MINISTRY OF HIGHER AND SECONDARY SPECIAL EDUCATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN
GULISTAN STATE UNIVERSITY
The English and Literature department
Nurakova Malika’s qualification work on speciality 5220100, English philology on theme:
The Theme: Listening and memory training in translation
Supervisor: Rashidov A.
Gulistan-2006
Contents:
I. Introduction
1.1. Compositional structure of the work
2.1. Purposes of the qualification work
II. The Main Part
1.2. Chapter 1 Memory Training and its types
1.1.2. Why we need memory training
2.1.2 Short-term and long-term memory: opposites and coincidences
3.1.2 The short-term memory and methods of its improving
Chapter 2. Listening techniques in translation.
1.2.2 Some recommendations
3.2.2. Scholars investigations of the phenomenon of listening
Chapter 3 Russian influence onto development of translation.
1.3.2. Introductory remarks
2.3.2. Listening and memory training at schools
III. Conclusion.
1.3. Some words about the thematic content of the work
2.3. Concluding the results and the ways of applying the work
IV. Bibliography.
Introduction
1.1. The theme of my qualification work sounds as following: “Listening and memory training in translation” Our qualification work can be characterized by the following:
The actuality of this work caused by several important points. We seem to say that the capacity of translation is one of the main skills that a learner of English can possess so this work will deal with the traditional problems of students caused by difficulties in interpreting and translation. In other words, our qualification work pursues as its major aim to help foreign students avoid the problems connected with the art of translation and interpreting from English into the mother tongue and vice-versa. So the significance of our work can be proved by the following reasons:
a) The art of translation is one of the most difficult problems for the learners of English.
b) The problem of bad memory and inattentive listening is not a specific problem of the learners of English, but for the majority of people. That is why we tried to find optional methods of improving these skills.
c)The proposals mentioned in this work were approved by a number of worldwide famous Universities of the USA and Great Britain.
d) A number of modern methods and literary sources from Internet were used in our qualification work.
Having based upon the actuality of the theme we are able to formulate the general goals of our qualification work.
a) To study, analyze, and sum up the modern methods of training of memory.
b) To analyze the major results achieved in the studied field.
c) To prove the idea of importance of memory and listening training.
d) To help students avoid the problems caused by written and simultaneous translation.
If we say about the new information used within our work we may note that the work studies the problem from the modern positions and analyzes the modern trends appeared in this subject for the last ten years. Mainly, the newality is concluded in a wide collecting of internet materials dealing with the listening and memory training.
The practical significance of the work can be concluded in the following items:
a) The work could serve as a good source of materials for additional reading by students at schools, colleges and lyceums.
b) The problem of listening and memory training could be a little bit easier to understand, since our qualification work includes the chapter concerning the question mentioned.
c) Those who would like to possess a perfect knowledge of English will find our work useful and practical.
d) Our qualification work is a general review of the investigations made earlier.
Having said about the scholars who dealt with the same theme earlier we may notion Anderson, J.R, Gile D, Zhong W, etc.
If we say about the methods of scientific approaches used in our work we can mention the method of general analysis was used.
The newality of the work concludes in including the modern interpretations of the play.
The general structure of our qualification work looks as follows:
The work is composed onto four major parts: introduction, main part, conclusion, and bibliography. Each part has its subdivision onto the specific thematic items. There are two points in the introductory part: the first item tells about the general characteristics of the work, while the second paragraph gives us some words about the aims of the work and the general description of the latter. The main part of our qualification work consists of three chapters, which, in their [1]turn, are subdivided into several thematic paragraphs. The first chapter of the main part discusses the memory training as the aspect of learning foreign languages. Here we gave the general description of the memory and analyzed the two types of memory: long and short. We also studied the modern methods used for improving of the short memory. The second chapter thoroughly takes into consideration the peculiar features of listening techniques and gives a comparatively large number of practical recommendations for improving listening skills. We also mentioned the scholar’s opinions concerning the investigating subject. The third chapter is meant by itself as a compilation to the previous twos and studies the question of the Russian influence onto the enlarging of the English language and the questions of translation caused with it. We also mentioned here the question connected with the problem of teaching translation skills at schools. In conclusion to our work we notioned some meaningful words concerning the thematic content of the work (the first item) and the concluding results of our investigation (the second item) At the very end of our qualification work we supplied our work with the bibliography list and the internet materials.
