是運用電子巻宗評量於大學部口譯課—台灣先期研究，這篇論文是本專題計畫所衍生之先期研 究，因為題目包括電子巻宗評量和口譯教學两個主題，所以得到很大的共鳴，有學者發問是否可以把學生口譯表現 post 在
計畫編號 NSC99-2410-H011-028
計畫名稱 運用黑板課程管理系統於混合語言口譯教學--台灣個案研究
出國人員 姓名
陳聖傑 服務機構
及職稱
國立台灣科技大學應用外語系 副教授
會議時間
2011 年 7 月 11 日至
7 月 14 日 會議地點
希臘雅典
會議名稱
(中文) 雅典教育與研究學會主辦第四屆文學語言與語言學國際研討會 (英文) The Athens Institute for Education and Research (AT.IN.E.R.) 4th Annual International Conference on Literature, Languages & Linguistics
發表論文 題目
(中文)運用電子巻宗評量於大學部口譯課—台灣先期研究
(英文) Implementing E-portfolio Assessment in an Undergraduate Interpreter Training Course—A Taiwan Pilot Study (*本計畫所衍生之先期研究)
BLS(Blackboard Learning System)讓所有學生觀賞並且給 feedback，我的回答是根據本人教學經驗台灣學生很排斥看到自己口譯的影片(但 喜歡觀賞別人口譯的影片)同時要克服的困難是影片拍攝的設備，BLS 記憶體的問題，及播放時間過長等問題，只要這些問題解决之後，
透過學生自己的口譯過程影片觀賞及檢討，應該可以促進口譯學習，可以成為未來重要的研究參考。另外有學者問到評量方法及依據，
我回答道這即是本研究獨特之處，最重要的是使用 rubrics，它不但是可以成為評量之指標，也可以成為口譯訓練之指標。
本人除了發表論文之外也聽了語言學和語言學習的其他學者發表論文，受益良多。由本次大會聽了那麼多塲論文發表可知目前語言 學與教育領域最新研究趨勢如下:
心理語言學、.語言學理論、文法教學、.以表演為基礎的語言教育、.線上巻宗評量、全語言環境、譯者與讀者的互動、翻譯為重寫與重述、
新聞翻譯、學術英語、睡眠品質與外語學習 、語言與身份、在外語學習中建立自我、使用語料庫於文法教學、外語教師口語能力、語言 學習與年齡、媒體中的非專業譯者、電腦遊戲與外語學習、使用字源學於外語學習、理想的外語教師、新聞翻譯、字幕翻譯、電子新聞、
課程理系統、自我評量與同儕評量、自我學習。
二、與會心得
從本次參加研討會可以體會到海峽對岸對鼓勵其學者參加國際研討會之重視。
本大會與會學者來自以下國家:
USA, Iran, Romania, Iraq, UK, Greece, South, Africa, PR China, Spain, Romania, Bulgaria, Bahrain, Jordan, India, Korea, Former Yugoslavia, Republic of Macedonia, South Africa, Cyprus, Poland, Singapore, Latvia, United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Israel, Albania, Bulgaria, Egypt, Turkey, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, Philippines, Belgium, Estonia, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, Russia, Italy, Germany, Canada, 等約來自 40 個國家約 148 學者與會。其中包括台灣學者 17 位,大陸學者 9 位, 據大陸學者說他們全都是拿政府或學校補助出國參加研討會。回顧 2006 年第一次 參加在義大利 University of Bologna at Forli 大陸沒有學者參加，只有我一位台灣學者參加，被大會重視，特地另外安排我到該校的口筆譯 研究所做一塲有關口譯員記憶力訓練的專題演講。 2007 年去阿根參加 INTERPRETA 2007 台灣也只有我一位學者參加，我被邀請到一位 資深聯合國口譯員家裡去享用阿根廷紅酒，從此之後陸續參加的國外研討會中國大陸代表不斷增加，以本次大會為例 7 月 12 日晚上大會 安排的自費 dinner (每人 30 歐元 )參加者有 20 人其中 9 位是大陸學者。
三、 考察參觀活動(無是項活動者省略)
愛琴海和 Delphi 古蹟參訪加深對希臘古代歷史的印象。
四、 建議
1、注意中國大陸學者出國參加國際學術研討會人數的成長，其在國際研討會參與的地位及影響力都將衝擊我國學者在國際學術發展的空 間。.
