Báo cáo thực tập tốt nghiệp tiếng anh (38)

Vinh University
Foreign languages department
**********
Chu THỊ MAI SƯƠNG

Strategies to improve public speaking skills
in interpreting for forth-year students of
english in vinh university
(CHIẾN LƯỢC CẢI THIỆN KĨ NĂNG NĨI TRƯỚC CƠNG CHÚNG TRONG
MƠN PHIÊN DỊCH CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ TƯ CHUYÊN NGÀNH PHIÊN
DỊCH Ở TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC VINH)

Graduation Thesis
Field: Interpreting

Vinh - May, 2009

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VINH UNIVERSITY
FOREIGN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT
**********

STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE PUBLIC SPEAKING
SKILLS IN INTERPRETING FOR FORTH-YEAR
STUDENTS OF ENGLISH IN VINH UNIVERSITY
(CHIẾN LƯỢC CẢI THIỆN KĨ NĂNG NĨI TRƯỚC CƠNG CHÚNG TRONG
MƠN PHIÊN DỊCH CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ TƯ CHUYÊN NGÀNH
PHIÊN DỊCH Ở TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC VINH)

Graduation Thesis
Field: Interpreting

Student: Chu Thị Mai Sương
Supervisor: Nguyễn Thị Lan Phương, M.A

Vinh – May, 2009
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all, I would like to take this chance to express my deep gratitude to my
supervisor, Ms. Nguyễn Thị Lan Phương, M.A for her invaluable guidance, great sympathy and
enormous patience. I am deeply grateful to her inspiration which has motivated me throughout
the implementation of the project.
In addition, I wish to send my special thanks to all the teachers of the English Department
whose cooperativeness not only provide me with precious information for the completion of the
research but also filled me with renewed energy during my most difficult times. Also, my sincere
thanks would go to the forth-year students of the English Department participating in the study.
They do play a critical role in the success of this paper.
Furthermore, I am especially thankful to my parents and my close friends, who have
consistently encouraged and supported me in carrying out the project.

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ABSTRACT
When communication has become more and more important to people all over the world
and English is the international language, it is urgent and common that there are more people
who speak English fluently. However, not all people can use English as their second language.

Interpreting was born from the necessaries of communicating between two or more languages
speaking people. It is not easy to be a good and skillful interpreter because interpreting is a major
that needs a lot of skills and need much hard-working. This research is an attempt to investigate
the real situations forth-year students of English in Vinh university practice their public speaking
skills in interpreting. The triangulation of the questionnaires with students has revealed much
useful information on the importance, self evaluation and problems in public speaking skills in
interpreting of students nowadays. This analysis will help students to improve their public
speaking skills in interpreting as well as gives teachers insights their students’ level and method
of practicing.

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LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
Figure 1: Responses to the question “What do you think about public speaking skill in
interpreting?”
Figure 2: Students’ feeling when interpreting in front of many people
Figure 3: Responses to the question number 11 in the survey: “Do you contact the speaker
before interpreting?”
Figure 4: Percentage of students who contact speaker before interpreting get prepared in
knowledge and skills
Figure 5: Responses to the question number 3 “How is your voice when interpreting?”
Figure 6: Responses to the question number 4: “How is the volume of your speaking when
interpreting?”
Figure 7: Students’ speed of speaking self-evaluation
Figure 8: Responses to the question number 6: “How often do you vary your tone when
interpreting?”
Figure 9: Responses to the question number 7: “How do you use facial expression when
interpreting?”
Figure 10: The way students keep eye-contact when interpreting.

Figure 11: Data of how students use gesture when interpreting.
Figure 12: Data about method to improve public speaking skill in interpreting outside class
Chart 1: Listening process
Table 1: A summary of the students’ demographic background