If we say about the practical wais of applying our qualification work we would like to say that our qualification work can be applied and used by the following:
1) The work can be useful for all the teachers of foreign languages when they teach their students to translate the written sources of information or when the letters are taught to speak and transmit the information in foreign languages.
2) All the students of foreign languages department would be able to use the work for better knowledge of English or when they have practical classes on foreign language.
3) Translators and interpreters might find a lot of useful information for the improvement of their professional activity.
4) The qualification work will be useful for everyone who wants to make perfect in learning foreign languages.
2.1. This paper discusses the role of memory training and listening in interpreting. According Gile's Effort Model (a Processing Capacity Account), short-term memory is an essential part in the process of interpreting. This paper analyzes the major characteristics of Short-term Memory (STM) and their implications for interpreters' memory training. We believe that interpreting is an STM-centered activity, which includes encoding of information from the Source Language, storing of information, retrieval of information, and decoding of information into the target language. The training of STM skills is the first step in training a professional interpreter. Tactics for memory training for interpreters like retelling, categorization, generalization, comparison, shadowing exercises, mnemonics, etc. are presented in this paper. The key words for our investigation can be the following: Interpreter Training, Memory Training, Short-Term Memory, Effort Model, Listening techniques.
The Main part
1.2. Interpreting is defined as "oral translation of a written text" (Shuttleworth & Cowie: 1997:83). Mahmoodzadeh gives a more detailed definition of interpreting: Interpreting consists of presenting in the target language, the exact meaning of what is uttered in the source language either simultaneously or consecutively, preserving the tone of the speaker (1992:231).
Whether novice or experienced, all interpreters find this profession demanding and challenging. Phelan says that "when an interpreter is working, he or she cannot afford to have a bad day. One bad interpreter can ruin a conference" (2001:4). In discussing the qualifications required for an interpreter, Phelan mentions that:
"The interpreter needs a good short-term memory to retain what he or she has just heard and a good long-term memory to put the information into context. Ability to concentrate is a factor as is the ability to analyze and process what is heard" (2001:4-5).
Mahmoodzadeh also emphasizes that a skillful interpreter is expected to "have a powerful memory." (1992:233). Daniel Gile (1992,1995) emphasizes the difficulties and efforts involved in interpreting tasks and strategies needed to overcome them, observing that many failures occur in the absence of any visible difficulty. He then proposes his Effort Models for interpreting. He says that "The Effort Models are designed to help them [interpreters] understand these difficulties [of interpreting] and select appropriate strategies and tactics. They are based on the concept of Processing Capacity and on the fact that some mental operations in interpreting require much Processing Capacity."(1992:191) According to Gile, Consecutive Interpreting consists of two phases: a listening and reformulation phrase and a reconstruction phase (1992:191, 1995b:179):
Phase One: I=L+M+N
I=Interpreting, L=listening and analyzing the source language speech, M=short-term memory required between the time information is heard and the time it is written down in the notes, and N=note-taking.
Phase Two: I= Rem+Read+P
In this Phase Two of Consecutive Interpreting, interpreters retrieve messages from their short-term memory and reconstruct the speech (Rem), read the notes (N), and produce the Target Language Speech (P). Gile's Effort Model for Simultaneous Interpreting is:
SI=L+M+P
SI=Simultaneous Interpreting.
L=Listening and Analysis, which includes "all the mental operations between perception of a discourse by auditory mechanisms and the moment at which the interpreter either assigns, or decides not to assign, a meaning (or several potential meanings) to the segment which he has heard."
M=Short-term Memory, which includes "all the mental operations related to storage in memory of heard segments of discourse until either their restitution in the target language, their loss if they vanish from memory, or a decision by the interpreter not to interpret them."
P=Production, which includes "all the mental operations between the moment at which the interpreter decides to convey a datum or an idea and the moment at which he articulates (overtly produces) the form he has prepared to articulate" (1995a:93).[2]
Gile emphasizes that the memory effort is assumed to stem form the need to store the words of a proposition until the hearer receives the end of that proposition. The storage of information is claimed to be particularly demanding in SI, since both the volume of information and the pace of storage and retrieval are imposed by the speaker (1995a:97-98).
In both models, Gile emphasizes the significance of Short-term Memory. It is actually one of the specific skills which should be imparted to trainees in the first stage of training. Among all the skills and techniques which are required for a good interpreter, memory skill is the first one which should be introduced to trainee interpreters.
