1 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING PHENIKAA UNIVERSITY AN INVESTIGATION INTO STUDENT’S PERCEPTIONS OF NOTE-TAKING IN CONSECUTIVE INTERPRETING Nghiên cứu về nhận thức của sinh viên về việc ghi chép trong phiên dịch nối tiếp Student: Lê Bảo Linh Student ID No: 20010013 Course: 2020 – 2024 Field: English Language Mode of study: Full-time Supervisor: Hoang Van Hoat, M.A Ha Noi – 2024 i MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING PHENIKAA UNIVERSITY AN INVESTIGATION INTO STUDENT’S PERCEPTIONS OF NOTE-TAKING IN CONSECUTIVE INTERPRETING Nghiên cứu về nhận thức của sinh viên về việc ghi chép trong phiên dịch nối tiếp Student: Lê Bảo Linh Student ID No: 20010013 Course: 2020 – 2024 Field: English Language Mode of study: Full-time Supervisor: Hoang Van Hoat, M.A Hanoi - 2024 i ABSTRACT Note taking is one of the important skills when learning and working in consecutive interpreting. It can be considered the key to creating a successful translation. The graduation thesis surveys students' opinions and attitudes about using notes in consecutive translations in the process of improving the quality of translation majors. This study explores the note interpretation process of all students while attempting to improve real-time translation.
This thesis offers observations on the challenges, necessary skills, and most effective strategies for taking notes so that information can be retained and relayed accurately, quickly, fluently, and accurately transitions through a variety of situations from the survey so that translators can make it applicable in today's multicultural and international translation environment. ii DECLARATION Le Bao Linh - 20010013, certificate that no part of the above report has been copied or reproduced by me from any other person’s work without acknowledgements and that the report is originally written by me under strict guidance of my supervisor. Hanoi, 1st July 2024 Supervisor Student Hoang Van Hoat, M.A Le Bao Linh iii ACKNOWLEGEMENT During the process of implementing this graduation project, I received a lot help, encouragement and experience from my teachers, friends and family. First of all, I would like to send a special thank you to all the lecturers at Faculty of English, Phenikaa University taught and provided me with knowledge and experience throughout my studies in this program.
Second, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my instructor, Mr. Hoang Van Hoat, M.A, lecturer in English Department, Phenikaa University, for his dedicated guidance and donate. Without his valuable tips and advice, I could not have finished this thesis was successful. Finally, I would like to send special thanks and love to my family for always being by my side and encouraging me.
Their encouragement and support in my studies and every other aspect of life. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION. 1 1 Background of the Study. 1 2 Statement of the Problem.
2 3 Research Objectives and Research Questions. 3 4 Significance of the study. 4 5 Organization of the study. 4 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW .1 Introduction to Consecutive Interpreting.2 Importance of Note-Taking.1 Factors Influencing Note-Taking.2 Techniques and Strategies.3 Traditional Note-Taking.4 Technology for Interpreters.4 Key theories and models relevant to interpreting.6 Gap in Literature.1 Overview of the research approach .4 Data Collection Methods.28 CHAPTER 3: RESUILTS AND DISCUSSION.1 Data Presentation: Organized presentation of the findings.1 How does the importance of note-taking affect students’ interpreting performance and confidence?.2 What are the main note-taking challenges for interpreting students, and which training methods are most effective in addressing them?.2 Detailed analysis of the data collected.3 Interpretation of Findings.4 Comparison with Existing Literature.5 Practical applications of findings for teaching and learning note taking in consecutive interpreting.55 vii LIST OF DIAGRAMS Number of Title of diagrams Page diagrams Diagram 3.1 The relationship of the note-making factors in consecutive interpreting 40 viii LIST OF CHARTS Number of Title of charts Page charts 3.1 Importance of Note-Taking 27 3.2 Challenges of Note-Taking 28 3.3 Benefits of Note-Taking 28 3.4 Training and Support 29 3.5 Overall Satisfaction and Perception 30 ix LIST OF ABBREVIATION Abbreviation Meaning Page IT The Interpretive Theory 11 SR Effort for speech reconstruction 12 SI Models Original Simultaneous Interpreting 12 CI Consecutive Interpreting 12,13,18 EI&T English Interpretation and Translation 14,19 1 INTRODUCTION 1.
Background of the Study Language is the fundamental knowledge that humans must master to communicate with others. Every country has its own language, but English is the only language considered an international language. As an international language, it is taught in all countries around the world. Therefore, for Vietnamese students in particular, English is taught from an early age until university.
For students of the Faculty of English, the Translation and Interpretation major is one of the important and extremely necessary majors for choosing a future job. When students in this field graduate and work, consecutive interpreting is one of the popular types of interpreting, requiring high technical proficiency and professional skills. In fact, in the process of consecutive interpreting, there is an extremely important skill that affects the entire interpretation process: the skill of note-taking. During the interpretation process, a lot of information is recorded in the interpreter's short-term memory.
If interpreters do not use this information, it will soon disappear. This is why interpreters focus on the message instead of the structure of the source text. Short-term memory lasts for a very limited time. We can only remember six or seven items if we concentrate hard.
