VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ THUỲ TRANG USING NOTEPAD AND VOICE RECORDER TECHNOLOGY (AUDIONOTE) IN TEACHERS’ FEEDBACK TO IMPROVE THE CLASSROOM INTERPRETING PERFORMANCE OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS MAJORING IN TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETING AT A UNIVERSITY IN HANOI (Sử dụng công nghệ ghi âm đồng thời với ghi chú (phần mềm Audionote) trong việc đưa nhận xét của giảng viên để cải thiện kĩ năng dịch nói của sinh viên chuyên ngành Biên phiên dịch tại một trường Đại học ở Hà Nội) M. MAJOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 HÀ NỘI - 2020 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ THUỲ TRANG USING NOTEPAD AND VOICE RECORDER TECHNOLOGY (AUDIONOTE) IN TEACHERS’ FEEDBACK TO IMPROVE THE CLASSROOM INTERPRETING PERFORMANCE OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS MAJORING IN TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETING AT A UNIVERSITY IN HANOI (Sử dụng công nghệ ghi âm đồng thời với ghi chú (phần mềm Audionote) trong việc đưa nhận xét của giảng viên để cải thiện kĩ năng dịch nói của sinh viên chuyên ngành Biên phiên dịch tại một trường Đại học ở Hà Nội) M. MAJOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231. Huỳnh Anh Tuấn HÀ NỘI - 2020 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com DECLARATION I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “Using Notepad and Voice Recorder technology (Audionote) in teachers’ feedback to improve the classroom interpreting performances of university students majoring in translation and interpreting at a university in Hanoi" was carried out and submitted in partial fulfilment of the Degree of Master of Arts at the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
I also declare that this work is original and all the sources used in the paper were comprehensively documented in the Reference list. i TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For the accomplishment of this research study, I owe my profound indebtedness to a lot of people who have given me tremendous support and valuable advice throughout the process of conducting my thesis. First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Huỳnh Anh Tuấn for his enlightening guidance and constant encouragement which were the decisive factors for the fulfilment of this paper.
Secondly, my sincere thanks go to Ms. Trần Thị Lan Anh, a senior lecturer in the Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, ULIS - VNU. Not only did she help me come up with the initial research ideas and plan, but her enthusiastic and intellectual guidance and consultancy also supported me a lot in the accomplishment of the whole study. Thirdly, I am deeply grateful to my two colleagues in my department, Ms.
Vương Thanh Nhàn and Mr. Lê Hải Phong who kindly accepted to collaborate with me in the research procedure. Nhàn was the senior interpreter trainer who observed my class and took part in the interview for comments on the use of Audionote feedback. Phong collaborated with me in the rating process for the pre- intervention and post- intervention tests which were of pivotal importance to find out the answers to the research questions.
Fourthly, I would like to thank all the lecturers at the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, ULIS – VNU for their valuable lectures which provide a solid base for my research. I also sincerely thank all the students in my Advanced Interpreting class who have actively taken part in the action research. Last but not least, my heartfelt thanks go to my beloved family members for their tremendous love and support during the implementation of my thesis. ii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ABSTRACT Teachers‘ feedback is of great importance in both language teaching and interpreter training.
Though many studies have been carried out to enhance the quality of teachers‘ feedback for language learners especially with the aid of technology, little has been done regarding feedback for interpreting students. Besides, there has been a consensus among social scientists that computer-assisted feedback (including feedback through Audionote app) is likely to yield various merits in language classrooms; however, none has been written about the efficiency of this technology in interpreting classes. To find a tool that helps giving feedback in interpreting classes more feed-forward, I conducted this action research study, aiming at shedding light on 1/ the students’ responses towards the use of Notepad and Voice Recorder technology (Audionote) in teachers’ feedback for students’ simultaneous interpreting performance, 2/ the students’ actual improvement level in their interpreting skills with the aid of Audionote feedback and 3/ possible hardships for the teacher in the process of using the app. In this study, four data collection instruments, namely questionnaire, interview, pre-intervention and post- intervention tests and teaching journal were used.
The research results showed the students‘ remarkably positive responses to and high evaluation of Audionote in improving the teacher‘ s feedback quality thanks to a variety of advantages including real-time comments which provided linguistic contexts for the teacher‘s feedback especially when the students encountered enormous cognitive load in simultaneous interpreting practices. On the other hand, the students‘ actual interpreting skill enhancement from the pre-intervention and post- intervention tests was not as highly positive as the students‘ responses regarding their interpreting skill improvement in the survey and interview. More notably, the teacher also encountered various challenges hampering the procedure of applying the new technology in class. iii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION……………………………………………………………….iii TABLE OF CONTENTS.iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ………………………………………………….…vii LIST OF TABLES, CHARTS AND FIGURES….………………………………viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION.
Statement of research problems and rationale for the study .2 Educational context and participants. Aims and objectives of the study. Scope of the study. Significance of the study.
Structure of the thesis. 7 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW. Definition of feedback. Types of feedback.
Importance of feedback. Methods of giving feedback. Characteristics of effective feedback. Definition of interpreting.
Rubrics for assessing interpreting performances. Assessment criteria for interpreting performances. Marking rubrics for interpreting performances. Feedback rubrics for interpreting performances.