2.1.2.Psychological studies of human memory make a distinction between Short-Term Memory (STM) and Long-Term Memory (LTM). The idea of short-term memory simply means that you are retaining information for a short period of time without creating the neural mechanisms for later recall. Long-Term Memory occurs when you have created neural pathways for storing ideas and information which can then be recalled weeks, months, or even years later. To create these pathways, you must make a deliberate attempt to encode the information in the way you intend to recall it later. Long-term memory is a learning process. And it is essentially an important part of the interpreter's acquisition of knowledge, because information stored in LTM may last for minutes to weeks, months, or even an entire life. The duration of STM is very short. It is up to 30 seconds. Peterson (1959) found it to be 6 - 12 seconds, while Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) and Hebb (1949) state it is 30 seconds. Memory in interpreting only lasts for a short time. Once the interpreting assignment is over, the interpreter moves on to another one, often with different context, subject and speakers. Therefore, the memory skills which need to be imparted to trainee interpreters are STM skills.
Input of information: It is generally held that information enters the STM as a result of applying attention to the stimulus, which is about a quarter of a second according to the findings of both Sperling(1960) and Crowden(1982). However, McKay's (1973, in Radford and Govier, 1991: 382) findings do not fully support this, asserting that unattended information may enter the STM.
Capacity: As mentioned in the previous section, the capacity of STM is limited and small. Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) propose that it is seven items of information (give or take two). Miller (1956) says it is seven "chunks." Another possibility may be that the limiting factor is not the STM's storage capacity, but its processing capacity (Gross:1990:55).
Modality: To store information in STM, it must be encoded, and there is a variety of possibilities as to how this operates. There are three main possibilities in STM: (1) Acoustic (Phonemic) coding is rehearsing through sub-vocal sounds (Conrad, 1964 and Baddeley:1966). (2) Visual coding is, as implied, storing information as pictures rather than sounds. This applies especially to nonverbal items, particularly if they are difficult to describe using words. In very rare cases some people may have a "photographic memory," but for the vast majority, the visual code is much less effective than this (Posner and Keele: 1967). (3) Semantic coding is applying meaning to information, relating it to something abstract (Baddeley:1990, Goodhead:1999)
Information Loss: There are three main theories as to why we forget from our STM: (1) Displacement—existing information is replaced by newly received information when the storage capacity is full (Waugh and Norman:1965) (2) Decay—information decays over time (Baddeley, Thompson and Buchanan, 1975). (3) Interference—other information present in the storage at the same time distorts the original information (Keppel and Underwood:1962).[3]
Retrieval: There are modes of retrieval of information from STM: (1) Serial search—items in STM are examined one at a time until the desired information is retrieved (Sternberg:1966). (2) Activation—dependence on activation of the particular item reaching a critical point (Monsell:1979, Goodhead:1999).
3.1.2.The purpose of memory (STM) training in interpreting is to achieve a better understanding of the source language, which will lead to adequate interpreting. As Lin Yuru et al. put it, "Memory in consecutive interpreting consists of nothing more than understanding the meaning, which is conveyed by the words" (Lin et al., 1999:9). Understanding is the first step in successful interpreting; therefore, memory training is to be provided in the early stage of interpreter training. Memory functions differently in consecutive and simultaneous interpreting, because the duration of memory is longer in CI than in SI. There are different methods of training STM for CI and SI respectively. Interpreting starts with the encoding of the information from the original speaker. According to Gile's Effort Model, interpreting is an STM-centered activity; the process of interpreting could be re-postulated into:
Encoding of information from the Source Language + Storing Information + Retrieval of Information + Decoding Information into the Target language.
In Consecutive Interpreting, there is probably up to 15 minutes (depending on the speaker's segments) for the interpreter to encode and then store the information. This is the first phase of Gile's Effort Model for CI. In the second phase of Gile's Model, the interpreter starts to retrieve information and decode it into the target language. In SI, encoding and decoding of information happen almost at the same time. The duration for storing the information is very limited. Therefore, in the first step of interpreting, encoding (understanding) information uttered in the SL is the key to memory training.
According to the previous description, there are three main possibilities of storing information in STM: (1) Acoustic Coding; (2) Visual Coding and (3) Semantic Coding. Visual coding may be used by interpreters in conference situations with multimedia. Notes in interpreting are to assist in such visual coding of information. But in most interpreting contexts, interpreters will depend on acoustic and semantic coding. Therefore, exercises should be designed for this purpose. The following methods are recommended: