Module Catalogue 2024/25

Pre Requisite Comment

Except for 1-year MA T&I advanced entry students.

Co Requisite Comment

None

Aims

This module aims to give students:
* an advanced understanding of professional interpreting practice
* experience of dealing with problems in interpreting at the advanced level
* experience of working in conference interpreting settings
* guidance in developing sufficient background knowledge in subject areas for conference interpreting

Building on the knowledge and skills required in CHN7010 Simultaneous Interpreting I, this module is designed to develop the professional skills of simultaneous interpreting. The course starts with an introduction session to simultaneous interpreting, the latest development in the industry, such as remote simultaneous interpreting (RSI), and follows up with a series of seminar workshop and exercise to help students develop the skills required to work as a professional interpreter, including international conference etiquette, preparing for conference interpreting assignments, advanced strategies for simultaneous interpreting, etc.

Outline Of Syllabus

Over the course of two semesters, the following main areas, but not limited to, will be covered.
1.       Theoretical models of interpreting and understanding your work space and equipment, including the latest
development in remote interpreting, or RSI.
2.       How to deal with numbers, and multi-tasking exercises (smart shadowing).
3.       The role of background knowledge as a comprehension strategy in SI.
4.       Multi-tasking with audio and visual information inputs.
5.       Ear-Voice-Span management: how close or how far to follow the speaker.
6.       Developing the communicative sense in interpreting.
7.       How to deal with cultural differences, including humour, in speeches.
8.       Managing different paces of speeches and interpretation delivery.
9.       Working professionally as a team in real-life assignments.

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

Students should achieve the following knowledge outcomes:
1.       Understanding of basic models of simultaneous interpreting
2.       Understanding of preparatory exercises for simultaneous interpreting
3. Understanding of the basic RSI operations of online conferences.

Intended Skill Outcomes

Students should achieve the following skills outcomes
1.       Ability to carry out multi-tasking exercises and perform basic simultaneous interpreting practices.
2.       Ability to apply basic simultaneous interpreting skills/strategies and interpret speeches of increasing
length on various subject areas from the basic level.
3. Ability to carry out basic RSI operations of online conferences, including working with booth-mate-at-
distance.
4.       Basic research skills and preparation techniques for interpreters, building up the base of background
knowledge
5.       Ability of monitoring, peer- and self-evaluation skills based on the models of simultaneous interpreting

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The scheduled practical and small group teaching sessions provide guidance and input in interpreting skills and subject contents, enabling students to do guided practices in class and independent learning at home. The scheduled practical activities, i.e. remote simultaneous interpreting (RSI) and mock conference, enable students to prepare and perform interpreting tasks assigned to them, putting their skills to the test in simulated real-life settings. The contact hours are conducted in consideration of the specialised nature of the interpreting skills, especially remote interpreting, which requires intensive guided training. Nonetheless, students are encouraged to spend as much time as possible in private study with the support of online and offline learning resources, including the Teams Online Booths.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Building up their interpreting experience to cope with different scenarios as the training progress over the course, the end-of-semester interpreting examination allows students to demonstrate their interpreting skills in a simulated real world setting, including RSI for hybrid-mode events. The simultaneous interpreting exam creates a situation where the candidates can perform under a realistic work condition as a conference interpreter. Preparation materials will be provided in advance, allowing students to exercise their research and preparation skills for interpreting assignment, including remote simultaneous interpreting (RSI).
During the course of the study, students will be given a mock exam as formative assessment. This approach allows the students time to reflect on their learning without undue pressure, and make progress according to individuals’ different pace of learning, including familiarising with the RSI technical operations.

General Notes

N/A