近畿大学学術情報リポジトリ

全文

(1)Interpreting. Training. for Undergraduate. from a Pedagogical. Students. Perspective. Yoshi Naito 1.. Introduction. When describing his own work, Continental Drift, at a lecture, an American writer Russell Banks said, "It is a difficult thing to do to go from being a writer, a story-teller, to being an appraiser transforming. or describer of that work. It's a little bit like. yourself from being a plant into a botanist ... I'm most comfortable. as a plant and least comfortable as a botanist ...."1This feeling is shared by others who try to analyze something they have pursued, or a particular skill they have honed. However, alluding back to Bank's metaphor, becoming a "botanist" will enable one to look at a particular "flower" from various angles. As an interpreting analyze. the teaching. instructor, method. it is challenging but meaningful for me to. used in university-level. courses. Like many other presently in-service interpreters, become interpreter. at a vocational interpreter. school, not in undergraduate. interpreting. training. I received training to. training institute. courses. From my experiences. and graduate. in both receiving. and providing training at a vocational school, I found that teaching interpreting to university students is quite different. Ever since I began teaching university students, I have thought about how the class can be made most beneficial to the students' students. must make enormous. particularly careers.. those majoring. University. effort to find a fulfilling job. Many of them,. in English, hope to be involved. If they are employed. expected to demonstrate. futures.. by an international. institution,. in international they will be. proficient cross-cultural communication in a competitive. environment. This paper will explore the benefits interpreting. training can bring about.

(2) in university interpreting. students. preparing. for their future careers. The current. state of. training courses in Japanese universities will be reviewed first. This. will be followed by an introduction. of the results derived from a survey on the. expectation held by companies and organizations in universities.'. The survey respondents. regarding language education. are in essence potential employers of. university students. Focusing on three contributory undergraduates:. practicality,. knowledge, Chapter contributory. features unique to interpreting. comprehensiveness. and. 4 will examine how interpreting. to the development. of students. the. application. training. abilities that. training for of. courses can be are expected. by. students' future employers. Japanese society is largely sustained by international relations with the rest of the world. In international. relations related areas, be it trade, tourism, culture. or science and technology, the universal. language is dominantly English. The. demand for human resources capable of proficient international communication is increasingly. strong. In the meantime, many university. career in the international. students. hope to find a. arena. This paper will conclude with indication of the. significance of inclusion of interpreting. training. in university. education, as a. bridge connecting students to their future careers.. 2.. Current. State. of Interpreting. In this chapter, the present Japanese. universities. The. interpreting. number. situation of interpreting. Universities training provided at. training is a relatively. new. students compared with other language study. of Japanese. training related courses. past two decades.. at Japanese. will be studied. Interpreting. field for university undergraduate fields.. Training. universities. and. colleges. that. provide. has substantially. increased. during these.

(3) 2.1 Pedagogical Interpreting. Diversity training classes for undergraduates. styles. Classroom aims, the types of students. taking. are provided in diverse the course, and what is. actually being taught are widely variant. The instructor's. background. accounts. for the differences in class and curriculum. Shown below is the survey result reported. in Interpretation. Studies No.5.3. Figure 1 shows what aspects are considered important by instructors when they plan courses. Nothing othing education &-p learning. particular 3%. 18% Cross-cultural \ education ' 18%. Enhancement _. of linguistic competency 38% Training interpreters 23%. [Figure 1] Aspects Considered Important When Planning Courses'. Respondents' competency. answers show diversity in course focus. Enhancement comes to the top, followed by training interpreters,. of linguistic cross-cultural. education and general education and learning. Students' reasons why they are taking the interpreting. training courses are. also variant. A graph in Tanaka, Ino, Kawahara, Shinzaki and Nakamura's JAIS Survey (2007) shows the reasons why students are taking interpreting. courses..

(4) z. 80. zi zi z. 45 25 10. '. .0. 60. Oe c'qc'. \o--. c$\'°. \,cs,,c-'3 6. ee'. $. • o'O. :\—\-. ., ,z,,,.`0'6.' c,c&c.Se' 4--c. \06 e'c. ms Why Students. [Figure 21. The. survey. interpreting. shows. that. a majority. Are Taking. Interpreting. of the undergraduate. Classes. students. training classes do not aim to become a professional. Most undergraduate. 5. taking. interpreter.. students join the groups with the purpose to enhance their. English competency, their interest in interpreting. and to prepare for their future. career or study abroad. The afore-mentioned 2005 JAIS survey also shows that most of the interpreting. training classes are not aimed at producing professional. interpreters.. 2.2 Linguistic Level for Interpreting Training There regarded. is a wide gap between as necessary. for interpreting. proficiency level of undergraduate given at Japanese. the linguistic level that is traditionally. universities.. training. and. the average. English. students who are actually taking the courses In the following part, such different linguistic. levels will be looked into.. 2.2.1 Linguistic Level Considered For. master. degree. Necessary. interpreting. to be Interpreter Trainees. courses. or. at interpreting. training.

(5) institutes whose target is to train professional conference interpreters, with a "near-native"' command of at least two languages. only those. (their native language. and a target language) with no need to receive language training any more are eligible to become interpreter. trainees.. With regard to the relationship between interpreting study,. Seleskovitch. (1994). contended. in. training and linguistic. Interpreting. for. International. Conferences that the command of one's language must be what should be called perfect before starting interpreting. (1). An interpreter to practice. training:7. must know his language thoroughly before he begins. the profession, because he cannot learn or improve his. knowledge of a language while expressing. the meaning of a message. at 150 words a minute .... Many schools claim to teach both language and interpretation same time. But language-learning. exercises. learning. the evanescence. of interpretation. because. language and the interpreter's. concentration. at the. can only impede. the. of the spoken. on the meaning of what. is being said are not conductive to language learning. This is why we contend. that,. interpreter that. in order. how to interpret,. must already have acquired. we would describe. knowledge" criteria.. to learn. as perfect. of a language. He must. must. be intuitive. the would-be. a command of his language. .... The interpreter's. satisfy a substantial. and articulate. "working number. and possess. of. a wide. vocabulary ..... Seleskovitch. points. compatible,. especially. One. of the. superficial. most meaning. out that in the important of spoken. language case. training. of professional. essences words. of such and. transmit. and. interpreting. conference training the. training interpreter. is to concept,. depart on what. are. not. training. from. the. she. calls.

