LeongKo,
Melbourne,
AustraliaAustralia celebrated its 20th anniversary of teaching interpreting in December 1995. But the teaching of business interpreting has a relatively short history in Austra
lia. It was first introduced in 1982 to train conference interpreters in Japanese. Later in 1988, courses to train general interpreters to work in business and tourism areas were developed. These courses are offered mainly in Asian languages such as Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese and Indonesian, due to the Australia’s increasing business and trade contacts with Asia. The aim of the courses is to train business interpreters accred
ited by the Australian National AccreditationAuthorityfor Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) at the Professional Level (formerly Level Three).
In this paper, I shall concentrate on the training of general business interpreters which focuses on the development of dialogue and consecutive interpreting skills.
When the course of business interpreting was first introduced in 1988, there were different opinions about the necessity of such a specialised interpreting course. Those who disagreed argued that there were already well-established interpreting courses that trained community interpreters (i.e. interpreters who worked in hospitals, schools and immigration departments). So, could these interpreters work in the business area as well? Was business interpreting really different from community interpreting?
These arguments are still in existence today, but more and more people now agree that business interpreting differs from community interpreting in the domains of work as well as in some interpreting skills involved.
Business interpreting covers a very broad area. It involves, in the broader terms, knowledge of international relations, legislation, infrastructure, business culture of different countries, and in a narrow sense, specific activities and procedures such as import and export trade, manufacture and management, feasibility studies, finance and accounting, domestic and international business trips, and last but not least, dinners and banquets.
All of these formulate input into the design and teaching of a business interpret
ing course. Currently in Australia, Deakin University is the most important institu
tion in training business interpreters. A typical course structure at Deakin is as fol
lows:
Unit
Translation A Translation B Interpreting A Interpreting B
Duration 1 semester 1 semester 1 semester 1 semester
LeongKo Contextual Studies
- English Component
- LOTE (languages other than English) Component Professional Aspects of Interpreting and
Translating
Theoretical Bases of Interpreting and Translating
It is a one year graduate diploma course which is designed to train both inter
preters and translators. At the end of the first semester, based on the satisfactory completion of Translation A andInterpreting A, the students can choose to spe
cialise in either translation or interpreting or both in the second semester, which will lead them toward accreditation at NAATI Level Three at the end of the course. Here I shall describe the units of interpreting only.
The content of InterpretingA and B includes dialogue interpreting, consecu
tive interpreting, sight translation, simultaneous interpreting (as an introduction only), memory and note-taking skills, voice production and public speaking skills, dealing with stress problems, interpreting on formal occasions, mock conferences.
A number of themes are specified for interpreting practice, i.e. international rela
tions, politics, society, economics and production, trade, business and finance, law, culture and tourism.
Professional Aspectslooks at the work of interpreters (and translators) in terms of role, techniques, relationship to clients, ethical considerations, codes of conducts and development of the profession.
Theoretical Bases introduces a number of theoretical frameworks which con
tribute to an understanding of the process of interpreting (and translating). It covers an analysis of communication models and contribution to the practice of interpreting (and translating) of semiotics, semantics, psycholinguistics, text linguistics, discourse analysis, pragmatics and sociolinguistics etc. Included also is critical evaluation of current theories of interpreting (and translating) and their relevance to practice.
Contextual Studies provides the students with a comprehensive background knowledge about Australia and the relevant LOTE country.
English Language Consolidation is available to those students who are rela
tively weak in English.
Field Practice consists of two sections of 4 weeks each. The purpose of field practice is to involve the students in active interpreting tasks. The students are placed in companies and institutions that require interpreting service and work as full-time interpreters. They will work with or under the supervision of qualified interpreters.
In teaching interpreting, different methodologies are used at different stages for different purposes, such as shadowing, memory exercises, role plays, mock confer
ences and of course, lectures and class discussions (see the AttachmentofSyllabus of Interpreting). Great importance is attached to the usage of live speeches and dialogues with the involvement of teachers and students and even speakers from the business circle. As a principle, we try to maximise the students’ participation as interpreters and speakers because the increase of their speaking ability will contribute to the
Section 3. Interpreting
improvement of their interpreting ability. The observation of other fellow students’
interpreting practice will also enable them to benefit from one another.
