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Six Phases in Teaching Interpretationas a Subject at Universities and Colleges in Indonesiaby Izak Morin | |||||||||||||||||||||
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This article discusses six phases in teaching interpreting in a classroom atmosphere using semi-authentic and authentic teaching materials to bring the students close to both English and Indonesian real-life environments and exposed to different discourse genres and different English dialects and accents. Phases 1 and 2 are warm-up activities for preparing students to move up to phases 3 and 4. Up to this level students are exposed to a semi-real life situation where they are listening to different English native speaker dialects and non-native speaker accents through the prepared tapes/CDs and VCDs and they are also listening to different Indonesian discourse genres. The last two phases are the most challenging ones for the students because each student will demonstrate his/her strategies and capabilities in performing an interpreting work in a set-up real-life situation using electronic devices.
In order to perform such a challenging job professionally and responsibly, a person has to have an adequate understanding of the source language and an adequate command of the receptor language in their linguistic and non-linguistic aspects. Such capabilities can be acquired consciously and unconsciously through a process of learning, training, and experiencing in a formal learning-teaching classroom, in a set-up situation, and in a real-life situation. For a formal learning-teaching classroom I would like to present the six phases in teaching interpretation as a subject at my university and universities and colleges in Indonesia. One of the first things the students have to know is how to identify the discourse genre of the talk to be interpreted. There are seven basic contrasting genres that will be discussed: narrative, procedural, expository, hortatory, descriptive, repartee, and dialogue. The differences between these genres can be best seen by thinking of the purpose of the speaker. The following descriptions are quoted and adapted from 'Meaning-Based Translation' pp 365-381 by Mildred L. Larson. (a) The purpose of a narrative discourse is to recount events, usually in the past. The backbone of the narrative is a series of events which are usually actions. The agent of the events is usually Third Person or First Person, that is, the speaker tells about the things which happened to someone else or to himself. (b) The purpose of a procedural discourse is to prescribe, to give the steps on how to do something. It consists of a sequentially related series of steps within each procedure. The agent is not usually specified, and it is characteristic of procedural discourse that most of the actions will have an affected (c) The purpose of an expository discourse is to explain or to argue. The non-chronological communication relations (orientation, clarification, logic) are typical of expository discourse. It consists of information logically related to a theme. (d) The purpose of a descriptive discourse is to describe. It is not basically chronological; instead, a topic is developed. (e) The purpose of a hortatory discourse is to propose, suggest, or command. The backbone of the structure is a series of actions which are commands. The second person agent throughout is characteristic of this genre. Like the expository discourse, the non-chronological communication relations are also typical of this genre. (f) The purpose of a repartee discourse is to recount speech exchanges. The structure is that of a series of speech exchanges. Each speech is a small discourse, however, these small discourses are related to one another. The content of the exchanges may be narrative, expository, hortatory, procedural, or even dialogue if the speaker is recounting another set of speech exchanges. (g) Dialogue discourse is a combination of narrative and repartee. The purpose is to recount events, usually in the past, as for narrative. The difference is that many of those events are speech events; that is, there is a repartee structure also
Each phase consists of three parts, first, teacher's or students' preparation outside the classroom. Either the teacher or the student must prepare in advance written texts and verbal scripts for presentation as well as supporting electronic devices such as a laptop computer, a projector (LCD) set, a tape/cassette player, a CD/VCD player, an OHP, a radio, a television set, and a tape/cassette recorder. Second, preparation in the classroom before the presentation / the broadcasting. Before a presentation the teacher or the student has to make sure that everything is in place and in good condition to start. Third, interpreting practice. This is a learning, training, and experiencing part in which each student must fully participate. There are two sections in this part: interpreting from English into Indonesian and interpreting from Indonesian into English. In Phase One the teacher acts as a speaker and a selected student as an interpreter, whereas in Phase Two each student plays a double role as a speaker and as an interpreter. In Phase Two there are two activities: (a) interpreting a talk from a set-up formal table; and (b) interpreting a speech from a podium. Materials are selected from descriptive and expository discourses for both phases either in English or in Indonesian. In Phase Three each student is assigned to interpret a message directly from a speaker in a tape/cassette or in a CD. Both English and Indonesian recording materials are selected from narrative, repartee, and dialogue discourses. Apart from the main English dialects spoken in Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, the USA, and Canada, English accents heard in Asia, the Pacific area, Africa, the Middle-East, and Europe are taken into account when selecting the materials.