(6) " sense" in the listeners' language at native speed. She notes that such concept transmission. cannot. be taught. together. during. regular. language. learning. program. With regard. to the linguistic level required. training, Someya (2001) expressed (How interpreters' competency. for undergoing. interpreting. the similar opinion in "Tsuuyaku no Arikata. training should be)", as "In short, enormously. is necessary. ... The size of their understandable. 'near-native'. vocabulary. must. have reached 10,000. They must be able to read average-level English articles in TIME or Newsweek. at the speed of 140 wpm, and easily understand. CNN and. other news broadcast ...."8 From these statements, two languages. it is obvious that high linguistic ability in at least. is regarded. prerequisite. for learning. interpretation. at the. professional level. English proficiency levels of university. students. in general and of those. taking interpreting. training classes and their reasons will be mentioned in the. following sections. in order to understand. training provided for undergraduate. the real situation. of interpreting. students.. 2.2.2 English Proficiency Levels of Japanese. University Students. When looking at the overall linguistic level of students studying English at Japanese universities, students who already have a "near native"' level command of language are rather rare. Tanaka,. Ino, Kawahara,. Shinzaki. and Nakamura's. JAIS Survey. result shows the TOEIC scores of students taking interpreting (This JAIS Survey respondents. (2007). training courses.'. included not only undergraduate. students. also students of two graduate schools and one vocational training school."). but.

(7) [Figure 3] TOEIC Score of. Students. Taking. Interpreting. We see that 59.5% of the students in interpreting or lower scores. Taking it into consideration undergraduates. but. also senior students. (JAIS)u. Training. classes have the scores of 560. that this survey includes not only at two graduate. schools and one. vocational training institute, who are likely to belong to the second peak, from 796-910 to 951-, it is assumed that the scores of most undergraduate taking interpreting. students. courses are between -450 and 680.. In Japan, the number of students who have the "near-native" level linguistic competency extensive. and outstanding training. potential. for one to three. to become interpreters years. is very. after receiving. limited. In reality, such. individuals are exceptional cases at most universities. In the meantime, we also see the fact that the interpreter at professional significantly. interpreter. training. institutes. enhance the competence. whose linguistic levels are substantially. training provided. and some graduate. of students,. schools can. since would-be interpreters. high at the so-called "near-native" level,. often go on to develop linguistic skills at professional level. It can be assumed that such training must also be effective for strengthening international. communication. competence. of undergraduate. the linguistic and students. whose. foreign language proficiency is lower but have a strong interest in international and communication-related Regarding. activities, including interpretation.. the potentiality. of interpreting. training,. Someya (2001) says,.

(8) "S. ome. of the. linguistic target. training. exercises. competency.... rather. than. interpreting students. the. training whose. considered. In this. can case,. training can. English. be. to. the. effective 'near. prerequisite."' effective. proficiency. necessary. be. start. has. as. means linguistic. level. This. comment. also. language. not. the. reached. to. raising. native'. to enhance. training. for. become. will be the means. capabilities. TOEIC. that of the. 850 level. interpreters,. one's. that. is. according. to. Someya.. 2.3. Interpreting In. Training. order. to. maximum. positive. level. not. in. have. international. taught. Content. investigate effects. reached. training. in undergraduate. the. activities,. in interpreting. interpreting. students. "near-native". level. this. will. section. but. method whose. are. analyze. to English. interested the. bring. about. proficiency. in participating. curriculum. currently. classes.. 2.3.1 Potential Target First, the target. of interpreting. training will be examined. As to what. should be taught in interpreting training class, Someya "Interpreter Training 3D Moder''' . For interpreting necessary: Competence. Knowledge. potential Base. in a vertical. (2001) illustrates. the. (IP) building, training of the three elements is shown. line. (L). in. a horizontal. and Interpretation. line. Linguistic. Skill in depth. According to Someya, all the exercises conducted in interpreting in various forms must be focused on the enhancement. (K),. (S).. training classes. of these three elements.. In Someya's model, the dotted diagonal line in the area (1 X 1) refers to students whose linguistic competencies and knowledge base (L and K) have not reached the level said to be necessary to receive interpreting. training. According. to Someya's definition, the level 2 of the L axis (linguistic competence). means. the TOEIC score of 800 or higher level competence; the level 3 means the "near-.

(9) native" level. He says that for those in the level 1 whose TOEIC scores are lower than 800, interpreter. training. programs. will be ineffective. and have little. success.15 However, in reality, as previously. mentioned. university. (1 X 1), despite having studied. students. belong to this category. in Section 2.2.2, most. English for at least six years in high school and one to three years at university. As it was shown in Figure interpreting. 3, the TOEIC scores. of most students. taking. training courses at many universities are under 680.. To take a closer look to and further examine this category study Figure 4, which shows a fine structure. (1 X 1), let us. model of Someya's 3D Model Area. 1 X 1. 11. [Figure 41. Let this. us re-call area. these. the. have. and have The. interpreting obtaining. first. knowledge. already. acquired. Model. received basic. linguistic. of English. of basic. 3D Model. 1, of university base,. study. will not be effective amount. of Someya's. competence,. their. six years. training certain. Structur. linguistic. 1 X 1, and. students. training. Fine. at. k. As least. six. students. previously to. Area. 1 X 1. who. belong. mentioned,. eight. years. of. to. all of English. knowledge. are. for basic. for most. vocabulary. and. linguistic. students'. case.. grammatical. learning, Students knowledge. when before are.