Here I will highlight some methodologies that we use in the teaching of dialogue interpreting in business settings.
Due to the fact that business negotiations are one of the most important forms of business activities, a great emphasis is placed on organising simulated business nego
tiations. Groups are formed with three participants in each group - one acting as an English speaker, one as a LOTE speaker and the third one as an interpreter. Teachers may participate as they deem necessary. Accordingly, four modes of practice can be arranged as follows:
Mode 1. Students are given a topic to talk about and the student interpreter interprets the conversation between the two student speakers in the group.
Mode 2. The two student speakers are given a written situation, but not the interpreter. The speakers talk according to guidelines provided in the situation and the interpreter interprets their conversation.
Mode 3. All three students in a group are given the same topic with a brief out
line about what will be discussed at a future meeting. They are also given some rele
vant materials and at the same time requested to do some research in the relevant area.
Mode 4. All three students in a group are given the same topic with a brief out
line about what will be discussed at a future meeting. The two speakers are also given some relevant materials, but not the interpreter. The interpreter is requested to research the topic.
These four modes of practice vary in the level of difficulty and are used in differ
ent stages of training. The aim is to organise interpreting practice effectively, encour
age their participation, improve their research ability, expose them to different busi
ness interpreting situations and enhance their interpreting skills.
The general requirements for all classroom practice sessions are that students should talk and interpret as if it were a real situation. If the interpreters come across anything that they are not sure of or do not understand, they should seek clarifica
tion from the relevant speakers rather than starting a discussion among the group.
The speakers should respond to the messages conveyed by the interpreters, rather than bypassing them and responding to each other. Problems that arise during the interpreting practice are discussed at the end of the session. Each dialogue segment delivered by the speakers varies from 3 to 5 sentences. Each situation lasts about 15 to 20 minutes. The students will then swap roles and change to a new situation so that every student will have a chance to interpret.
In the preparation of interpreting sessions, particular attention is paid to the link
age between practice and business activities. The topics that are commonly used in
clude “Purchase of wheat from Australia”, “Claims for damages on imported ceramic products", “Negotiation of a joint venture brewery” etc. Relevant business terms, commercial concepts and negotiation techniques are used to ensure that the stu
dents are learning in a context that is close to a real business situation.
LeongKo
A typical dialogue situation is like this.
Topic: Negotiation regarding purchase of pipes for irriga
tion project
Participants: Export Sales Representative ofTubemakers Australia Overseas Buyer for Irrigation Project
Interpreter
Briefing to speakers: After some correspondence the Overseas Buyer visits the Tubemakers Australia to negotiate the sale of piping for an irrigation project.
The Export Sales Representative seeks to confirm that the project in question requires both horticultural drainage pipes as well as irrigation pipes and ancillary items such as joins, taps, hose connections and sprays. The Overseas Buyer confirms that the project involves both orchards and grain farms which will need drainage and irrigation pipes.
The Overseas Buyer wants to know who uses Tubemakers’ pipes and in what proj
ects in order to get a clear idea about in what kinds of weather and soil conditions the pipes are being used. The Export Representative explains that Tubemakers Australia’s horticultural drainage pipes and irrigation products are used throughout Australia.
Their products have been exported to Thailand, the Philippines, China, Indonesia, Israel, New Zealand and used in the Australian Aid projects in North Africa. They have had success with all of their products.
The Overseas Buyer also wants to know about the material that is used in the manufacturing of the pipes and the applicable technical specifications. They used to import a batch of pipes from another country. About 85% of pipes either broke or leaked after being put into use for only two months. It has cost them a great loss. The Export Representative explains that they make dozens of steel and plastic pipes with a few combinations of materials to suit different purposes, but all products meet Australian standard specifications for absorption and durability. For instance, for underground irrigation pipes in cold weather and high acid soil, they may have to use engineering plastics, which of course will be more expensive than other types of plastic pipes. They therefore usually recommend different pipes based on the techni
cal information provided by the buyers.
