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Introduction to Interpreting: Consecutive and Liaison

Module description

Interpreting, like translation, depends upon thorough linguistic, cultural and subject-specific knowledge; however, it also requires an ability to think quickly and effectively as well as excellent communicative and interpersonal skills. In this module, you will explore the primary domains of interpreting activities — (consecutive, liaison/dialogue interpreting, and whispering) — in a range of intercultural situations (such as conference interpreting, institutional, public-service and community-based settings). You will learn how to express yourself in interpreting contexts successfully with precision and accuracy.

Module aims - intentions of the module

Professional interpreters must have the skills necessary to succeed in rapid and demanding contexts through two-stage communicative processes (source-speech comprehension and re-expression in the Target Language). This module aims to:

• Familiarise you with the nature and qualities of primary interpreting services (consecutive, liaison/dialogue interpreting, and whispering) in a variety of intercultural settings as well as with techniques and approaches specific to them (including memory, note-taking, summarising and mediating strategies)
• Provide you with the competencies to communicate the information and style of formal and informal speech acts with accuracy, precision and effectiveness in the target language.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate familiarity with the nature and qualities of primary interpreting services, such as consecutive, whispering and liaison/dialogue interpreting
• 2. Demonstrate linguistic, cultural and subject-specific knowledge specific to interpreting as a two-stage communicative process

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Evaluate and apply the tools and the strategies useful to interpreters
• 4. Interpret orally in a range of professional and intercultural contexts, including conference interpreting, institutional, public-service and community-based settings
• 5. Demonstrate independent critical approaches to the material and an understanding of a range of the concepts and terminology of interpreting

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 6. SInterpret a complex spoken argument accurately, precisely and effectively
• 7. Evaluate the techniques and skills necessary for Interpreting, and to present the results of this evaluation to a professional standard

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

• Consecutive, liaison/dialogue interpreting
• Whispering

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 50%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of referral will be capped at 50%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Angelilli, C. (2004). Revisiting the Interpreter’s Role! A Study of Conference, Court, and Medical Interpreting in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
• Hammond. D. (Ed.). (1994). Professional Issues for Translators and Interpreters. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
• Danks, J. et al. (1997). Cognitive Processes in Translation and Interpreting. London: Sage.
• Gillie, A. (2017). Note-taking for Consecutive Interpreting: A Short Course. 2^nd ed. London: Routledge.
• Hale S. (2006). Community Interpreting. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Kalina, S. (2005). “Quality Assurance for Interpreting Processes.” Meta 50:2, 769-84.
  Nolan, J. (2005). Interpreting: Techniques and Exercises. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
• Pöchhacker, F. (2003). Introducing Interpreting Studies. London: Routledge.
• Takeda, K. and Baigorri-Jalón, J. (Eds.) (2016). New Insights in the History of Interpreting. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
• Tipton, Rebecca and Olidierda Furmanek (2016). Dialogue Interpreting: A Guide to Interpreting in Public Services and the Community. London: Routledge.
• Corsellis, Ann (2008). Public Service Interpreting. The First Steps. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE: https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=7804

Key words search

Interpreting, consecutive, liaison