(10) not ready for such a content-based. learning as interpreting. training. Basic level. English study in Japan usually starts in the first year of junior high school, then continues. to the end of senior high. grammar,. a vocabulary. school, which covers. of approximately. 3,300 words,'. overall. English. and basic reading and. writing. Linguistic competence at this very beginner stage can be indicated as l' and the knowledge as k', the levels of linguistic competence and knowledge base for most undergraduate. students taking interpreter. training classes would be 1 -. l' (1") and k - k' (k") . Students in the 1 x k - l' x k' area (the shaded area in the left graph in Figure 5), many of undergraduate. students. taking interpreting. training courses, are considered to be ineligible to undergo training provided at professional interpreter. training institutes or advanced level graduate courses.. When synthesizing. the encompassing. interpreting. to enhance the three elements, linguistic competency and interpretation. skills (5), the competencies. training approach taken (L), knowledge base (K). of students in the 1 x k - I x k'. area (the shaded area in the left graph in Figure 5), l", k" and s", can be also enhanced in each dimension, as it has brought about successful results at higher levels at vocational institutes and graduate schools. These results involve raising the competencies competency. of trainees. with. an already. substantially. to the professional level. The enhancement. high level of. of the 1 x k - l' x k'. students may only reach up to the level lower than the one required to become a professional interpreter, will definitely. but the three dimensional enhancement. be very. useful training. for students. of 1", k" and s". who will use English. communication in their future career or other social interactions.. 2.3.2. our. Diverse. and. Participatory. Having. examined. attention. to. universities, In. which interpreting. what. specific are. diverse training. Lessons is targeted programs and. for interpreting of. training,. interpreting. training. instructors. usually. we. may. provided. turn at. participatory.. classrooms,. combine. and.

(11) conduct such exercises as quick response, shadowing, summarization, lagging, paraphrasing, exercises, students. sight translation. retention/. and note taking. For most of these. must listen intently to input speeches. and vocalize output. speeches, which makes students' direct participation occupy a large proportion of the class. Many teachers. use language labs (LL) or computer-aided. language. labs (CALL) rooms where most of these exercises can be done by the students all at once without causing any distractions.. 2.3.3 Use of Authentic Materials In interpreting. training. classes, both. at universities. and professional. training institutes, authentic materials are often used. This is largely attributed to the fact that most interpreting. courses are taught by professional interpreters. or ex-interpreters.. Figure 5 and 6, two graphs in Someya, Saito, Tsuruta, Tanaka,. and Ino's survey. (2005)17, show interpreter. teaching interpreting. experience. [Figure 61 Years of Instructors' Interpreter. Experience18 (N=44). survey. are. in-service. of them. have. News,. says. that. speeches. Experience19 (N=44). 56% of interpreting. interpreters; ten years. who are. training courses at universities:. [Figure 51 Instructors' Interpreter. The. of instructors. class. 98% of all teachers or more. and. other. working materials. teachers have. experience actually. are. ex-interpreters,. interpreting. experience;. 42% 79%. as interpreters. used. at various. international.

(12) locations and/or communication. ones that models. were produced. based. on practical. are often utilized. Using different. international. types of materials. recorded by different types of speakers on varied situations with the method of practice. shadowing,. retention,. enables them to strengthen. lagging,. summarization. their listening. and other. and comprehension. exercises. capabilities in. both their target language English and their native language, Japanese. Students' exposure to the different types of speeches used by wide ranges of speakers will allow them expressions. to become. acclimated. to a wide range. of pronunciation. they would not ordinarily hear in the standard. and. examples typically. used in textbooks.. 3. Expectation Employers. of Companies of Kansai. English Education To careers,. Region. how. interpreting. a survey. was. conducted. who. are. Organizations,. Students,. the. Future. for University-Level. (An Inquiry Survey) 20. examine. organizations. and. essentially. 3.1 Linguistic Competency. training to ask potential. can the. be. opinions. employers. useful. to students'. of businesses of students. future and. in the. other. future.. Elements. In the survey, respondents. were asked to evaluate and rate the degree of. importance. that they place on different linguistic competency elements in their. employees.. The. important).. scale. was. ranked. from. "1" (unnecessary). to "5" (very.

(13) Unnecessary Linguistic. Skill. <-. 2. Very. Necessary. 3. 4. 5. no. ans.. Interpreting. 7. 6. 9. 8. 0. Translating. 5. 9. 12. 5. 0. Speed Reading. 6. 8. 7. 7. 0. Reading Business Documents. 3. 8. 10. 8. 0. Summarization. 2. 10. 8. 10. 2. Pronunciation. 8. 11. 5. 4. 2. Self-expression. 3. 7. 14. 8. 0. Discussion/Debate. 5. 6. 12. 7. 2. Presentation. 4. 7. 11. 8. 1. 3. 5. 12. 11. 1. Writing. Business. Documents. [Table 11 "What Linguistic Skills Does Your Company Regard As Necessary. Due to the fact that all of the respondents. for Employees?". were those working in international. sections or organizations, the number of answers stating "5" (very necessary) and "4" (necessary) necessary). far exceeded those of "1" (unnecessary). in most of the questions.. More than. half of the surveyed. employees to be capable of interpreting. organizations and translating,. expect. skills a ranking. of "4" or "5", as in recent. companies. and organizations. increasingly. translation. jobs. employees. rather. done by. their. international. interpreters,. translators. Such a situation leads to greater. with regards to interpreting. Of course, the interpreting. years,. and. or other worker. and translating capabilities.. or translating. skills expected by employers are. not necessarily the same as those of professional conference interpreters' translators'.. (53%). want to see both interpreting. in-house. than outsourcing.. some of their. 17 respondents. gave both. expectations. and "2" (not so. In many cases, what is expected. by companies. and/or. is the ability to.

(14) interpret. or translate within their specific field (s). Staff members who can cover. interpretation. at meetings, translate. documents in very specialized fields and/or. often handle confidential information are sought after. Such staff can also be used to check the accuracy of hired professional interpreters. In the following part, the respondents. were asked to score the degree of. necessity for the following elements for linguistic competency reading,. reading. expression,. business. documents,. discussion/debate,. summarization,. presentation. elements: speed. pronunciation,. and writing. business. These elements are often included in many beginner-level. documents.. interpreter. programs. And at the same time, these are skills that are pertinent. self-. training. to everyday. office life work. Among the elements featured in the survey, the skills regarded as strongly necessary. were. self-expression. (61%), and summarization. (69%) discussion/debate. (63%), presentation. (60%).. Many companies and organizations. want their employees to have foreign,. mainly English, linguistic proficiency so that they can be able to clearly express opinions from both their companies' standpoint as well as of their own. This will help business negotiations to be successful with foreign companies. Japanese. are generally said to be ambiguous. and lack strong, persuasive. skills in self-expression; this contrasts greatly with those from the United States and other English-speaking own opinions is taught Japanese been. countries, where the importance. from a very young. of expressing. age. In the international. one's arena,. business people have to talk to and negotiate with people who have. trained. to unambiguously. express. and. assert. their. opinions.. While. discretion is of course an esteemed trait of Japanese people, the ability to speak clearly from one's own standpoint Training. oneself to express. is indispensable. opinions in English. already acquired is particularly. important. the globally competitive business world.. in the business. using the phrases. world. one has. and vital for Japanese to survive in.

(15) Strong emphasis on employees' presentation questionnaire. responses. It is important. skills was expressed. in many. for the employees to effectively convey. the achievement of their organization and its aims in front of a large audience. In recent. years, good presentation. international powerpoint attract. skills have become increasingly. activities, be it business. needed. or diplomatic. Today, presentations. for with. slides have become more and more popular as an effective way to. listeners. during a meeting. In this new presentation. style, making the. points clear is a key element for the speaker. In order to effectively and strategically. construct. one's own opinions in. business talks, it is imperative to promptly digest the speaker's comment (s) and accurately formed. comprehend. only after. their. intention.. accurately. Good responding. understanding. strategies. the message. can be. and intention. of. negotiating partners. Today, with the advent of the global information society, it is ever important. and beneficial to be able to swiftly understand. information. In this sense, summarization. skills are regarded. the latest. all-important. by. many organizations. Both for reading documents reading. of substantial. (44% : 32%), the correspondents. length. (57% : 18%) and speed. rated them as necessary. (scores of "4". and "5") largely exceeded those who did not. Meanwhile, when looking at the results for pronunciation, a very different result was seen. Those who regarded necessary". (ratings. good pronunciation as "necessary" or "very. of "4" and "5") counted for only 30% of the respondents,. which was less than the 34% who said it was "unnecessary" necessary".. This shows that in actual business. scenarios. communication is vital, good pronunciation is not regarded. or "not so. where international as very essential.. 3.2 Other Qualification Elements During the questionnaire, importance. of other. companies/organizations. qualifications,. outside. were asked about the. the previously. covered. linguistic.

(16) competencies.. The. knowledge,. topics. covered. international. leadership.. The. results. were. cultural. understanding, were. knowledge,. team. expertise/technical. work/cooperativeness. as follows:. Unnecessary. Non-Linguistic Cultural. and. Capabilities. 1. Very. 2. Knowledge. Necessary. 4. 3. no ans.. 5. 1. 4. 10. 12. 4. Expertise/Technical Knowledge. 0. 2. 5. 13. 11. 1. International. 0. 3. 10. 13. 5. 1. Team-work/Cooperativeness. 0. 1. 6. 15. 10. 0. Leadership. 0. 1. 8. 16. 6. 1. Understanding. [Table 2]. Necessity I\. of Non-Linguistic. 1. Capabilities. As clearly shown by the respondents' answers as illustrated in the above Table 2, teamwork/cooperativeness. and. leadership. are obviously. regarded. as very. important qualifications in any organization, both business and public. Group work, pair work interpreting. and other. classes can provide students. cooperative. tasks. often included in. with the opportunity. to acquire such. social skills as cooperation in team work and leadership, essential skills to work as member of any organization. When asked about the necessity respondents. from many workplaces. necessary, as 24 organizations respectively) specialized,. of expertise/technical. knowledge,. the. stated expertise/technical. knowledge. was. rated it "4" and "5" ("necessary", "very necessary". which far exceeds the two who deemed it "not so necessary". For professionals. knowledge is necessary.. work,. it is commonly. understood. Of course, most undergraduate. students. that. technical. do not know. where they will be working in the future, so it is nearly impossible for them to acquire the exact "expert knowledge". they will need while still in university.. However they can expand their general social, cultural and academic knowledge,.

(17) not to mention necessary strongly. to strengthen. information. encouraged;. At. the research. universities,. skills they will need to obtain. students'. research. this can be achieved comfortably. skills should. in interpreting. be. classes. since they are participatory. In the cases of cultural knowledge. and international. understanding,. the. distribution of "1"-"5" degrees of necessity were very similar. Not only linguistic ability but also having an understanding. of culture and international. the country. of the foreign counterpart. is indispensable. international. jobs. Without understanding. and respect. situation of. for those engaged in to the culture. person you are talking to, there might be difficulty in communication. of the or even. problems. For example, when meeting with someone from an Islamic country, one must have an understanding extent. It is necessary. of Islamic culture. to be considerate. food during Ramadan. The existence lifestyles must be understood organizations. enough to avoid such topics as wine or of the difference. and mutually. ones. who. declared. in social systems. respected.. who replied that such knowledge. far exceeded the "unnecessary" .. and its religion to some. The number. and understanding. them. as. "not. and. of the. is necessary. so necessary". and. 3.3 Comments from Respondents The respondents. were invited to freely write their comments in the last. part of the survey.21 Some were concerned with foreign language education at universities. (2) "Looking at their company entrance decline. in students'. university,. academic. exam results, we have found a. ability. during. their. four. years. at. even though they study very hard and had substantially. developed their language skills before the university. entrance. This situation must be changed." "It seems that English education needs to be radically reviewed. exam.. . Isn't it.