If the interpreter tries to retain the form of the source statement, their short-term memory will quickly become filled with individual vocabulary items rather than a complete sentence, because they are busy finding a corresponding word in the target language instead of paying attention to the message. After studying at the Faculty of English, Phenikaa University, majoring in Translation and Interpreting for nearly four years, the researcher realized that students majoring in Translation and Interpreting, especially consecutive interpreting, still face difficulties. Note-taking during consecutive interpreting is affecting the learning process of students in 2 school as well as their performance when they graduate and enter the working environment to practice consecutive interpreting. Statement of the Problem Consecutive interpreting is a complicated skill where an interpreter has to listen to the message spoken in one language and then render it accurately in another language after the end of the speaker.
Note-taking is another important technique of consecutive interpreting. It helps the interpreters remember key points of structure and message to deliver an accurate interpretation. One of the serious problems in this regard is that the efficiency and methods of note-taking itself in consecutive interpreting are not very well realized, and there are no agreements on the best practices. Note-taking presents the aspiring interpreter with a dilemma: one has to listen, understand, analyze, and take notes on the major points raised without losing vital parts of the speech.
Added to this is the fact that note-taking styles vary greatly among people, based on character, education, and cognitive styles. This study aims at investigating student interpreters' perceptions of note-taking in consecutive interpreting, identifying common challenges, effective strategies, and weaknesses in students' training as a way of eliciting useful information in understanding how note-taking could be appropriately taught and supported within programs of interpreter education in order to foster high-quality consecutive interpreting. The problem posed by this study is, therefore, the lack of comprehensive understanding of students' perceptions about note-taking in consecutive interpreting and how this becomes a hindrance to the development of effective training methods and the general proficiency of future interpreters. This study, therefore, fills this gap by researching the real situation 3 of students' experiences, problems, and successes concerning note-taking in consecutive interpreting.
Research Objectives and Research Questions This study aims, first, to determine how students perceive the role and importance of note- taking in consecutive interpreting. The second goal will be to discover how students approach the mental processes of note-taking, in order to elicit perceived importance and usefulness for this technique on their tasks of interpreting. Other objectives will include discovering common problems with note-taking during consecutive interpreting. This will provide insight into areas where students most often struggle in such a way that support/training might be most helpful.
This research will also work towards the effectiveness of different note-taking techniques and strategies adopted by students. Analysis fastened on how the students find these methods to be effective may provide best practices and innovation in note-taking. Another main objective of the study will be to get a close look at how note-taking skills influence students' overall performance in consecutive interpreting. This will include the investigation of how perfectly developed note-taking skills can improve the accuracy, fluency, and overall quality of the students' interpretations.
It is expected that, based on the findings, this study will help derive recommendations toward note-taking training in programs for educating an interpreter - a step toward equipping future interpreters with skills to ensure effective consecutive interpreting. To achieve these objectives, the research will address two key questions. How does the importance of note-taking affect students’ interpreting performance and confidence? 2. What are the main note-taking challenges for interpreting students, and which training methods are most effective in addressing them? 4 4.
Significance of the study The significance of the study lies in the fact that it brings out the critical note-taking skill in consecutive interpreting, something humanly considered important for the delivery of precise and effective interpretation. Phenikaa University’s student respondents' ideas and experiences offer insight into the practical challenges and successes in the experience of note-taking studies. The main objective is deriving meaningful recommendations on how to teach consecutive interpreting best, especially to students training to become interpreters. Moreover, the conclusions of the present research can be transferred to the general domain of interpreter education by contributing further understanding about the necessity of systematic training in note-taking.
In sum, better training in note-taking does not only contribute to the quality of the product; it also affects students' performance as a whole during training. With its recommendations, this study shall, therefore, be able to provide guidance for curricular development and effectively accomplish the task of equipping future interpreters with skills to meet the escorted demands of modern-day interpreting. Ultimately, it is hoped to help improve consecutive interpreting practice for the benefit of interpreters. Organization of the study The basic structural format of the research study is organized into 3 chapters, a list of references, and appendices.
Introduction includes the background of the study, statement of the problem, research objectives and research questions, significance of the study and the organization of the study. Chapter I presents a review of the related literature. Chapter II details the methods and procedures used to conduct the study and to collect the data. Results and discussion appear in Chapter III.
Finally, Conclusion summarizes the above studies and makes some 5 recommendations as well as in-depth study. This emphasizes the potential impact of improved recording methods on the quality of student in Phenikaa Univeristy as well as importance of continuous research and innovation in interpreting pedagogy to meet the evolving needs of the industry. 6 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Introduction to Consecutive Interpreting Consecutive interpreting or consecutive interpreting is the most popular type of interpreting today. Accordingly, after the speaker finishes a sentence, a conversation or a paragraph, the interpreter is responsible for translating the next sentence, conversation or paragraph into another language so that the listener can understand.
Consecutive interpreting is one of the heavy forms of language mediation, whereby an interpreter-hearer processes the message of the speaker in one language, keeps it inwardly, and then renders it in another language. This presupposes serious systematic work on the part of the interpreter, who needs profound listening comprehension, good memory retention, and eloquent delivery regarding information. Consecutive interpreting generally proceeds in strict stages. First, the interpreter listens to the speaker, often taking notes to help remember and structure what is said.