In Phase Four each student has a turn to interpret a message directly from a speaker in a VCD viewed through a TV monitor or through a projector (LCD) larger screen. Hortatory and procedural discourses are selected for interpreting purposes in this phase. English dialects and accents are also considered when selecting the materials. For Phase Five and Phase Six all discourse genres are no longer practiced in a regular order as done in the previous phases because these are direct broadcastings, not recorded, so it is impossible to predict what kind of genre comes out first and which one is the next and so on (This is a spontaneous talk or a real-life talk). Each student has to interpret directly from radio and TV announcers by making a note of the main points. Each broadcasting is recorded for replay later on for further discussion and feedback purposes. Radio and TV broadcastings are selected from Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), and Voice of America (VOA) for radio and CNN for television.
In order to build an interpreting capacity regarding skill, knowledge, and experience for the students, the six phases below are strongly recommended. These phases are intentionally designed to offer various exercises from the easiest to the most challenging ones. However, before each phase is begun, a teacher has to have in mind the following: (a) an interpreting class should be a group of at least ten with a different teaching schedules. By having this small number, each student has time to learn, practice, and experience interpreting during the class session. But, such a division totally depends on the number of students applying for the course and the available time a teacher may have; (b) in Phase One each student has to perform twice as an interpreter either from English into Indonesian or from Indonesian into English. In Phase Two A each student has to perform four times : twice as a speaker and twice as an interpreter from a well-arranged table, while in Phase Two B each student has to deliver two speeches from a podium as a speaker; one is in English and another is in Indonesian; he must also perform two interpreting jobs in English and in Indonesian. For Phases Three, Four, Five, and Six each student only acts as an interpreter twice in each; (c) First Person Singular Personal Pronoun 'I' in English and 'Saya' in Indonesian are used in Phase One, Phase Two, Phase Three, and Phase Four because the interpretation is conducted after each short statement conveyed throughout the presentation, whereas the Third Person Personal Pronoun 'He', 'She', and titles and names such as 'Mr.X', 'Mrs.Y', 'Ms.Z, Dr. John, Professor Jane in English and 'Beliau', 'Ia', 'Dia', and titles and names such as 'Bapak X', 'Ibu Y', Dr. Mansoben, Profesor Kambuaya in Indonesian are used in Phase Five and Phase Six because the interpretation is made in the form of a summary or note-taking of the main points right after a long talk. The common phrases used are Mr. X said that... Profesor Jane concluded that.... Bapak X mengatakan bahwa..... Profesor Kambuaya menyimpulkan bahwa....etc.
1. Teacher's preparation outside the classroom
2. Preparation in the classroom before the presentation
3. Interpreting Practice ( the first 10 topics in descriptive form are from English into Indonesian and the next 10 topics are in the opposite direcction)
1. Student's preparation outside the classroom.
2. Preparation in the classroom before the presentation.
3. Interpreting Practice (the first 10 topics in expository (argumentative) form are from English into Indonesian and the next 10 topics are in the opposite direction)
PHASE-TWO (B): Student — Student acting as Speaker — Interpreter (standing on a podium and delivering a speech ) 1. Student's preparation outside the classroom.
2. Preparation in the classroom before the speech delivery.
3. Interpreting Practice (the first speech is in English and the second is in Indonesian)
1. Teacher's preparation outside the classroom.
2. Preparation in the classroom before the presentation
3. Interpreting Practice (the first part is from English into Indonesian and the second part is in the opposite direction)
Teacher's preparation outside the classroom.
Preparation in the classroom before the presentation
Interpreting Practice (the first part is from English into Indonesian)
1. Teacher's preparation outside the classroom.
2. Preparation in the classroom before the radio broadcasting
3. Interpreting Practice (first part is from English into Indonesian)
Teacher's preparation outside the classroom.