(18) a reality that many university communicating. students. in English?. are incapable of speaking and. To prepare. for entrance. exams, they. worked hard to cram their heads with vocabulary and grammar, which is absolutely useless to me. We often receive comments from overseas clients saying,. 'Japan is the country where communication in English. is most difficult.Some of the comments global market,. were quite scalding. To successfully. companies. and other. organizations. exert. compete. enormous. in the. effort to. secure capable human resources that excel in international communication. They have great. concern. for the current. state of foreign. Japanese universities, and frank expectations. language. education. at. for the provision of better English. education at universities were expressed. Some respondents. expressed. their. expectations. practical English capabilities. A respondent that train students first. translating. interpreting translating. training. into Japanese. itself, but. Such. grasping. the speech word-for-word. covering. pointed out the need for programs. to be able to quickly understand them. for education. English speeches without. training the. main. seems concept. different. from. without. first. is also an essential part of interpreting. training. (3) "I hope training based on actual, real life examples will be provided." "I h ope they achieve the ability to listen, understand and think in English without first changing an utterance into Japanese." "T oday, Internet is in its heyday, but I hope students also learn how to properly write and send business letters." "T raining programs in which students can learn the proper protocol and manners. requisite for tending to company guests from overseas. and other occasions are necessary.. On top of that, it would be even. more desirable if they could acquire the ability to create presentations about their own specialized fields.".

(19) Respondents should. pointed. be taught These. 4.. opinions,. other. with were. workplaces. free. business. together. comments. international their. out that. language. written. who. which. knowledge. hire. skills. necessary. for business. training. by. those. university. reflected. and. the. in charge graduates. actual. of personnel in the. situation. column. taking. affairs. in. requesting. place. in today's. world.. Expected. Contributions. Students'. Future. of. Interpreting. Training. towards. Careers. The companies and organizations. who responded to the questionnaire. are. essentially the potential employers of university students, and they have strong hopes to hire graduates. who are able to actively work in the international. business. employees. world. Future. proficiency, particularly the time of candidate. are expected. in English, the international screening,. employers. to have. strong. linguistic. common language. Thus, at. place importance. on linguistic. ability.22 However, there were some comments displaying strong discontent with the current. state of foreign language education in Japanese universities.. Many. respondents. stated their desire for increased practical English training that will. be useful at the front lines of the international business arena.' With regard to interpreting. and translating. skills, companies involved in. international business desire to hire people whose foreign language competencies are strong activities. interpreters. enough Most. to interpret. of the. survey. and translate respondents. for their said that. and other employees cover English-Japanese. In addition to interpreting. and translating. organizations' they. have. interpreting. skills, international. own. in-house. tasks.' companies. and organizations. want their employees to be fully capable of self-expression,. discussion/debate,. summarization,. Naturally enhancement programs. speed. reading. and giving presentations.25. of these skills has been the focus of traditional training. for professional conference. interpreters. with substantially. successful.

(20) results. In. the. mention oral. good. that. deliver differs. from. sometimes and/or. the. study. linguistic. in both. curriculum.. classes. are. actual. work. taught. mostly. training. international. knowledge.. out. university such. one has In. "client. they. the. or. use. The. than. not in. respondents. and. appropriately. "sounding. audience. nice";. this. whose. work. very. official. during. There. very. graduates basic. previously. .. three. The. first. often. vocabulary. cannot. make. and. grammar,. actually. uses. can. second that. is its. good to the. aim. are. to. as. required. apply. in one's. pointing. of their. establish. linguistic. serve. together. respondents use. with. is interpreting. taught. survey. The. interpreters that. comprehensively. from. features. is its practicality.. competencies. feature. language. contributory. materials The. employers. English. professional. life career.. comments. training. English. international knowledge. and. acquired.. to these. viewpoint. are. authentic. contributory. future. conventional. linguistic are. were. by students'. in-service. future. third. Interpreting. addition. training". ex-. Various. The. as. communication.. from. by. there training.. communication. linguistic. skills. factor. interpreters,. and. that. for students'. classes.. knowledge,. training. I find. comprehensiveness.. that. important. expected. interpreting. experience;. interpreting. an important. understand. of a large. competencies. However,. to university-level. for. did. places.'. professional. in front. interpreting. unique. training's. work. respondents. occasions.. of the. introductory. their. is more. the. considered. to accurately. for. speaking. ceremonial. targeted. for. able. expectations. that. is usually. of a message. involves. Some. discovered. necessary. being. contents. was. which. very. in business,. the. it. pronunciation,. communication,. think. are. questionnaire,. of an. three. points. interpreter,. being. contributory. it can. be. an. efficient. to students' form. futures,. of potential.

(21) 4.1. Practicality The. students,. 4.1.1. first. contributory. its practicality,. feature. of. will be explored. interpreting in this. training. for. university. Section.. Training Based on Real Situations and Authentic Materials As mentioned in Section 2.1, interpreting. by ex- or in-service interpreters. with quite authentic materials.. Komatsu (2005) noted, "For interpreting level-appropriate, stresses. authentic. materials. that. that materials of an appropriate. practice, especially for interpreter or graduate. classes are in many cases taught. training, it is important are interesting. to choose. to students."27 He. level should be used for interpreting. training at a vocational training institute and/. school courses. In the case of undergraduate. level interpreting. training courses, it is important to note that most students do not aim to become professional interpreters professional. and do not need to polish their interpreting. level. However, such training. skills to a. can bring about positive effects in. students, especially when using authentic layperson materials, even though they are slightly higher in level than those used when they study in conventional oral English classes. Challenging slightly more difficult tasks yields a positive effect on learning to enable one to feel it easier to do the task when going back to the original level. It is the similar effect to strengthen. the skills and confidence that. can be felt as skiing on a gentle slope after challenging on a steeper slope. In the course I am teaching, the latest articles on sports, fashion and other news materials are used as much as possible. At the beginning when asked about their knowledge they know, most students. cite the simultaneous. news broadcasts. or sports programs. area. translation. of movie. of interpreting,. development,. students. are. first. summarization. and sight-translation;. what kind of interpreting. interpretation. on TV. The students. and dubbing given. of the course,. for in-class exercises. used during TV. always request. the. study. For. basic. such. shadowing,. as. skill. afterwards, they practice interpreting, using.

