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CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITYMONTEREY BAY

Consecutive Interpretation Training Module

CAPSTONE PROPOSAL

Submitted in partial satisfaction of requirements of the degree of

MASTER OF SCIENCE in

Instructional Science and Technology

Sieun Lee

April 5, 2011

Capstone Approvals: (At least one advisor and capstone instructor should approve)

___________________________ ___________________________ _____________Advisor Name Signature Date

___________________________ ___________________________ _____________Capstone Instructor Name Signature Date

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Table of Contents

1. Executive Summary-------------------------------------------------------------------------3

2. Introduction----------------------------------------------------------------------------------4

a. Background------------------------------------------------------------------------------4

b. Problem Description--------------------------------------------------------------------4

c. Target Audience------------------------------------------------------------------------5

d. Literature Review-----------------------------------------------------------------------6

3. Solution Description------------------------------------------------------------------------7

a. Goals--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7

b. Solution to Fill the Gap----------------------------------------------------------------8

c. Media Components---------------------------------------------------------------------9

d. Anticipated Challenges---------------------------------------------------------------10

4. Methods/Procedure------------------------------------------------------------------------11

a. Instructional Strategy-----------------------------------------------------------------11

b. Steps to Finish the Project------------------------------------------------------------12

5. Resources-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------12

6. Timeline-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------13

7. Evaluation/Testing Plan-------------------------------------------------------------------13

a. Formative Assessment Plan----------------------------------------------------------14

b. Summative Assessment Plan--------------------------------------------------------14

8. References----------------------------------------------------------------------------------16

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Executive Summary

The Capstone project is intended to serve as a self-paced interpreting learning

module for military linguists at the Defense Language Institute (DLI). The project will

replace the existing Translation and Interpretation (T&I) training curriculum that was

designed two years ago for instructor-mediated traditional classroom environment. As

self-paced learning modules, the project is expected to solve the issues including limited

budget and resources, which have delayed the implementation of T&I training at the DLI.

The project will comprise four mini-modules which will cover basic concepts of

interpreting, memory retention, paraphrasing, and note-taking skills. The mini-modules

will heavily include verbal and auditory exercises which are the key characteristics of

interpreting. The modules will be created mainly by Adobe Captivate, and will actively

incorporate various multi-media elements to keep learners engaged.

The goals of the projects are to provide learners with basic knowledge of

interpreting, assist DLI instructors in teaching a course with contents unfamiliar to them,

and to provide flexibility in learning and an alternative method to a human interpreting

practice partner. By using the modules, learners will not have to depend entirely on

instructors, which will in turn lower physiological burden on instructors. Shy learners, in

particular, are expected to benefit greatly from these modules as they can build their

skills by exercising repeatedly using the modules on their own until they feel confident

about performing verbal tasks in front of other people.

Upon completion of the prototype, it will be tried out by selected test users. Pre-

and post-tests will also be administered as a part of the tryout to measure learning gains.

Tryout will also include individual observation to understand how learners interact with

the module. Online survey will be used to measure learners’ reaction to the instruction.

Based on findings from formative assessment, revisions will be made to the module as

well as to the subsequent ones.

Since interpreting performance cannot be measured on a written test format,

summative evaluation will be conducted live individually by human evaluators. Learners

may perform interpreting live, or record their performance and submit the audio for

evaluation. A grading rubric that lays out scoring categories and criteria in detail will be

used by evaluators to ensure inter-rater reliability.

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1. Introduction

a. Background

In 2008, the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC)

initiated a test project of developing Translation and Interpretation (T&I) training

curriculum for its language students. The purpose of the project was to tap into the

possibility of launching T&I training programs to selected military linguists to enable

them to perform basic interpretation and translation tasks between English and the

foreign language of their study. The DLI was hoping to have T&I curriculum developed

with the help of outside sources and use their existing language instructors, who were

mostly not familiar with translation or interpretation, to deliver T&I instruction

internally. Due to the lack of T&I expertise at the DLI’s end, the entire curriculum

development and pilot course delivery were outsourced to the faculty of the Graduate

School of Translation, Interpretation, and Language Education (GSTILE) at the Monterey

Institute of International Studies. The MIIS faculty in four language programs – Korean,

Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic – participated in the 1-year project of developing T&I

training courses and delivered them to the DLI in May 2009. The courses were designed

to be delivered in the instructor-mediated traditional classroom environment.

b. Problem Description

More than a year has passed since the T&I training courses were delivered to the

DLI, but the DLI has not yet implemented the T&I training or taken any action to follow

up the project. According to email communications with then project manager at the DLI,

the institute does not have specific plan to implement the training in the near future.

Although it was not DLI’s official opinion, the project manager stated two major reasons

for non-action: 1) lack of budget, and 2) lack of resources, especially adequate teaching

staff that has enough expertise to teach translation and interpretation. Initially, the DLI

planned to utilize its own instructors to deliver T&I training using the courses developed

by the MIIS faculty. However, most instructors, especially senior members, felt

uncomfortable about the idea of teaching translation and interpretation skills with which

they were unfamiliar. The courses developed by the MIIS faculty were designed for

instructor-mediated learning environment, and thus, they required instructors to

demonstrate significant knowledge and skills during instruction. While the institute

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understands this limitation, due to budget constraints, it cannot hire new instructors who

are capable of teaching translation and interpretation.

The capstone project was envisioned as a potential solution to the above

mentioned problems that make implementing T&I training difficult at the DLI.

Consecutive interpreting learning modules to be developed as the capstone project are

self-paced learning modules which are intended to replace or supplement the existing

instructor-mediated interpretation training courses. The web-based online modules which

include various interactive multimedia components are designed to assist learners step by

step through the process of acquiring necessary skills for interpreting. As compared to

traditional classroom instruction, the online modules provide more flexibility allowing

students to learn where and when they desire and to repeat as many times as they want.

As a result, the modules will minimize instructor intervention in the learning process,

which will contribute significantly to lowering burden on instructors. Also, the institute

will be able to bypass budgeting issue since providing instruction through online modules

will cost significantly less than conducting training through existing instructors or hiring

new teaching staff for the purpose.

c. Target Audience

The target audience is active members of the US Armed Forces military linguists

who have completed the basic course in their choice of foreign language at the Defense

Language Institute Foreign Language Center at the Presidio of Monterey. Students are

taught by highly educated instructors who are native speakers of each language.

Language classes are given five days a week, seven hours a day. All learners have

received high school education, some with a college degree, and are fluent in English.

Age varies among learners, but most are between 25 and 35 years of age. The majority of

learners are men and there is no significant cultural diversity present among them.

Not all students at the DLIFLC are eligible for T&I training. In order for a person

to be able to interpret efficiently between two languages, he/she should demonstrate a

certain degree of mastery in both languages. Therefore, the proposed project will be

targeted specifically at qualified linguists who have achieved a minimum foreign

language proficiency level of 3 or higher (listening and reading) on the Defense

Language Proficiency Tests (DLPT) based on the guidelines of the Interagency Language

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Roundtable (ILR). Although qualified target audience will demonstrates a certain level of

proficiency in speaking, listening, reading and writing, they have not had any systematic

interpretation education and are not familiar with the interpreting mechanism. A

significant imbalance in language proficiency between their A (native) and B (foreign)

languages usually makes it hard for them to perform interpretation from A to B language.

d. Literature Review

Unlike in other areas, the use of advanced technological tools has not been

actively pursued in the field of interpreter education, mainly because of the fact that

interpreting comprises auditory and verbal activities which require heavy human

intervention for guidance and assessment. As a result, most interpreter education

curriculums still rely on a traditional, instructor-centered approach where expert

instructors, as the source of expertise and authority, play the major role of judging and

assessing trainee interpreters’ performance (Hartley et al. 2003).

According to the same authors, however, the acquisition of interpreting skills by

students requires not only such professional guidance during classes, but also extensive

practice hours outside these classroom instructions. Students cannot attain the required

performance standards simply by sitting in classes. To enhance their interpreting

performance, students typically engage in intensive group practice and seek feedback

from their peers. Sandrelli and Hawkinsi (2006) point out that while interpreter training

curriculums unanimously emphasize the importance of students’ autonomous practice as

the key to improving interpreting performance, students, especially beginners, do not

always have access to adequate study support or practice materials. Thus, a number of

researchers including Sandrelli (2005) have examined more extensive use of

technological tools and the development of dedicated computer software for the purpose

of supplementing traditional teaching methods and assisting trainees in making

unsupervised group- and self-practice sessions more productive and useful.

However, the development of such software tools have not shown much progress.

A couple of CAIT(Computer Assisted Interpreter Training) tools have been designed so

far, and one of them was a dedicated interpreter training module called Black Box which

was developed by Melissi Multimedia Ltd (U.K.) in 2002 for the University of Hull.

Unfortunately, Black Box software has not been widely adopted for its limitations. In

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software evaluation sessions organized by the Schools for Interpreters and Translators of

the Universities of Trieste and Bologna, trainees who tested the software suggested

‘improved degree of interactivity’ and ‘inclusion of more extensive resources’ for

improvement (Sandrelli, 2005).