Preparation in the classroom before the broadcasting
Interpreting Practice (the first part is from English into Indonesian)
Students do not sit for a final exam like for most other subjects. Each student is assessed during his/her performance in the classroom throughout the semester. It is an on-going assessment. Each time a student performs a task, s/he is assessed by both teacher and peers using a designed assessment format as shown below. Interpretation Assessment Sheet Date : _______________________________________ Name of Student Assesses : _______________________________________ Topic/Title/Theme : _______________________________________ Text-Type : _______________________________________
This format is distributed to the students before an interpretation is done and, after the class, the filled-in assessment sheets are collected and the teacher summarizes the result and makes a copy for the students who perform a task in order to keep in their own portfolio as a performance record. Teacher also keeps the same assessment format in each student's file for his/her final assessment at the end of the semester. Each student is told on how to assess a peer's performance in the classroom. The following are the descriptions of assessed items and a grading system used: Assessed Items Accuracy : - pronounce each word correctly using right stress and intonation; - use good grammatical structures with correct tenses; - choose appropriate words relevant to the topic; Clarity : - talk loudly with a clear voice; - convey a meaning in a clear and natural way; - use appropriate communicative body language to make a meaning clear and understandable; - improvise a message correctly Fluency : - express the meaning easily with a normal speed, no hesitation and no excessively long pauses; - convey the message smoothly using familiar concepts, examples, and other matters relevant to the topic; Eye-Contact : - maintain eye-contact with the audience by looking across the whole class;
Self-Confidence : - convey the correct meaning with full confidence and no hesitation; - talk confidently even when a mistake was made regarding the meaning, the grammatical structures and tenses, and word choices.
Excellent 4 A 80 - 100 Good 3 B 70 - 79 Fair 2 C 60 - 69 Poor 1 D 50 - 59 Fail 0 E < 50
Interpreting is a language skill that a student can acquire consciously or unconsciously through an intensive process of learning, training, and experiencing in a formal classroom, in a set-up situation, or in a real-life situation. Six phases in teaching interpreting are designed intentionally to assist the students to be skillful prospective interpreters after graduation. The six phases benefit the students in some ways: (a) students are trained to be familiar with different English dialects and accents; (b) students are trained to be anticipative with different idiolects both in English and in Indonesian; (c) students are exposed to different genres both in English and in Indonesian; (d) students are trained to be familiar with human voices and the normal speed of speakers from a tape/cassette player, a CD/VCD player, a radio, and a television; (e) students are trained to make quick decisions on what to omit and what to convey only by hearing without looking at the speaker and/or by hearing and looking at the speaker and supporting background pictures; (f) students are trained to be quick and skillful writers in writing a summary of the main points from both radio and television broadcastings; (g) students are trained to improvise and speak from the main points written down; (h) students are trained to keep the Short-Term Memory system in their brain working properly; (i) students are trained to keep their self-confidence in front of the audience; (j) students are trained to keep their eye-contact with the audience; and (k) students are trained to judge and give comments on an interpreting performance.
References Dulay, H., M. Burt & S. Krasen. 1992. Language Two. Oxford: Oxford University Press Ellis, Rod. 1997. Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Larsen-Freeman, Diane. 2000. Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Larson, Mildred L. 1984. Meaning-Based Translation: A Guide to Cross-Language Equivalence. Lanham: University Press of America, Inc. |
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he Department of National Education of Indonesia has put 'Translation Theory' in the higher education curriculum as a compulsory subject taught at all English Programs in universities and colleges in Indonesia. However, Interpreting is only one side of the same coin; therefore most universities and colleges teach it alongside with Translation Theory as an additional subject. Interpreting, basically, is a process of transferring the meaning of the source language into the receptor language in a verbal way. This process may only occur when someone acts as an interpreter to transfer the meaning of a message directly from the mouth of a speaker, from a tape player, from a radio, from a CD/VCD player, from a television, or from other sources of verbal messages in a source language to a listener or an audience of a receptor language.