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PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the Study
The profession of an interpreter is a very old one, which came into existence
when the first contacts were established between human groups speaking different
languages. It has been also one of the finest professions since they established a closer
understanding of one another. By eliminating the barrier that separates them, the
interpreter directly ushers men and women into the thoughts of others, and thus performs
the function of an intermediary, enabling their minds to achieve intellectual
communication.
Indeed, interpreting plays an important role in the world today, it helps people to
communicate across the language barrier, making people closer as mentioned above.
Nevertheless, interpreting is a challenging job, because it requires competence in
both source language and target language. The English learner must reach to advanced
level if he wants to do the interpreting job. In addition to this, his mother tongue must
also be skillful. The reason is that interpreting is transference process. The interpreter’s
work is to transfer speech from one language to another. It is very different from the work
of listening or reading only. For example, in reading, you understand it, it is good enough,
but in interpreting, yourself have to understand it, then you have to convey it in the way
that hearers can understand it without changing its meanings (semantics function) and
better if keeping its equivalents in the another language (structural function)
In interpreting process, public speaking skill plays one of the most important
roles. It is the step that decides whether the speech is successful or not. However, public

speaking is not a skill but an art which causes students of interpreting many difficulties.
During the process of learning English in Vinh university, the author has confronted this
problem, and that is the reason the author chose the topic “Strategies to Improve Public
Speaking Skill in Interpreting for Forth-year Students of English in Vinh University”,

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with the hope that this paper might help the learners in the following courses to overcome
their difficulties in public speaking skill in interpreting.
2. Aims and Objectives of the Study
The study aims to indentify the current situation of the public speaking skill in
interpreting for forth year students of English at Vinh University by seeking answers to
the following questions:
1. What are the attitudes of forth-year students of English in Vinh university toward
public speaking skill in interpreting?
2. How do students prepare themselves before interpreting?
3. How do students self evaluate their public speaking skills in interpreting?
4. How do students practice public speaking skill in interpreting?
Such findings would provide helpful information to evaluate the effectiveness of
the course. Accordingly, implications would be drawn to improve the situation. Finally,
this project can offer useful references including reliable and updated information for
further studies and interested individuals and organizations. Since formal and vigilant
studies on this topic are still in short; this study can be considered a valuable source to
people concerned.
3. Scope of the Study
Within the scope of an undergraduate thesis and the constraints of time and
resources, the researcher only focused on the public speaking skill in interpreting for the
forth-year students of English in Vinh university with the total of 72. The data obtained
might be different when applied to a different sample.

4. Method of the Study
To meet the aims and objectives of the study, quantitative approach was
employed. Student survey questionnaire was the research tool.
Survey questionnaires includes both closed-ended and open-ended questions. The
language of the questionnaires was simple English so that the participants could easily
understand. The terminologies when presented in the questionnaires were immediately
followed by their definitions. Besides, instructions as well as explanations of keys term

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were clearly given in advance, and the researcher was always ready to answer any
questions.
Once collected, the data were collectively analyzed to address the research
questions. Tables, charts and diagrams were used for clearer presentation and
comparison.
5. Organization of the Study
The organization of the study consists of three parts:
Part A: Introduction – presents the rationale, the aims, the scope, the methods and
the organization of the study.
Part B: Development consists of 3 chapters:
Chapter 1: Theoretical Background – provides the literature review of the study,
including definition of key concepts and review of related studies.
Chapter 2: Methodology – describes the participants and instruments of the study,
as well as the procedure of the research. The results of the investigation which present
analyzes and discuss the findings were also presented in this chapter.
Chapter 3: Recommendations – provides the activities to solve the students’
problems discussed in chapter 2.
Part C: Conclusion – summarizes the main issues discussed in the paper states the
limitations and contributions of the research, recommendations as well as some suggested

directions for further studies.
Summary
In this part of the study, the researcher has briefly elaborated on the rationale for
the study, the aims and objectives together with the scope and methods of the study. Also,
an overview of the other chapters was presented, making it easier to follow the rest of the
paper. Generally speaking, these elaborations have not only sketched out the major
contents and structures of the study but will also work as the guidelines for the whole
paper.

PART B: DEVELOPMENT
Chapter 1: Theoretical Background
This chapter will provide a brief overview of the literature on the research topic, thus, lay the
theoretical basis for the whole study. Firstly, a critical explanation of key concept like

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interpreting, speaking skill in interpreting will be given. After that, related studies internationally
and nationally will be reviewed to contextualize the research paper, to discover the research gaps
and hence, to justify the implementation of this study.
1.1 Interpreting
This part will present the definition, types of interpreting, as well as skills needed in
interpreting.
1.1.1 Definition of Interpreting
Interpreting is a very old profession, likely to have come into being when different human
groups speaking different languages felt the need to speak to each other.
Generally, the term “interpreting” refers to the action of transferring the spoken word
from one language (also call the source language- SL) into another language (the target
language- TL) (Working with Interpreter, NAATI, 1990)
Another definition of interpreting provided by Pöchhacker states: “an activity consisting

(mainly) in the production of utterances which are presumed to have a similar meaning and/or
effect as previously existing utterances in another language and culture.” (2004 p.12).
Comparing to the above definition, Pöchhacker’s one has mentioned about the qualities to asses
interpreting that interpreter has to keep meaning and effect. The effect point is a different and
interesting one because from this definition of Pöchhacker, it is understood that interpreter has
not only to be good at languages but has to be good at culture as well.
Besides, Mahmoodzadeh has also given a more detailed definition of interpreting:
Interpreting consists of presenting in the target languages - the exact meaning of what is uttered
in the source language either simultaneously or consecutively, preserving the tone of the speaker
(1992:231). This definition gave another different point, about tone of speaker, but it is not
sufficient enough in meaning compared to Pochhacker’s definition because the speaker’s tone
which mentioned here is not clearly.
1.1.2 General Modes of Interpreting
According to the ways interpreter works, there are 3 modes of interpreting including
consecutive, simultaneous and summary interpreting
1.1.2.1 Consecutive Interpreting

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Consecutive interpreting is the interpreting of passages or groups of a few sentences at a
time. At small gatherings, where there is no booth equipment available, and/or where the
material is confidential, the service available is consecutive interpreting. During consecutive
interpreting, the interpreter listens to a delegate delivering a message in SL, for example in
Vietnamese; at the same time, the consecutive interpreter is taking notes into TL (English) so that
the interpreting takes place during or before the actual note-taking activities. When the delegate
chooses to pause, or when he has finished the entire statement, the consecutive interpreter uses
his notes to deliver the interpreting of the speech presented by the delegate.
In addition to the basic task common to all forms of interpreting activity, consecutive
interpreting is special because of the added factors of the temporal sequence of the translation

and the necessity for additional visual cues such as note-taking. Thus, consecutive interpreting
draws on cognitive faculties of memory and attention which are not typical of other forms of
interpreting.
Dialogue interpreting is a kind of consecutive interpreting. Dialogue interpreting is
basically the interpreting of conversations and interviews, one or two sentences at a time. During
the consecutive interpreting, the interpreter listens to the first speaker delivering his speech, and
takes note (if necessary, especially the data, figure, ect.) in the TL. When he pauses, the
interpreter conducts his interpreting to the second speaker. Then the second speaker delivers his
speech, the interpreter again listens to him, takes notes in the TL; when he pauses, the interpreter
conducts his interpreting to the first speaker again. The interpreting is carried on with the rhyme
of a conversation.
1.1.2.2 Simultaneous Interpreting
In this kind of interpreting, the interpreter transfers the information from the SL into TL
and speaks in the TL while the original speaker is still delivering the SL material. There is only a
slight lag between SL and TL, just long enough for the interpreter to hear and understand the
original (SL) material. This type of interpreting can only be performed by highly skilled and
especially trained simultaneous interpreters using dedicated equipment.
There are two kinds of simultaneous interpreting:
Whispered Interpreting and court interpreting (legal interpreting)


Whispered interpreting: Also known as chuchotage. When equipment for simultaneous
interpretation is not available, "one participant speaks and simultaneously an interpreter

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whispers into the ear of the one or maximum two people who require interpreting


services" (Jones, 1998: 6).
Court interpreting: Also known as legal, judiciary, or forensic interpreting, refers to
interpreting services provided in courts of law and in legal cases of any sort (Gonzalez et
al, 1991)
Legal interpretation refers to interpretation that takes place in a legal setting such as a
courtroom or an attorney's office, wherein some proceeding or activity related to law is
conducted. According to the legal setting, legal interpretation is divided into two kinds:
quasi-judicial interpreting and judicial interpreting which is normally referred to as court
interpreting.