The two parties then discuss the price and payment. The Export Representative explains that all prices are FOB Port Melbourne and the price range depends in part on the quantity of pipes required. The minimum export unit is 5 kilometre for irriga
tion pipes plus ancillary items and the minimum export unit for drainage pipes for destinations other than New Zealand is 2 kilometres. The price of ancillary items is fixed but the price for piping can be negotiated for buyers who want substantial quantities, that is, for 5 kilometres or more of irrigation pipes, or more than 2 kilo
metres of drainage pipes. The terms of payment is by irrevocable letter of credit by draft at 45 days’ sight accompanies by shipping documents at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Melbourne.
The Overseas Buyer asks for a catalogue of ancillary items to ensure that what the engineers have specified is actually available or can be provided within 6 weeks.
The Export Representative provides the catalogue saying that this is the same vol
ume of the catalogue which was sent to the Buyer as part of their recent correspon
Section 3. Interpreting
dence. The Export Representative suggests that the Buyer may like to give him/her a copy of the engineers’ specifications so that they can provide an accurate statement of the quantities and costs and negotiate a good price.
End of situation: in the end, the Buyer asks for a tour of the factory and wishes to see how the durability of different types of pipes are tested.
Instead of providing written dialogues, we prefer to use written scenarios as a guideline and let the speakers explore the topic in a live situation. The speakers respond to the messages conveyed by the interpreters directly. The interpreters need to pay attention not only to the transference of messages but also to superlinguistic aspects such as body language, eye contact, dealing with interruptions or being inter
rupted, seeking clarification, briefing and debriefing.
In the assessment, the students will sit for two examinations, i.e. dialogue inter
preting and consecutive interpreting. In dialogue interpreting, the students will interpret for two live situations, each of which will last for about 15 minutes.
In the examination of consecutive interpreting, the students are asked to inter
pret two passages - one into English and one out of English. Each passage is about 300 words in length. The students are expected to render it into the target language accurately, using correct register of language in the relevant business domain. They are also expected to use a natural flow of speech, clear and audible voice, satisfactory pitch, intonation and tenor, and observe public speaking rules etc. Undue haste, speaking too slowly, hesitation, self-repetition, self-correction should be avoided.
This is the main framework in which business interpreting is taught in Australia.
The most crucial issue that we have found in teaching is the students’ insufficient knowledge of business rather than their capability of languages. From our experi
ence, we find that the students’ limited knowledge of businesses can often affect their performance. The students’ bilingual proficiency, which is often considered to be a main problem in training of interpreters, usually improves after a few months of practice and through the unit of Language Consolidation. The students who enter this course are from different career backgrounds such as nursing, banking, engi
neering and journalism. They can be well informed in one area, but totally ignorant in another. We have Contextual Studies in this course to help students improve their knowledge of different businesses, but that takes a lot of time for the students to digest. Furthermore, concrete information of a particular business cannot possibly be included in a year’s course, so the students need more time to read and research in order to expand their knowledge.
Another emerging issue is that the business circle is now putting more and more demand on business interpreters. Interpreters, particularly in-house interpreters, are every now and then required to undertake secretarial and administrative duties other than interpreting, such as meeting people at the airport, calling a taxi, making reser
vation of hotel rooms, arranging seating of dinner table, or even writing reports of meetings. Fulfilling these duties sometimes contradicts the code of ethics commonly observed by interpreters. There is a growing tendency in which interpreting is regarded not as a profession but as an additional skill of an employee. This also puts new pres
sure on the training program.
LeongKo
Appendix Deakin University
Graduate Diploma in Interpreting andTranslating
Syllabus of Interpreting 1996
A: Common Hour (to be conducted with other languages) B, C & D: Interpreting Practice Hours
Week Commencement Content
tions, etc. Introduction to the concept of interpreting, modes of interpreting Comprehension practice and bilingual tasks