(22) available live sources. Needless to say, their performance. does not reach the level. required for professional interpreter. training. However, the use of such authentic. materials. between. can. international. shorten. the. gap. university. students. activities. They can learn words and expressions. and. actual. that are actually. being used in today's society, along with the linguistic capabilities needed in future. international. business. and/or. social activities; students. can also learn. knowledge acquisition skills. By being exposed. to various styles and speeds of spoken English and. becoming used to top-to-down reading, students message. of an utterance. and/or. written. can learn to grasp the core. piece without. translating. Japanese. This method is significant not only for interpreting for international need. to. business. communicate. particularly. communication. in. English. Furthermore,. with. those from Asian countries.. non-English. it into. training but also. there is an increasing speaking. Thus, interpreting. foreigners,. training exercises. involving a wide rage of social topics that use materials in English spoken by not only British or American speakers but also those from many different counties will be very beneficial in enhancing. one's abilities in international. business. communication.. 4.1.2 Instructors with Professional. Experience. The ex- or in-service professional interpreters most. of interpreting. interpreting. students. courses. offered. today. have. experience. of. at the forefront of politics, business and other social activities. They. can convey to students situations.. training. who are presently teaching. how English and Japanese. Such professionals. are actually used in social. can explain how the English. knowledge. that. have acquired in their past six or seven years can be utilized in very. international scenarios; it inspires and encourages students who are interested international business and culturally-related. activities.. in.

(23) 4.2. Comprehensiveness The. second. will be further. feature. examined. of interpreting in this. training. is its comprehensiveness,. which. section.. 4.2.1 Blending of Diverse Exercises Sections. 2.3.2 and 2.3.3 describe. combined and implemented international activities,. together. job, be it involved. one is required. how various. types. in interpreting. with trade,. to demonstrate. of exercises. training. are. classes. For an. meetings,. negotiations. or other. a blend. of different. linguistic. capabilities all at once. One can seldom play sole role of listener or speaker; one must take on a variety of roles while in an actual workplace. In addition to listening comprehension. and speaking exercises, reading is. another essential skill to be cultivated during training in interpretation. in reading comprehension preparations. and. encourages. expand. their. students. Training. to learn how to research, make. background. knowledge. base.. Interpreting. training, is a multi-task learning, in which many kinds of exercises are blended and practiced. together;. single task-oriented. this differs greatly in comparison. language. classes that. students. to the conventional. may have experienced. in. secondary school.. 4.2.2. Studies. in Culture. Interpreting reading. their. Other. means. is also an indispensable. spend they. is one. and. longer actually. hours. gathering. spend. To. speaker's understanding. be. able. of oral. and. of different. cultures. to comprehend. and. utterance of the. in the cultural. very. of training. studying on-site.. limited. background. Fields. communication.. element. interpreting. understanding. world.. Extensive. Despite. for interpreting.. information They. the. properly time. in advance. routinely. and. make. current convey. allowed,. of both. its. the. interpreters speaker. real. focus,. Interpreters than. efforts. global the. oral. the. time. to deepen. status. of the. meaning must. and the. of a. have. an. listener. as.

(24) well as the difference in their way of thinking. The survey result also shows that cultural understanding awareness are highly regarded From necessary. by more respondents. ex- or in-service to prepare. interpreters,. and international. than those who did not. students. learn. for a project. Knowing the importance. that. research. is. of building one's. knowledge base in various extensive fields is beneficial for any career. Takefuta Japanese. (1987) explains in his book, Nihonjin-eigo no Kagaku (Science of. English), the importance. of cultural understanding. in cross-cultural. communication as follow:. (4) When the speaker and listener's native languages. are different, some. problems will naturally be anticipated. Yet only few people are aware of another greater. problem that occurs in the case of communication. between Japanese and English speakers. That is cultural differences .... According. to Condon, one's cultural. background. determines. the. direction of his/her viewpoint. He says that individuals with different cultural backgrounds. will have different perceptions even when they. are looking at the same thing. ... Culture when seen in this way is a major decisive factor that determines. the "experience" and "judgment". of those living within one cultural zone .... Foreign language education in Japan is focused in only differences of linguistic codes and signals. (not cross-cultural. aspects),. making. it. indeed insufficient for establishing communication.29. As Takefuta points out, it is necessary to develop cross-cultural understanding. to. establish communication.. Linguistic study focused only on codes and signals is. insufficient for learning. communicable. English. Only when linguistic study is. combined with other studies to strengthen truly be useful in social activities.. social knowledge. and skills, will it.

(25) The interpreting is targeted. training program. is effective content-based. learning that. on not only mere linguistic study but also its application to cross-. cultural interactions.. This is especially. beneficial for university. students. who. have already studied basic English for more than six years and are at the stage to prepare for their future career. Furthermore, exercises, students essential. because. social life. Japanese. they remain. opinions. Accumulating conversation. and other. can learn how to choose topics by themselves,. for their future. foreigners. through presentation. which is. are often seen as strange. silent. And often do not express. by. their own. knowledge in broad areas and learning to have topics for. will make. them. more socially active. and constructive. in the. working world. Including presentations, to develop. just. linguistic. mock-conferences their. cooperativeness respondent. not. awareness. studies. but. diverse. programs. like. and other pair or group works enable students of important. and leadership. which. social skills such. draw. the great. as teamwork. expectation. of the. companies and organizations, their future employers, as described in. Section 3.2.. 4.2.3 Development. of One's Native Language. Needless to say, interpreting different. languages.. enhancement. For. Japanese. exercises. Capabilities always involve more than two. interpreters,. not. only English. but. also. of their native language, Japanese is vital. Such study can provide. students with the chance to learn proper, adult-level Japanese that is required in the business world. There is an apparent discrepancy another. on campus. negotiations. and that. which. between the way students speak to one is required. and other types of communication. for. greetings,. meetings,. in a business or social setting.. Students need to improve their diction in order to acquire the proper register required for international professions..