Based on these research, it has become clear that computer assisted interpreter

training tools have great potential to contribute significantly to student learning of

interpreting skills. The remaining task is to enhance the degree of interactivity between

the user and the software as well as among users. Also, it is important for such tools to

include resources of sufficient quantity in order for them to be useful to learners.

2. Solution

a. Goals

The proposed capstone project is expected to serve three key purposes:

1) Provide basic knowledge about interpreting

The project will introduce learners to interpreting. Even without much help from

instructors, learners will grasp the nature of interpreting as a mechanism different than

simple learning of languages, and will have opportunities to practice interpreting between

English and Korean using the modules. Learners will acquire basic interpreting skills that

will help them perform simple interpreting tasks assigned to them in the field.

2) Assist DLIFLC instructors in teaching a course with contents unfamiliar to

them

The DLI plans to utilize its own Korean language instructors to deliver the

interpretation training course to the students. Even though these instructors are competent

language teachers, the vast majority of them have not had formal T&I education, and

therefore, they do not have sufficient knowledge or understanding about the mechanism

of interpreting. Especially in a situation where instructors have to deliver instruction as

non-SMEs, the role of well designed learning modules becomes even more critical to the

success of instruction. Instead of taking full responsibilities of teaching each learning

content themselves, instructors will rather function as facilitators. Relying on useful

resources of self-guided learning modules, they would feel strongly supported through

the course with specific techniques and guidance provided in detail by the modules.

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3) Provide flexibility in learning and an alternative to a human interpreting

practice partner

The project is designed to provide flexibility in learning through the use of

computer-based multimedia platform that is not confined to the instructor-delivered

classroom instruction setting. Unlike the trainer-centered course developed two years

ago, the new web-based modules are designed to help learners exercise enhanced control

of their own learning. Learners can access the modules wherever – either in or out of

classroom- , how much they want, and at times convenient to them. It creates a student-

centered learning environment where learners can pace their own learning depending on

their differing needs and capabilities.

b. Solution to Fill the Gap

The interpreting modules will also provide a solution to a common limitation

experienced by all students who study interpretation; in interpreting, group practice is

very important to improving interpreting performance, and such practices cannot be done

efficiently without a study partner. In general, interpreter trainees are strongly

encouraged to form a small study group in which members take turn to become a

designated speaker to read a text or deliver a speech in the source language for the other

members to practice interpreting into the target language. A significant number of hours

spent on practicing are the key to the success of a student as an interpreter. While practice

partner(s) play such a critical role in improving one’s interpreting skills, in reality, it is

not always easy to find a partner, and even if a student has one, finding a mutually

convenient practice time between the two is often limited. The interactive multimedia

interpreting modules will supplement the role of a human practice partner especially for

learners who do not have a practice partner or those who want to practice more on their

own.

The modules are especially useful for less proficient or shy learners who feel

uncomfortable about performing interpretation in front of other people. Interpreting

almost always involves speaking in front of the audience and the practice items will

provide ample opportunities for them to feel comfortable about speaking in public and

build confidence. Until they build confidence, learners will be able to exercise

interpreting repeatedly on their own using these modules.

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The capstone project will focus mainly on helping learners acquire basic skills

required for performing consecutive interpreting that involves auditory and verbal

activities. It will comprise four modules that cover; 1) basic concepts of interpreting, 2)

memory building exercise, 3) paraphrasing exercise, and 4) note-taking exercise. Three of

the four modules (except for the basic interpreting concept module) will include

demonstrations and multiple practice items in varying topics, which will introduce

learners to key skills they need to master to be able to perform interpreting. Learners will

be guided through the process of acquiring these skills in a scaffold manner. Each module

will begin with a relatively easier task with sufficient guidance and support, and progress

gradually toward more challenging tasks. In the process, scaffolding will be removed

gradually and students will be asked to complete exercise items on their own.

In typical interpreter training curriculums, instructions begin with mono-lingual

exercises especially in the stage of teaching key skills described above. Accordingly, the

scope of the capstone project will be limited to mono-lingual exercises that will ask

learners to perform activities within the same language of English. Learners will listen to

an audio in English and perform required verbal tasks in English.

Each module will include a selection of carefully chosen audio or video materials

that will adequately and effectively assist learners in achieving each learning objective.

