VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES BA THESIS AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE CURRENT SITUATION OF USING SHORT-TERM MEMORY IN ENGLISH - VIETNAMESE CONSECUTIVE INTERPRETING OF THE THIRD-YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS AT VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE KHẢO SÁT THỰC TRẠNG SỬ DỤNG TRÍ NHỚ NGẮN HẠN TRONG PHIÊN DỊCH NỐI TIẾP ANH - VIỆT CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ BA NGÀNH NGÔN NGỮ ANH TẠI HỌC VIỆN NÔNG NGHIỆP VIỆT NAM Student : HOANG THI THUY LINH Student code : 621248 Major : ENGLISH Supervisor : M.A NGUYEN THI HUONG Hanoi – 2021 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report entitled AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE CURRENT SITUATION OF USING SHORT-TERM MEMORY IN ENGLISH - VIETNAMESE CONSECUTIVE INTERPRETING OF THE THIRD-YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS AT VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor in English Language. Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis. Hanoi, 2021 Linh Hoang Thi Thuy Linh Approved by SUPERVISOR (Signature and full name) Date:…………………… i TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY. i TABLE OF CONTENTS.
v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. vi LIST OF TABLES. vii LIST OF FIGURES. vii PART 1: INTRODUCTION.
RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY. AIMS AND OJECTIVES OF THE STUDY. SCOPE OF THE STUDY. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY.
DESIGN OF THE STUDY. 7 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW .1 REVIEW OF PREVIOUS STUDIES (AT HOME/ABROAD) .2 REVIEW OF THEORETICAL BACKGROUND. Short-term memory (STM). RESEARCH GOVERNING ORIENTATION.
Quantitative research methods. Qualitative research methods. Data analysis method. RESEARCH SETTING/CONTEXT.
Data collecting instruments. Data collecting procedures. 27 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .1 The student’s personal information .2 The current situation and awareness of short-term in English to Vietnamese consecutive interpreting .3 The difficulties in practicing short-term memory.4 The student’s practice to improve short-term memory.
LIMITATION OF THE STUDY. RECOMMENDATIONS/SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY. 59 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS During the implementation of this thesis, I received plenty of enthusiastic help and support that guided and encouraged me to overcome all difficulties and finish this hard but meaningful time. Firstly, I would like to convey my sincere thanks to my supervisor Mrs.
Nguyen Thi Huong, M.A, lecturer of the Faculty of Education and Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University of Agriculture, for her whole-hearted guidance and support. Without her valuable recommendations, this thesis cannot come to an end. Secondly, I sincerely thank all the Faculty of Education and Foreign Languages teachers, Vietnam National University of Agriculture, for their precious lessons during my four-year study, which have been the foundation of this research paper. Furthermore, I would like to acknowledge the encouragement and strong support from my beloved family, especially my mother.
Without their excellent love and dedication, I would not do this thesis into reality. I also want to express my most profound appreciation to my classmates and friends for their heartfelt assistance and encouragement. In short, I really thank all the people helping me to finish this thesis successfully. Hanoi, 2021 Hoang Thi Thuy Linh iv ABSTRACT This paper discusses the short-term memory in English to Vietnamese consecutive interpreting, intended for English majors at Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA), from the viewpoint of a fourth-year student of the Faculty of Education and Foreign Languages, VNUA.
The paper aims at pointing out the specific difficulties of VNUA students’ use of short-term memory in English – Vietnamese consecutive interpreting, and through which learners will gain a deeper understanding of short-term memory, the critical role of short-term memory skills;. Therefore, several essential techniques to effectively improve short-term memory in English to Vietnamese consecutive interpreting are proposed. In achieving these aims, the paper surveys the current situation of VNUA students’ use of short-term memory in English – Vietnamese consecutive interpreting. The survey is carried and assessed under in four main areas: The student’s personal information; The current situation and awareness of short- term in English to Vietnamese consecutive interpreting; The difficulties in practicing short-term memory; The students’ practice to improve short - term memory.
From the received results, this study would be a reference for students and teachers and the library of the Faculty of Education and Foreign Languages at VNUA. In particular, it can help improve the effective use of short-term memory in the study and practice of interpreting skills as well as assist their future job related to the interpreting field. v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS STM Short-term memory CI Consecutive interpreting PC Processing capacity LTM Long-term memory vi LIST OF TABLES Page Table 2. Reasons for difficulties in short-term memory.
Types of information causing difficulty to remember. Self-evaluation of interpreting work. Aids/ Techniques supported for short-term memory when interpreting. The Methods adopted to practice short-term memory in interpreting.
42 LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1.1: Gile Model for Consecutive Interpreting. The student’s current level of English. The student’s English listening skills rate. Average length of information that can be remembered best.
Percentage of information remembered after the first listening. Percentage of information remembered after the second listening. Percentage of information remembered after the third listening. Time needed to rearrange information before interpreting.
Way of remembering the source information. The Frequency of practicing short - term memory in interpreting. The Efficiency of Short - term memory practice. 44 vii PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1.
RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY With the explosion of science and technology, the 4.0 revolution was born as an inevitable course of global economic development. Parallel to the advent of this revolution is the integration of the world. In the international integration trend, the need for mutual understanding among countries worldwide has been increasing. However, the different languages are a significant communication barrier between countries.
Being considered a bridge of human communicative interaction, interpreting skills are the key to breaking these barriers. Thus, an interpreting career is now becoming increasingly potential and attractive. However, the work of interpreting is not only demanding but also challenging. Interpreting is a compulsory subject of all English majors globally, especially at Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA).
It is considered as a complex and challenging subject. To achieve the best results, not only do learners need to have good English foundation knowledge such as grammar, vocabulary, … but also possess extensive knowledge and understanding of culture. Besides such aspects, it is necessary to have good techniques. One of these should be short-term memory, which is a crucial key that decides the interpreting task's success.
Memory is one of the significant elements affecting the process of storing and conveying information. Lack of mnemonic capacities may prevent people from getting access to sources of data quickly and accurately. However, due to brain formation, humans cannot remember everything they have heard or read, which is likely to be too complicated 1 or unnecessary for long-term use. Generally, there are two forms of memory: long-term memory and short-term memory.
In this, the role of short-term memory is analyzed and highlighted to encourage the best use of memory in the context of interpreting classes at VNUA. Short-term memory is not only necessary but also obligatory for learners of foreign languages. After four years of academic training at the University, the target set by the Faculty of Education and Foreign Languages as well as most English majors is to become proficient translators and interpreters. However, due to the limitation of interpreting training time which only consists of 4 credits, students do not have many chances to practice and improve their short-term memory.
Although some learners can be aware of its essential role, many of them have not applied this skill effectively. Therefore, it is vital to take up a short-term interpreting training course. With this regard, the objective of this study is for students of the Faculty of Education and Foreign Languages how to use short-term memory in English - Vietnamese consecutive interpreting in the most helpful way. AIMS AND OJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 2.1 Aims This study mainly focuses on finding the current situation of using short-term memory in English – Vietnamese consecutive interpreting of the third-year English majors at VNUA and giving some solutions to improve short-term memory in English – Vietnamese consecutive interpreting.2 Objectives The overall purpose of this survey is to investigate the following issues: Investigate the current situation of using short-term memory in English – Vietnamese consecutive interpreting of the third – year English majors at VNUA Propose some solutions to improve short-term memory in English – Vietnamese consecutive interpreting.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS Due to the aims, the study is conducted by two following questions: 1. What is the current situation of using short-term memory in English – Vietnamese consecutive interpreting of the third – year English majors at VNUA? 2. What are some solutions to improve short-term memory in English - Vietnamese consecutive interpreting of the third-year English majors at VNUA? 4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY - Research subjects: Short-term memory is beneficial and essential in interpreting; however, it is a comprehensive and challenging skill.
Therefore, to obtain the most remarkable findings and enhance the effectiveness of the study, it is scoped with one hundred and twenty (120) third-year English major students at the Faculty of Education and Foreign Languages in VNUA 3 using short-term memory in English - Vietnamese consecutive interpreting. The total numbers of the third-year English majors: 120 students • K63ENGA: 28 students • K63ENGB: 19 students • K63ENGC: 22 students • K63ENGD: 23 students • K63ENGE: 28 students - Research objects: This study focuses on the current situation of using short-term memory in English – Vietnamese consecutive interpreting of the third – year English majors at VNUA. - Time: From January 2021 to July 2021 Note: They are selected because they have already learnt the course of Interpretation. And in this course, they have already studied about the theory and practice of using short - term memory in consecutive interpreting.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY This project focuses on researching and learning about short-term memory in consecutive interpreting. From that time forward, point out specific difficulties for learners to grasp. As a result, learners will gain a deeper understanding of short-term memory, the meaning of short-term 4 memory in translation, and how to use it efficiently and improve short- term memory. DESIGN OF THE STUDY This study consists of following three parts: - Acknowledgements - Abstracts - List of abbreviations, graphs, tables, and figures - Part 1: Introduction This part is the introduction of background, aims, scope, research method, and organization of the study.
- Part 2: Development + Chapter 1: The literature review It provides the theoretical background for the study, including definitions of short-term memory, interpreting, consecutive interpreting. The relationship between short-term memory and English to Vietnamese consecutive interpreting is provided in this chapter. Additionally, the author also shows the role of short-term memory in interpreting, the relationship between short-term memory and consecutive interpreting, and short-term memory in English to Vietnamese consecutive interpreting. Many previous Foreign and Vietnamese studies are included in this chapter.
+ Chapter 2: Methodology It focuses on the methodology used in the research including the research governing orientation, data collection instruments, participants, the procedures employed to carry out the research. 5 + Chapter 3: Findings and Discussion It reports and discusses the usage of short-term memory in English to Vietnamese consecutive interpreting. It also presents the results from the data collection through survey and interview. - Part 3: Conclusion It summarizes the main issues raised in the study and suggests several solutions, the limitations of the study as well as the suggestions for further study.
- References - Appendix 6 PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 REVIEW OF PREVIOUS STUDIES (AT HOME/ABROAD) 1.