ThemethodinTeachingInterpretationCourse

【Abstract】Interpretation Course is a very important course in English major. It’s a important function of English learning. The way to make an easy approach to do interpret well is necessary to be found in teaching. Pair-drill practice is a good way in teaching. And in the essay I will give some experiences in English teaching.

【Key words】Interpretation Course； method； Pair-drill

At the beginning of interpretation-teaching class， students feel very excited and have high expectations. “It stimulates the learners.”（Gower：1987） However，soon they become bored and uninterested because the teachers spend most of their teaching hours talking about interpreting techniques and skills，such as the interpreter’s strong sense of duty，the necessary cautions and encyclopedic knowledge needed of a subject.Under this traditional Chinese teaching method， the students will be immersed in note-taking and purely accepting the teachers’ knowledge and experience. They are not given an opportunity to practice their interpreting skills in realistic situations. In order to develop the students’ competence of interpreting， the teacher designed the pair drill work system to urge the students to do several interpretation exercises both inside and outside classroom. Compared with the traditional teaching method， pair-drill work has the following advantages：

1.It encourages students to talk in English. They also gain practical experience in bilingual translation.

2.It can help students enhance their competence in communication whilst enlarging their English vocabulary.

3.The students practice the interpretation skills and techniques they have acquired the process of pair-drill interpretation exercises.

Ⅰ. A Mode of Interpretation Drill

In oral interpretation teaching， the writer discards the traditional teacher-centred method in the light of his own oral interpretation experience and introduces the student-centred method of tutoring through pair drill work..

What is the pair-drill？

It is a student-centred practice pattern in oral interpretation teaching. “Being teacher-centered generally has a bad name in English language teaching.” The classroom is divided into three sections each contains several pairs of students as indicated in the diagram.The teacher controls what each section does. Tasks are given to each pair in the classroom.

Diagram： location of pairs in classroom

The teacher assigns different tasks to each section. The students do the necessary preparations then do pair-drills in their own seats. The teacher guides and monitors. and if necessary，offers advice in order to complete the tasks. A pair of students as indicated in the diagram.The teacher controls what each section does. Tasks are given to each section comes to the teacher’s desk to perform in their interpretation drills from English into Chinese， and vice versa.Most of the students who attend the class are motivated by，and enjoy pair-drill exercises. “Motivation to acquire a language as a means for attaining instrumental goals： furthering a career，reading technical material，translating and so on.” At first，the exercises are simple.The students learn how to interpret sentences， then， paragraphs.After sometimes，they orally translate a short article or a long paragraph form English into Chinese.Each student taking this course remains motivated throughout a 50-minutes classroom session of instruction and practice.Progress is visible.

Ⅱ. Know-how Begins with Practice

The grounding for pair-drill work lies in the theory of practice.“Knowledge begins with practice and theoretical knowledge which is acquired through practice must return to practice”. “If you want to know the taste of a pear，you must change the pear by eating it yourself.If you want to know the theory and methods of revolution，you must take part in revolution，all genuine knowledge originates in direct experience.” （Mao Zedong： On Practice 1973）.Oral interpretation teaching is，of course，not a revolution，despite the necessary knowledge and skills being obtained from learning and practice activities.Chinese students， in particular， learning English through practice.

“I think that having two languages the best thing foe me is just for use.Then I think learning a foreign language，practice should come before theory.I would stress just talk ，talk a lot.It doesn’t matter if you make mistakes.”. If you want to be an interpreter，you should participate in the interpreting course. The pair-drill work in classroom under the supervision of the teacher， is far away from that which is required of the real need. It is，therefore，also practiced outside the classroom under the teacher’s guidance.After all，practice makes prefect ！ Each student taking this course is encouraged to continue doing pair-drill outside class hours.Everyone wants to “change pear by eating it oneself.”

How to set up the pair-drill exercise？ When preparing material for use in class，the teacher must prepare

thoroughly.He must consider carefully language level and individual involvement of the students. In class，different pairs of students come to the teacher’s platform to present their pair-drills according to the material provided by the teacher.Each pair is allocated 2-3 minutes for their interpretation presented on， both students interpret from English into Chinese and vice versa.

The class listen and watch the pairs presentation attentively，they then give feedback. The feedback includes both the positive and the negative aspects of the presentation.They are corrected uncritically by their peers，which is quite different from the traditional Chinese teaching method in which the teacher always corrects the student’s mistakes openly in class.

The alternative approach encourages students to establish their self-esteem and self-confidence.“Many researchers claim that no successful learning activity can be carried out without some self-esteem，self-confidence and knowledge of the ego. Coopersmith defines self-esteems as ‘personal judgment of worthiness that is expressed in the attitudes that individual holds towards himself’”

When the students have become proficient，the second stage is implemented.At this stage， the students are asked to collect either English or Chinese material themselves.Because each pair wants to give good oral interpretation performance in front of the class. They are highly motivated anf their preparation is thorough.They collect material of different styles. For example，short stories， poems， scientific reports， newsletters， essays and sports and entertainment articles， The pair-drall exercise in the classroom is more successful with this thorough preparation before class.

Interpreting classes are also held in the video-taking classroom.The students are excited and much encouraged by the fact that they can see their own pair-drill on video at a later stage.

Pair-drill exercise in the oral interpreting course gives impetus to some non-English major students to learn the languages. They include the oral English interpreting course in their course-selected timetable. Over the last academic year，30 non-English major students on the course，Their majors included Chinese， Physics， Math ，Art， Chemistry and Computer science.The students are always in high spirits and enjoy acquiring interpreting skills and know-how through doing pair-drill exercise.

References：

[1]Gower，R.Speaking.Oxford University Press，1987.

[2]Michael Crook.My Life in China.English Salon Journal. 2001.8.4.

[3]Gardner，R C.& Lambert.WE.Attitudes and Motivation in Second Language Learning.Rowley：Newbury House Publishers.1972.