This approach is useful especially for beginner interpreters, who usually do not have

much knowledge with regards to what type of materials are really useful for them to

enhance their skills. The target audience of the capstone project is beginner interpreter

trainees who have not had interpreter education before, and thus, this methodology is

expected to prove useful.

c. Media Components

The modules will incorporate various interactive multimedia elements. Upon

clicking of buttons, source texts will be delivered verbally for learners to listen and

perform required tasks. For lower-level tasks at the beginning, relevant visual images or

videos will be presented as the audio plays to assist learners remember key information of

the source text they are listening to. Whenever needed, learners will be able to click

buttons to go back to the previous page, move on to the next page, or return to the main

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menu to choose another exercise. Below is the detailed list of all media element to be

used in the instruction:

Audio

- Background audio

- Voice recordings of the texts

- Audio recording/editing software

Video

- Useful video clips to assist instruction (Either retrieved from the web or created

by the designer using a camcorder)

Images

- Images retrieved from the web (with appropriate acknowledgement) to be used

across the modules, especially for visualization.

- Photos of the designer (or an animated character) to be used for creating a virtual

instructor.

Human Instructor

- Minimum intervention. The role of an instructor is a facilitator throughout the

instruction.

Text

- Written texts prepared for translation exercises and transcripts.

Handwriting simulation

- Livescribe Smartpen and Livescribe Desktop applications to display handwritten

notes on the screen along with audio.

The delivery of the course is completely web-based. The interpreting modules

will be created using Adobe Captivate 5, and the completed modules will be uploaded to

a webpage created exclusively for the interpreting course. For the purpose of the capstone

project, the webpage will be hosted by the CSUMB server. The course webpage will be

created by using Adobe Dreamweaver. Once on the web, the learners will have easy

access to the course and assume learning anytime, anywhere and at their own pace.

d. Anticipated Challenges

One of the biggest challenges anticipated for the project derives from the nature

of interpreting; it involves auditory and verbal activities, and thus, it is hard to assess

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learner performance or give feedback solely within the module without human

intervention. Verbal interpreting performance cannot be measured on written assessment.

Throughout the modules, learners will be asked to perform tasks verbally, but they will

not be able to get instant feedback on how well or poorly they performed. Continuing to

complete practice items without exactly knowing whether or not they are progressing in

the right direction will likely to frustrate learners.

As a solution to this problem, learners will be asked before each practice item to

have a recording device ready and have their performance recorded. Learners will then

listen to their own performance and provide self-assessment to themselves. The recorded

audio can also be sent electronically to instructors who will then provide valuable

feedback and comments electronically. To enhance self-assessment process, learners will

also be provided after each exercise an example of best practice demonstrated by a

professional interpreter in a text or audio format. Learners will then be able to compare

their own audio to the example and make more constructive and detailed assessment of

their own performance. For learning to be successful for students, it is necessary for the

learning modules to make sure that students record their performance. The chance of

using an audio recording device will increase if a recording function is seamlessly

incorporated into the modules, but within the current scope of the project and limited

resources and skills, such a solution is unattainable. Instead, learners will be constantly

reminded for each practice item to record their own performance.

3. Methods/Procedure

a. Instructional Strategy

The key instructional strategy employed in designing this course is to keep the

modules dynamic and interesting, while avoiding the overuse of multimedia decorations.

For example, various images will be presented on the screen while a source text is being

played, so that learners can easily associate and recall the contents of the text they hear.

For voice recording, multiple native speakers of English will be used to read the texts to

add variations and liveliness to the modules.

The practice items will be carefully arranged in a manner that transitions

progressively from very easy to more difficult tasks, so that every learner will experience

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a sense of achievement at the beginning. The purpose of this approach is to stimulate

learners’ interest in interpreting and make them want to challenge further.

Throughout the course, special attention will be paid to encourage learners to

actively engage in verbal activities of interpreting. While learners hardly need to speak or

talk in many self-learning web modules, the proposed interpreting modules require

learners’ active participation in verbal activities. In case the modules are used within the

classroom under the supervision of an instructor, the instructor will work as a facilitator

who will make sure that learners complete activities verbally. Some passive learners will

choose not to attempt their own interpretation when given a chance to practice on their

own. Instead, they will simply listen to the texts and think about possible interpretation

only to themselves without verbalizing it. The key to the successful learning of

interpretation depends heavily on how much learners practice verbalizing interpretation.

b. Steps to Finish the Project

As of March 30, 2011, two of the four modules have been developed. They are

still in their prototype phase, and will be subject to usability testing between April and

May. Based on information and tester feedback gathered through the usability testing,

revisions will be made to these modules and the remaining modules will be developed

accordingly in a format consistent to the previous module.

4. Resources

Resources needed to complete the project are listed below. Most hardware

equipments and software applications including Adobe Captivate 5, the main tool to be

used to create modules, have been either purchased already or available freely online.