1.1.2.3 Summary Interpreting
Summary interpreting describes interpreting in summary form given at the end of a
presentation. This type of interpreting requires the interpreter at amount of good knowledge of
the field he/she involves in. When the speaker delivers his speech, the interpreter just listens and
takes notes. When the speaker pauses, normally after a short paragraph of a piece of information,
the interpreter starts conducting his interpreting. The interpreting is produced not sentence by
sentence but the interpreter summarizes the general idea of what the speaker says.
1.1.3 Skills needed in Interpreting
Interpreting is a sophisticated and complex task, thus requires many necessary skills. In
this part, skills that needed in interpreting will be presented in order to give a brief overview for
readers to understand more about the qualities that interpreting requires.
1.1.3.1 Listening Skill
What is listening? According to Underwood:“Listening is the activity of paying attention
to what speakers say and trying to work out what they mean. (1989, pp.144) There is a
distinction between just hearing the words and listening for understanding. When interpreters
listen effectively, they work to understand what the speaker is thinking and feeling.
Listening is a three-way process. The sender decides what to say, then sends the message.
Responsibility is then given to the receiver who must understand the spoken words, feelings
conveyed and body language. Good receivers will then give feedback to confirm complete
understanding. The chart below sited from website: />

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Sends Message

Receives Message

Gives Feedback

Chart 1: Listening process
As Gentile et al (1996: 44) has noted, "Effective interpreting requires effective listening
skills." Many authors has defined the specific kind of listening that interpreters perform as
"active listening", and further has pointed out that "[t]his active, attentive listening is quite
different from other forms of listening, and has to be learned by the interpreter" (Jones, 1998:
14).
Listening is the most used interpersonal skill, but the least taught and least understood.
Listening is hard work and requires great commitment, patience and total concentration. When
we listen ineffectively, we fail to understand the entire message and in so doing waste precious
time.
1.1.3.2 Memorizing Skill
Memory plays an important role in learning generally and in interpreting particularly; if
we did not remember anything from our experience, we could not carry out even a simple
conversation, let alone interpreting it into another language.
In discussing the qualifications required for an interpreter, Phelan has mentioned that:
"The interpreter needs a good short-term memory to retain what he or she has just heard and a
good long-term memory to put the information into context. Ability to concentrate is a factor as
is the ability to analyze and process what is heard" (2001, pp.4-5).
The role of long-term memory in interpreting has attracted little research interest. Longterm memory (LTM) is defined by Kintsch (1998, pp.217) as “everything a person knows and
remembers: episodic memory, semantic memory, as well as declarative and procedural
knowledge”. Apart from general role of knowledge use in comprehension, there is no evidence to

date of specific LTM skills in interpreting.
On the other hand, according to Kintsch, short-term memory (STM) is an important part
which includes "all the mental operations related to storage in memory of heard segments of
discourse until either their restitution in the target language, their loss if they vanish from

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memory, or a decision by the interpreter not to interpret them." (1998, pp.224). The idea of
short-term memory simply means that you are retaining information for a short period of time
without creating the neural mechanisms for later recall. The duration of STM is very short, just
up to 30 seconds. Memory in interpreting only lasts for a short time. Once the interpreting
assignment is over, the interpreter moves on to another one, often with different context, subject
and speakers. Therefore, the memory skills which need to be imparted to trainee interpreters are
STM skills.
Among all the skills and techniques which are required for a good interpreter, memory
skill is the first one which should be introduced to trainee interpreters.
1.1.3.3 Note-taking Skill
The interpreter's notes provide support to the memory, when the interpreter has to wait
for the speaker to complete the whole speech, or a substantial part of it, before he or she can start
working into the TL.
According to Luciano, G. & Scimone, E. (1995), there are no rigid rules for note-taking
in interpreting, as the conditions vary with the interpreter's writing habits, previous experience of
note-taking at school or university, languages spoken, etc.
Besides, note- taking is just a supported tool which cannot replace the memorizing
ability. So, it is understood that interpreter who is the best in note taking is not the best
interpreter in the world. However, note taking skill is a very necessary skill in interpreting.
Simultaneous interpreter usually has to work with speech which lasts from 15 to 30
minutes and he usually has just a little of second to write because he has to keep up with speaker.
Note-takings of simultaneous interpreter are often clues to recall, and numbers. For interpreter

who has a deep experience in interpreting note-taking might not be important because when the
speaker stops, the interpreter already has a sufficient version in TL in his mind. However, notetaking is very important to new interpreter who is not very experienced in interpreting.
One problem that interpreter needs to avoid is to take too many notes. Some
inexperienced interpreter writes down almost every word from the speaker which actually is
shorthand writing. Interpreter must remember that note taking in interpreting is only the prompt
signs, association of ideas to help the interpreter easy to recall the information that he has noted
before, not to reproduce the discourse.
1.1.3.4 Transference Skill