Audionote and its application in giving feedback for speaking classes. Review of related studies. 24 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. 26 iv TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.
Data collection instruments. Pre-intervention tests and post-intervention tests. Pre-intervention survey and post-intervention survey. Pre-intervention interviews and post-intervention interviews.
While-intervention classroom observer interview. While-intervention teaching journals. Data collection procedure. Data analysis procedure.
Pre-intervention tests and post-intervention tests. Pre-intervention survey and post-intervention survey. While-intervention teaching journals. 48 CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS, FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION.
Answer to research question 1: What were the opinions of the students about the use of Notepad and Voice Recorder technology (Audionote) in the teacher‘s feedback for the students‘ classroom interpreting performances?. The students‘ opinions on advantages of Audionote feedback as opposed to disadvantages of traditional feedback. Disadvantages of traditional feedback and the learners‘ expectations before the intervention. Advantages of Audionote in the teacher‘s feedback.
Improving the teacher‘s feedback quality. Helping the students‘ reflection after their practice. Reducing the burden of cognitive load. Disadvantages of Audionote.
The students‘ suggestions and expectations after the intervention. Answer to research question 2: To what extent did the application of Notepad and Voice Recorder technology (Audionote) in the teacher‘s feedback improve the v TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com students‘ interpreting performances?. Results of pre-intervention and post-intervention tests. The students‘ responses from the post-intervention survey and interview.
The students‘ explanations for their high evaluation of using Audionote. Remaining problems of using Audionote. Answer to research question 3: What were the difficulties of the teacher when applying Notepad and Voice Recorder technology (Audionote) in giving feedback for the students‘ classroom interpreting performances (if any)?. Lack of a standardized feedback rubric.
Lack of in-class time for the students‘ feedback. Lack of a standardized interpreting test for the pre-intervention and post- intervention test. The student‘s reluctance to review Audionote files at home for self-reflection. Summary of the chapter.
Limitations of the study. I vi TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS SL : Source language TL : Target language Ss : Students T : Teacher RQ : Research question ULIS : University of Languages and International Studies, VNU : Vietnam National University, Hanoi vii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF TABLES, CHARTS AND FIGURES TABLES Page Table 1 Marking criteria for Vietnamese – English simultaneous 20 interpreting performances Table 2 Feedback rubric for Vietnamese – English simultaneous 22 interpreting performances Table 3 An extract of the teaching journal 32 Table 4 Intervention phase in Cycle 1 38 Table 5 Intervention phase in Cycle 2 39 Table 6 The students‘ evaluation of traditional feedback in the pre- 51 intervention surveys and interviews vs their evaluation of Audionote feedback from the post-intervention surveys and interviews Table 7 Paired Samples Statistics (Improvement level) 70 Table 8 Paired Samples Correlations (Improvement level) 70 Table 9 Paired Samples Test (Improvement level) 70 Table 10 Paired Samples Statistics (Version 2 and Version 2‘) 72 Table 11 Paired Samples Correlations (Version 2 and Version 2‘) 72 Table 12 Paired Samples Test (Version 2 and Version 2‘) 72 viii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com CHARTS Page Chart 1 The students‘ rating of their previous teachers‘ feedback for 52 improving their interpretation Chart 2 The students‘ evaluation of Audionote in improving the 56 quality of their teacher‘ feedback for their interpreting performances Chart 3 The students‘ evaluation of the teacher‘s advice quality in 57 improving their interpreting skills with the aid of Audionote Chart 4 The students‘ preferable teachers‘ feedback method for their 65 interpreting performances Chart 5 The students' improvement with and without the intervention 69 of Audionote in feedback Chart 6 Comparison of the students' marks for version 2' in the post- 71 intervention test with that for version 2 in the pre- intervention test Chart 7 The students‘ evaluation of the efficiency of using Audionote 74 feedback in improving their interpreting performances Chart 8 The students' evaluation of the importance of having a 80 feedback rubric (specific criteria) when teachers give feedback using Audionote ix TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com FIGURES Page Figure 1 Cyclical action research model (Kemmis and mc Taggart, 36 1988) Figure 2 Coding examples for open-ended questions in the surveys 43 Figure 3 Process of analyzing data from the interviews 45 Figure 4 Examples of the coding process 45 Figure 5 Set of codes and color-coding system for the interviews 48 x TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter generally introduces the whole research, leading the readers from a general to a specific field of research. The section establishes the context and significance of the study by summarizing current background knowledge of the topic and stating the aims of the work. The research problem, rationale, objectives, and importance as well as the organization of the study are presented one by one.
Statement of research problems and rationale for the study Giving feedback for students is of great significance in formative assessment. Informative and constructive feedback will contribute a lot to students‘ skill enhancement. As suggested in a book entitled "Giving feedback on speaking" by Kerr (2017), evidence tends to prove that feedback can improve language learning indeed. However, giving comments on students' real-time interpreting is stressful.
As an interpreter trainer, I am not satisfied with the rushed, hand-written feedback notes. I want to find a tool to help giving feedback in interpreting classes more feed-forward, thus improving the students‘ interpreting performance more efficiently. To date, there is a consensus among social scientists that computer-assisted feedback is likely to bring about a variety of advantages.