The only device that is needed at present is Livescribe Smartpen and specially designed

dot paper to be used along with the Smartpen. Instead of purchasing it, this costly device

($200 +) can be rented from the CSUMB’s TechRent store at $5 per week.

Other financial costs will include monthly subscription fee of $25 for Lynda.com,

the website that provide extensive tutorials and technical supports for various software

applications including Captivate and Dreamweaver. Although there are many free

software tutorials available online, Lynda’s tutorials are of much more superior quality

and provide more extensive knowledge about software in a systematic manner. The total

subscription fee needed for completing the project is estimated at about $75. Also needed

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are gift items, such as chocolate candies, to be given to testers as a token of appreciation

for their time. A total of six testers have been currently contacted and arranged, and the

costs for the gifts will be about $60. The total costs for the completion of the project are

estimated at $145.

Hardware

Computer

Camcorder

Tripod

Livescribe Smartpen

Dot paper for Smartpen

High performance headset

Introduction to Conference Interpretation (Reference book, by Jeonghwa

Choi)

Software

Adobe Captivate 5

Adobe Dreamweaver

Microsoft Word 2007

Microsoft Excel 2007

Microsoft Windows Moviemaker 7

Livescribe Desktop Application for handwriting recognition

File format converter software

Native speakers of English (for voice recording of English texts)

5. Timeline

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Gather bilingual texts/content materials

Write transcript /storyboarding

Develop website organization scheme

Develop minimodule on Captivate

Design a webpage and load module

Conduct alpha testing/expert review

Revision

Conduct beta testing/revision

1/15/11 2/4/11 2/24/11 3/16/11 4/5/11 4/25/11 5/15/11 6/4/11 6/24/11 7/14/11

Start DateDuration

6. Evaluation/Testing Plan

The assessments for this course will be delivered pre- and post-course in varying

formats. The participant’s assessment results will be carefully analyzed and used to

improve the current and future courses.

a. Formative Assessment Plan

Formative assessment will be performed throughout the entire project period to

identify potential problems and make adequate and timely revisions accordingly. To

understand learners’ language proficiency, readiness, and entry skills for interpreting, a

pre-test will be administered to a group of potential learners. The pre-test will be in the

form of a verbal test during which an audio is played and then the learners are asked to

perform the required task. The pre-test will comprise multiple items to measure all the

skills to be covered by the project. After instruction is delivered, a post-test in the format

identical to the pre-test will be administered to make comparisons between pre- and post-

test scores and measure learning gains.

Also, as soon as the prototype is ready, it will be tried by selected test users who

will test-use the module. The tryout will be conducted on an individual basis during

which the developer will closely observe how learners are using and interacting with the

module. In the process, the designer will be able to detect problems in the modules;

anything that is missing, unclear, inscrutable, inconsistent or boring to the learner, as well

as any implementational issues. Observation checklist will be utilized to make

observation as objective as possible. Upon completion of testing, each learner will be

asked to fill out an online survey which is designed to measure learners’ reaction to the

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module. Revisions will be made to the modules based on findings from pre- & post-test

score analysis, observations, and questionnaire.

b. Summative Assessment Plan

Because of the nature of the subject – interpretation - which is performed verbally

and thus cannot be evaluated by a written test format, evaluation will be conducted

separately from the learning modules. After the course is delivered to the target audience,

summative assessment will be performed in the form of observing learners’ performance

in simulated situations. Learners will be asked to perform as real interpreters in situations

created by the instructional designer. Final performance assessment will be administered

by the DLIFLC language instructors. To ensure maximum validity and reliability in

evaluation, the instructors will use a grading rubric that lays out expected skill levels in

detail for each evaluation point. The results of summative assessment will be used to

measure the efficacy of the current modules, and to remediate on the subsequent modules

to follow.

References

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Hartley, A., Mason, I., Peng, G., & Perez, I. (2003). Peer and self-assessment in

conference interpreter training. Retrieved from:

http://www.lang.ltsn.ac.uk/prf.aspx#lang1

Sandrelli, A. (2005). Designing CAIT(Computer-Assisted Interpreter Training) tools:

Black Box. Paper presented at MuTra Conference on Challenges of

Multidimensional Translation. Saarbrücken, Germany.

Sandrelli, A., & Hawkins, J. (2006). From Black Box to the Virtual Interpreting

Environment (VIE): Another step in the development of Computer Assisted

Interpreter Training. Paper presented at the Conference on the Future of

Conference Interpreting: Training, Technology and Research. London, UK.