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One of the important skills that needed in interpreting is transference skill which consists
of some sub-skills that an interpreter needs to practice such as paraphrasing and simplification.
Paraphrasing is to make a restatement of a text, passage or work giving the meaning in
another form. In interpreting, sometimes the speaker uses or phrases that hard to understand, the
interpreter then has to paraphrase them in order to make them easy to understand.
On the other hand, simplification also is another important skill in interpreting. This is the
skill that helps the interpreter and audience to overcome languages’ difficulties. The interpreter
usually has to use this skill when the speech is too technical or too hard to understand.
1.1.3.5 Public Speaking Skill
Most people associate speaking skills with appearances before large audiences at public
events such as congresses, assemblies, or press conferences. Public speaking is indeed a key
component in the training of all types of interpreters. Weber (1984) has pointed out that even
liaison or community interpreters, who generally interpret in more intimate settings, need to be
able to express ideas well: "Effective speaking skills range from quality of voice to choice of
idiom, vocabulary, phrasing etc. So both what comes out of the mouth of the interpreter and the
way it comes out is important in the overall effectiveness of the interpretation."
In any interpreting situation, an interpreter should not mumble, stutter or speak too
quickly or slowly. It is obviously necessary to have a clear, well-modulated voice and a smooth

style of delivery. Interpreting learners who feel insecure when speaking in public should practice
or join a club to develop their public speaking skills.
1.1.4 Process of Interpreting
The whole process of interpreting is broken down into three stages: listening,
transference and delivery (or understanding, analyzing and re-expressing). The three steps are all
important and un-omitted.
1.1.4.1 Listening
Listening is the first step in the interpreting process, in which the interpreter listens to
what the speaker say in SL. Listening is a highly complex, interactive process by which spoken
language is converted to meaning in the mind. The interpreter must have excellent hearing and
receive the message without interference. This is an important part of the process because if the
interpreter cannot listen to the speaker, the interpreting will fail at the first moment.
1.1.4.2 Transference

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The second step in the interpreting process is transference. This is the most important
stage of the interpreting triangle because misunderstanding will result in a breakdown of
communication. This step happens in the interpreter’s mind. He understands the speech, takes
note and transfers it into TL in his mind.
1.1.4.3 Delivery
Delivery is the final step in the interpreting process. A number of skills and prerequisites,
obtained through study and training, are demanded of an interpreter to carry out the delivery of
the interpretation in a professional way.
Delivery requires a highly fluent public speaking skill. Without this step, the two steps above
are useless. If the audience cannot understand the speaker’s speech, it is the interpreter’s failure.
Delivery need to be clear, brief and adequate in terms of information. This is the most important
step which decides the success of the interpreting.
1.2 Public Speaking Skill

As stated in the aims of the research, public speaking skill will be the focus. Thus, in this
part, researcher will present the brief roles as well as the characteristics of public speaking skill
in general. Public speaking skill in interpreting, accordingly, will be followed in the next section.
1.2.1 Role of Public Speaking Skill
Public speaking is the art of communicating speaker’s opinion and idea to an audience
who is ready to hear. The power of expression cannot be belittled in the least, for it is this
expression of idea and opinion that has been behind revolutions and reforms and has been at the
base of maintaining democracies in the world.
The thinking that only actors and motivational speakers need to be good at talking to an
audience is a mistaken. All professions at some points of time will require everyone to speak
publicly, in the form of making a presentation, addressing a meeting or conference, airing views
generally on a discussion, etc. Hence there is no escape but to get the better of this fear.
Moreover, there is a lot of value addition through public speaking like:
- Enhances your personality growth: There is a sense of self worth when people do
something good and everybody appreciate it. Admiration is a confidence booster and everyone
all needs it. When people applaud speaker’s point of view and the way he presents it, he would
rise in his own eyes and it leads to immense personal satisfaction. Also through systematic
preparation of research organization and conceptualization every speakers are able to put their

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points across effectively and gain audience confidence of the superiors and subordinates
approval.
- Influences the surrounding: From childhood through life, people already make public
speeches as in reciting a poem in school, gathering support from co-workers, voicing views on
national issues or others, everybody say what they think and these thinking influences in society
over and over.
- Professional opportunities: Confidence is the most important factor in becoming a good
public speaker. When speaker feel confident, he definitely captures the other person’s attention.