2、鼓勵我國學者出國參加國際研討會，這對於國民外交及學術外交很有助益，可以增進在國際社會的參與和發揮影響力。.
3、全方位的國際會議之安排:台灣學術界可以參考希臘雅典教育與研究學會(The Athens Institute for Education and Research (AT.IN.E.R.))結 合(1)主辦國際訮討會(2)會後論文出版(3)觀光行程規劃(4)住房旅館代訂(5)用餐餐館代訂(幾乎食住行育樂全包，,雖然價格過高，但是為與 會者省掉不少麻煩)該學會有 19 個分會，每分會每一年於五月至八月期間至少主辦一塲國際研討會，如下所述:“TheInstitutehas19 units. Each research unit organizes at least one annual international conference. These conferences take place between May and August in Athens. On 9th of May 2011 the Sociology Unit organized its annual conference and one week later the Media and the Environment Units organized their annual conference followed by the Education Research Unit on the 23rd. Tomorrow the Philosophy and the Psychology Research Unit organize their Annual Meetings with hundredsofparticipantscoming from allovertheworld.We did notcanceleven asingleeventoractivity.”
五、 攜回資料名稱及內容
雅典教育與研究學會主辦第四屆文學語言與語言學國際研討會資料袋，內容包括大議程及選擇性的自費參訪行程。
六、 其他
Implementing E-portfolio Assessment in the Undergraduate Interpreter Training Courses—a Taiwan Pilot Study
Sheng-jie ChenNational Taiwan University of Science and Technology Republic of China
Abstract
With the prevalence of online learning systems, interpreter training using technology will soon become the rule rather than the exception, and that includes the use of e-portfolios for interpretation learning assessment, yet hardly any research has been available that investigated its implications.
The aim of this pilot study is to investigate the experience of designing a syllabus that uses e-portfolio hosted on the Blackboard Learning System to assessstudents’learning in an interpretation class and offer suggestions to enhance the design of the e-portfolio assessment based on class
observations and student feedback. Qualitative research methods were used to collect data, to analyze them, and to complete the report. The participants are the teacher/researcher and 20 students in an elective interpretation class in Chinese and English in a university in Taiwan. The content of the portfolios covers skills that are required of any novice interpreters, and training activities were structured based on those skills. The results of the study indicated that e-portfolio assessmentshould bean effectivemeansofmeasuring students’interpretation skillsand isfavored by the students due to its diversity in contents and practice. However,students’feedback should beobtained forenhancementofe-portfolio design and course design due to different language combinations, training environments, training goals, and students involved.
Key words: e-portfolios, interpreter training in the department of applied foreign languages, interpreter training, assessment in interpreter training.
Introduction
Recently the faculty members of the university involved in this case study went through two teaching evaluations, one administered by the Taiwan Ministry ofEducation,and anotherby theuniversity itself.In theformer,theevaluatorsassessed based on thestudents’learning portfolios and observation on classroom teaching; and in the latter, the evaluators assessed based on the grades the students gave to their teachers each semester and the portfolios, among other documents. However, traditionally, in an interpreter training course what students do in the classroom is transient; in other words, little evidence of learning is left, except maybe glossaries and speech texts used in the classroom. Although some researchers have mentioned the use of portfolios as an alternative form of evaluation, there is little research that investigated the use of portfolios in interpreter training, and hardly any research has been done on the use of e-portfolio assessment in interpreter training despite the prevalent use of course management systems in education worldwide. The aim of the existing pilot study is to develop a syllabus for creating e-portfolios on the Discussion Board of the Blackboard Learning System (BLS) for interpreter training and to showcase the learning process that the education evaluators can physically
scrutinize, and to reflect on how to enhance the portfolio design based on the instructor’sreflectionsand observations,and students’reactionsand feedback. The learning e-portfolios that students are designated to create will be based on the criteria for training individuals to become proficient interpreters. They are (1) proficient language skills in both the source language and the target language, (2) proficient interpreting skills, (3)