(26) 4.3 Application of One's Knowledge The students. third. contributory. feature. of interpreting. is that it is to train students. training. for university. to use their knowledge. that they have. already acquired. As shown in the survey, companies/organizations, employers of university. the future. students in the near future, have great expectation for. their English capability to be actually utilized at workplaces. At the same time, discontent with the current state of language education at Japanese universities was expressed. Practicing using words and expressions they have previously acquired and establishing communication their interests. can make students feel confident and even increase. in international. activities as mock conferences lessons, where students introduction. and presentations,. interact. to international. activities. Interpreting. training. includes. such. etc., that create participatory. and apply their skills. These courses serve an. business workplaces, providing. students. with the. chance to know what is necessary to function in such an environment. Also they can learn how to develop their communication skills by utilizing their knowledge base and skills.. 4.4 "Potential User Education" for Interpreters One additional feature perspective.. of interpreting. training is one from interpreter's. It can be the "potential user education". for interpreters. in the. future. At the end of the first semester not know interpreting. of my course, many students. said, "I did. is so difficult ...." At the same time, they also wrote such. comments as, "I used to think that interpreting. was something. in a different. world, something I could never do by myself. Once I tried interpreting in this class, I enjoyed it and became. more interested. by myself. in interpreting. and. interpreters." It is natural. for students. majoring. in English to become interested. in.

(27) interpreting,. since it is a job that uses English at a very high level. Many. students know about interpreting understanding. and interpreters,. but do not have an in-depth. of the job. It is a rather unknown world, perhaps even having an. air of mystery in the eyes of young students. This most likely attributes recent phenomena of increasing undergraduate taking. interpreting. professional. courses. It is probable. interpreters. that. after receiving higher. clients who will use interpreters.. student. enrolled and. some of them may become training; many others will be. As globalization progresses, increasing number. of people will be involved in international for it. The chances for students. activities and communication needed. to play the roles of clients or co-workers. interpreters. will also grow. Then interpreting. universities. are serving contributory. interpreting. jobs of future clients and/or co-workers.. 5.. numbers. to the. training. courses. roles to enhance. of. provided. by. the understanding. on. Conclusion In Jakunen Rodo Shijo no Henka to Daigaku Kyoiku no Kadai (Change in. Youth Labor Market and Issues of University Education), the Japan Institute for Labor Policy and Training's Kosugi (2006) points out that university education is expected to serve the role of final stage education, connecting industry and high school education;. sharing. and collaborating. between. career. education. and. specialized/liberal. arts education; and providing the chance for one to develop. life-long learning capabilities.' Interpreting enhance. students'. training courses English. practicality, comprehensiveness basic English knowledge primary. translation. knowledge career.. for undergraduate. communication. students. proficiency. in. can effectively three. aspects:. and the application of knowledge. In high school,. and skills like grammar, vocabulary,. must be taught. In universities,. should be used and enhanced. conversation and. one must learn how this. as a means to prepare. for a future.

(28) Chapter 3 shows that the companies and organizations. that responded. to. the survey have strong expectation for their future employees; they want their workers to obtain English proficiency to a level sufficiently useful in real-world business and for social situations. In the near future, many students will be the engine of economic and social activities in the Kansai region, and Japan as a whole. Japanese. society. cannot. be. sustained. without. involving the rest of the world. In international trade, tourism and academia, the universal training programs these. courses. introduce students. encourage. them. exchange. activities. relations related areas such as,. language is English. Interpreting. to English that is used in the real world;. to apply their. knowledge. and skills as a. productive member of society. This is significant. Undergraduate-level education. interpreting. training courses are a part of university. and differ in level and contents. training programs. for professional. study law at university. interpreters.. to occupational. Not all those who. will become lawyers. In reality, only very few of those. majoring in English literature university-level. conference. when compared. interpreting. professional interpreters.. will become literary training. Interpreting. courses. scholars. Those who take. will not. necessarily. training courses for university. become students,. even if they are not targeted to the professional level, must be largely beneficial for students' enhancement. of English communication proficiency.. Universities are the place for tertiary education, where conducting in-depth study. and research. in specialized. fields such as literature. or linguistics is. essential. At the same time, it also has the significant role of providing many students with opportunities. to polish their abilities essential to a future career in. an international workplace. Instruction by professional interpreters. who have on-. site experience and know the difficulties of interpreting enables it to convey, "Wh at is this information? Why is it really needed?" to students, which is meaningful. With further. progress. in the collaboration between industry, government.

(29) and academia. along with the flexibility of Japan's. system, the potential. of undergraduate. university-level. interpreting. training. education. programs. further broaden its scope. It can be greatly expected that interpreting programs. at universities. will be further. recognized. and studied. shall. training as a new. academic field that builds a bridge between high school English education and communication proficiency needed in the real world.. it .. 1 2. 7,. 1. 7,. 11. 1. gg. A. •. -1-,•. •. r. 7. T•. Banks, Russell. speech "American Fiction after Vietnam Naito, Yoshi. "Interpreting Perspective". (Thesis. Training. for University. to the Faculty. ff. Students. of the Graduate. from a Pedagogical. Division of English, Kobe. College), 2008. pp.34-64. An inquiry survey was conducted the. future. employers. on expectations. of Kansai. of companies and organizations,. Region students,. for university-level. English. education. 3. Someya, Yasumasa, et al. "A Survey on the Current State of Interpreting at Japanese. Universities. and Graduate Schools", Interpretation. Education. Studies No.5 (2005),. p.296. 4. Ibid. p.296.. 5. Tanaka,. Miyuki, et al. "Tapping. Interpreting. Classes - From the 2007 Survey Conducted. SIG.", Interpretation 6. into the Needs and Wants. wo Manabuka.", Tsuyaku-Honyaku. Selskovitch, Danica. Interpreting for International. 8. Someya, Yasumasa.. 9. Ibid., p.99.. by the JAIS Educational. "Tsuyaku-Kyoiku. Tsuyaku-Honyaku. no Arikata - Nani wo Oshieruka, Nani. Journal. 2001 August ed.p.98.. 7. author). of. Studies No. 7 (2007), Figure 2. p.255. (modified). Prof. Someya's expression in "Tsuyaku-Kyoiku. Manabuka.",. of the Students. Journal.. Conferences, pp. 67-68.. no Arikata. - Nani wo Oshieruka, Nani wo. 2001 August. ed.p.99. (Translated. by the.