This is where he opens doors for better professional opportunities. As speaker advances in his
professional hierarchy, he will need to be more influential and inspiring for the people working
around and under him. It is here that his ability to command will be at display and a good
speaker can do it most effectively.
1.2.2 Aspects of Public Speaking Skill
Public speaking can be a nerve-wracking, complex process. However, one important
aspect should never be forgotten: good speakers are made, not born. Even the most polished
public speakers today, whether politicians, motivational speakers, spokespersons, etc., had to
learn and apply the basics of public speaking. Aspect of public speaking skill includes voice,
body language, appearance, attitude and knowledge of speaker.
1.2.2.1 Voice of Speaker
In public speaking of any kind, speaker’s body is his instrument. Using voice correctly is
one of the most important aspects that decide the success of the speech.
The voice has several qualities that vary from person to person, as well as vary within
each person, whether intentionally or by default. The job of the speaker is to vary their use of
these qualities with intention.
The first quality is volume. This is the loudness or softness of the words. In public
speaking, speaker desires to be heard by everyone in the audience in, and he should raise his
volume to emphasize important points.
The second quality is the pitch or the highness or lowness of the words. Speech is
musical. Every voice has a "natural register" meaning the range of notes on the musical scale in
which they most comfortably and naturally speak. Even a person who speaks in monotone still
has pitch, it's just unvarying (and quite boring). The trick for use of voice in public speaking for

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speaker is to vary his pitch enough to keep his audience interested while sticking only to those
notes in his register most pleasing to the human ear. Speaker should avoid excessive pitch,
speaking too high or too low, unless it's briefly and to make a point.

The third quality of voice is the tone. A tone can be harsh and gravelly. Tone can be
lilting and airy. It can be filled with laughter and joy or fear and anxiety, insecurity or
confidence. In order to please the listeners, and appropriate for the content of the speech, speaker
should find a balance of the tone that most natural to him. An educational speech, for example,
should have an easygoing, pleasant, and inviting tone. While a speech at a political
demonstration might be more effective with a bit of anger, provocation, and solidarity in the
tone.
The last quality is the pace or the speed at which the words are spoken. A fast pace at its
best is stimulating and promotes a sense of urgency, and at worst can come off as jittery, unclear,
and aggressive. A slow pace at its best is comforting, relaxing, and contemplative, and at worst
can come across as boring, unprepared, and disinterested.
1.2.2.2 Body Language of Speaker
Recent researches have shown that when people communicate with others, only 7% of
their feelings are conveyed with words, 38% of what people communicate is through their tone
of voice and an amazing 55% is by using body language cited in Lien, T.T. (1998, pp.8). Body
language is what people “say” to one another without the use of words. This non-verbal
communication can come in several forms: eye contact, facial expressions and gesture.
The first aspect in body languages of a speaker is eye contact. In public speaking, eye
contact is a prerequisite for human communication. Eyes can reveal moods and feelings as well
as intentions and interest. For example, if a person is having a one-on one conversation, yet is
looking around and not at the person to whom he or she is speaking, it might tell you that the
sender is more interested in something else.
Another kind of body language is facial expression. The movements of speaker’s eyes,
mouth, and facial muscles can build a connection with his audience. Alternatively, audiences can
undermine his every word. Eye focus is the most important element in this process. No part of
speaker’s facial expression is more important in communicating sincerity and credibility.
Nothing else so directly connects speaker to his listeners-whether in a small gathering or a large
group. Effective presenters engage one person at a time, focusing long enough to complete a

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natural phrase and watch it sink in for a moment. This level of focus can rivet the attention of a
room by drawing the eyes of each member of the audience and creating natural pauses between
phrases. The pauses not only boost attention, but also contribute significantly to comprehension
and retention by allowing the listener time to process the message.
The other elements of facial expression can convey the feelings of the presenter, anything
from passion for the subject, to depth of concern for the audience. Unfortunately, under the
pressure of delivering a group presentation, many people lose their facial expression. Their faces
solidify into a grim, stone statue, a thin straight line where the lips meet. Speaker should try to
unfreeze his face right from the start. For example, when he greets the audience, he should smile.
The speaker will not want to smile throughout the entire presentation, but at least at the
appropriate moments. It's only on rare occasions that may need to be somber and serious
throughout.
And the last one is gesture which means the body movement. Movement can be an
enormously effective way of engaging the audience into your message. Speaker should clean his
stage by removing obstacles, taping wires to the floor, so he will not trip over them.
Using hand is an idea that speaker should think of. Hands do not belong on hips or in
speaker’s pockets or folded across his chest either or held behind his back. Speaker should think
about using them-to help to emphasize a point, to express emotion, to release tension, and to
engage his audience.
Most people have a gestural vocabulary at their disposal. Anyone can all think of a
gesture that supports words such as "short" or "tall;" however, the gestures of everyday
conversation tend to be too small and often too low to use in front of a large audience. Presenters
need to scale their gestures to the size of the room. The most effective gestures arise from the
shoulder, not the wrist or elbow. Shoulder gestures project better across the distance and release
more of the presenter's energy, helping combat any tension that can build in the upper body
(particularly under pressure).
1.2.2.3 Appearance of Speaker
The first audience’ expression on the speaker is very important. The way that a speaker

