Module GERM3041: INTERPRETING

Department: Modern Language and Cultures (German)

GERM3041: INTERPRETING

Prerequisites

• German Language 2 (GERM2021) or German Language 2 and Year Abroad (GERM2111), or an equivalent qualification to the satisfaction of the Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

Corequisites

• Modern European Languages, Combined Honours and all Joint and 'with' programmes: German Language 4 (GERM3071). Other: see Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her reprentative.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• Advanced Communication Skills in German (LANG3361).

Aims

• To enable students to interpret at a high level between German and English: by teaching conference note-taking, simultaneous, consecutive and on-sight interpreting.

Content

• The module is dossier based.
• Teaching is done in the language laboratory and in ordinary classrooms.
• The dossier contains German and English material on a number of topics of international importance, frequently deriving from the European Parliament.
• Students must acquire a profound understanding of the issues involved and acquire the language in which they are debated or explained, to such a level that they are able to interpret quickly and accurately and in a variety of modes between German and English.
• The only written output involved is a consecutive written translation - when a text between 3 and 8 minutes has to be reproduced as faithfully as possible.

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of the course students should have gained in speed and confidence in the four forms of interpreting, and have built up their lexical expertise, both in a number of specific topic-areas and in the general language of debate.
• They should have developed further the skill of 'conference note-taking', the committing of longish texts or utterances to paper efficiently and recoverably.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The module is taught in a language laboratory, in groups of max. 20 students; each group has TWO hour-long sessions per week. A variety of approaches and situations are used in the laboratory: students work alone, in pairs or small groups, into the microphone or publicly, before their peers. Interpeting can only be learned by constant practice, so that attendance at all the hours scheduled for your group is obligatory. Students are also expected to prepare themselves for classes and participate actively in classroom activities.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Regular preparation for practical interpreting sessions.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University