(30) 10. Tanaka,. Miyuki, et al. "Tapping. Interpreting. into the Needs and Wants. Classes - From the 2007 survey conducted. SIG.", Interpretation. of the Students. of. by the JAIS Educational. Studies No. 7 (2007), pp.253 -63.. 11. Ibid., p254.. 12. Ibid., p.256 Figure.3. (modified). 13. Someya, Yasumasa. Tsuyaku-Kyoiku. no Arikata. - Nani wo Oshieruka, Nani wo. Manabuka.", Tsuyaku-Honyaku Journal, 2001. pp.98-99. 14. Ibid. pp.98-99.. 15. Ibid., p.98.. 16. "D aigaku-nyushi. Eigomondai Goi no Datosei to Jitsuyosei no Jidaiteki Henka", The. Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT) Journal, Vol.28. (2004), p.123. 17. Someya, Yasumasa, et al. "A Survey on the Current State of Interpreting at Japanese. Universities. and Graduate Schools", Interpretation. Education. Studies No.5 (2005) ,. pp.285-310. 18. Ibid., p.289 Q9. (modified). 19. Ibid., p.289 Q10. (modified). 20. Naito, Yoshi. "Interpreting Perspective". (Thesis. Training. to the Faculty. for University. Students. of the Graduate. from a Pedagogical. Division of English,. College), 2008. pp.34-64. 21. (All the comments were translated. 22. [3.1]. 23. [3.3]. 24. [3.1]. 25. [3.1]. 26. [3.1]. by the author). 27. Komatsu, Tatsuya. Interpreting Skills. p.vii. (Translated. by the author). 28. [3.2]. 29. Takefuta, Yukio. Nihonjin-eigo no Kagaku, pp. 55-56. (Translated. 30. Kosugi, Reiko. Jakunen Rodo Shijo no Henka to Daigaku Kyoiku no Kadai.. by the author). Kobe.

(31) Works Consulted Banks, Russels. "American Fiction after Vietnam". Speech, Tokyo American Center. 1992. Ersozlu, Elif. "Training of Interpreters:. Some Suggestions on Sight Translation. Teaching.". Translation Journal Vol.9, No.4, 2005. 2-3. Gambier, Yves, Daniel Gile, and Christopher. Taylor. Conference Interpreting:. Current. Trends in Research. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 1997. Gile, Daniel, Belle V. Dam, Friedel. Dubslaff, Bodil Martinsen,. Getting Started in Interpreting Research-Methodological. and Anne Schjoldager.. reflections, personal accounts. and advice for beginners. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 2001. Jones, Roderick. Conference Interpreting Explained. Manchester: St. Jerome, 1998. Komatsu, Tatsuya. Interpreting Skills. Tokyo: Kenkyusha, 2005. Kosugi, Reiko. Jakunen Rodo Shijo no Henka to Daigaku Kyoiku no Kadai. Chuo Kyoiku Shingikai Daigaku-bunkakai <http://www.mextgajp/b Nagata,. Daigaku Kyoiku-bukai, 2006.. menu/shingi/chukyo/chukyo4/gijiroku/015/06060810. Sae. "Application of Interpreter. Enhancement:. Training. Techniques. /001.pdf>. to General. Language. with Emphasis on Listening and Speaking", Journal of the Interpreting. Research Association of Japan, Vol.6 No.2, 1996. 45-54 Naito, Yoshi. "Interpreting Perspective". (Thesis. Training. for University. to the Faculty. Students. of the Graduate. from. a Pedagogical. Division of English, Kobe. College), 2008. 34-64. Seleskovitch,. Danica, Interpreting. for International. Conferences: Problems. of Language. and Communication. Washington: Pen & Booth, 1994. 67-68 Shinzaki, Ryuko. "Application of Consecutive Interpretation English Learning." Interpretation. Training Method to General. Studies. 5th ed. 2005.. Someya, Yasumasa. "Tsuyaku Kunren Shuho to Sono Ippan Gogaku Gakushu eno Oyo ni Tsuite". Collected Papers. from. Interpreting. Research. Committee of the Japan Association for Interpretation. (11) . Vol.6 No.2 Editorial. Studies, 1996. 27-44.. <http://wwwl.kamakuranet.ne.jp/someya/47thTsuyakuKenkyuReport.html> ---. "Tsuyaku-Kyoiku. no Arikata. - Nani wo Oshieruka, Nani wo Manabuka.". Tsuyaku-.

(32) Honyaku Journal. 2001 August ed. 98-99. <http://www.someya-net.com/10-JAIS/TsuHonJournal/someya Someya, Yasumasa, Miwako Saito, Chikako Tsuruta, Ino. "A Survey. on the. Current. State. Miyuki Tanaka, and Kinuyo Yoshia. of Interpreting. Universities and Graduate Schools." Interpretation Takefuta,. Yukio. Nihonjin. (No 4).html>. Eigo no Kagaku-Sono. Education. at Japanese. Studies. 5th ed. 2005. 295-310. Genjo to Asu eno Tenbo. Tokyo:. Kenkyusha, 1987. 55-56. Tanaka,. Miyuki.. Undergraduate. "Current. Pedagogical. Level." Interpretation. Issues. in Teaching. Interpreting. at. the. Studies. 4th ed. 2004.. Tanaka, M, Ino K., Kawahara, K., Shinzaki, R., and Nakamura, S. "Tapping into the Needs and Wants conducted. of the. Students. of Interpreting. by the JAIS Educational. Classes. SIG." Interpretation. - From. the. 2007 survey. Studies, No. 7, December. 2007. 269-79. Torikai, Kumiko. "Nihon ni Okeru Tsuyaku Kyoiku no Kanosei -Eigo Kyoiku no Doko wo Fumaete." Collected Papers from Japan Association for Interpretation Tsuji,. Kazunari,. Interpreter.". Setsu. Tsuji.. 'Interpreting Research. Editorial Committee of the Studies, 2004.. "Communication. Collected Papers from. Japan Association for Interpretation. in International. Business. In-House. 'Interpreting Research. Editorial Committee of the Studies, 2004. 259-69..

(33)