appears in front of his/her audience makes their audience to pay attention on the speech or not.
Appearance includes speaker’s clothes and making ups.

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The manner in which one dresses tells a little about his or her personality and character. A
speaker should always know his/her situation of speech in order to choose clothes suitably.
Besides, the way he/she makes up has to be different from making up for a singer or
actress. It should be a way that gives audience comfort and sympathy.
1.2.2.4 Attitude of Speaker
This is one of the most important issues in public speaking. The speaker’s attitude will
absolutely be the main factor which makes the speech successful or not.
The speaker may be very confident in himself/herself and about the speech that he/she is
going to make. If he/she is an experienced speaker and the speech is well-prepared, he/she might
be more confident than the others.
On the other hand, some speakers always feel nervous standing in front of audience. This
feeling sometimes ruins the speech. The way to overcome nervous is very important to a public
speaker if he/she wants to be successful.
Besides, standing in front of crowed, speaker should relax himself otherwise he will
forget what he intends to say and destroy his own speech.
In addition to, a speaker should always express his friendliness and politeness during the speech.
This is the way to make his audience comfortable and have good impression on the speaker and
the speech.
1.2.2.5 Knowledge of Speaker
A public speaker must know what his strength and weakness are in order to make his
speech more successful. For example, a speaker’s strength can be his confidence on stage, ability
to solve the problems that can happen during the speech, or ability to attract audience. Some
speakers always feel nervous during first minutes on stage, or some speakers always look at the
note or paper while speaking, these are weak points that speaker must understand and try to erase

them over and over.
Communication skill is a helpful and important aspect for a public speaker to improve.
Being good at this skill, the speaker can use funny stories, proverbs or audio/visual aids for the
speech, it will then be more interesting and attract audience better.
Besides, the speaker should always know the subject that he/she will work on, know the
audience who will listen and watch him/her. These things will help the speaker to understand
about his/her situation, then the speech will be more prepared.

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1.3 Public Speaking Skill in Interpreting
As stated in the aims of the study, public speaking skill will be the focus of the research. In
this part, the researcher will present the roles as well as aspects of public speaking skill in
interpreting.
1.3.1 Role of Public Speaking Skill in Interpreting
As mentioned in above section, we all understand the role of public speaking. Besides
that, an interpreter will be very important to the speaker in situation that he speaks in front of
audience who cannot understand his language. Here, he needs an interpreter, who can transfer his
words, his mind and his purposes.
In three steps of interpreting process, delivery is an un-omitted stage in which public
speaking skill plays the most important roles. Without public speaking skill, the interpreter is
obviously unsuccessful because no one is going to understand the speech.
Undoubtedly, public speaking skill is the skill that an interpreter has to pay most attention
to.
1.3.2 Aspects of Public Speaking Skill in Interpreting
Public speaking skill in interpreting is an important skill which every interpreter must be
well trained from the first lesson of interpreting. In this part, the author would love to clarify the
characteristics of the aspects of interpreting which includes voice, body language, appearance,
attitude and knowledge of an interpreter.

1.3.2.1 Voice of the Interpreter
Apart from the four aspects of a speaker’s voice, which are volume, pitch, tone, and pace,
an interpreter always has to pay attention to another aspect of his voice.
Here as the interpreter is not the main character of the stage his voice has to be suitable
with the speaker’s voice. If the speaker’s voice is a little bit loud, the interpreter cannot speak as
loud as the speaker, otherwise the speech will sound like an argument.
1.3.2.2 Body Language of Interpreter
An interpreter also has to use body language but obviously with a different aims from the
speaker’s. The body language of an interpreter is to make the audience understand more about
the speaker’s speech. Sometimes, the interpreter uses body languages to explain the speaker’s
intention.

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An interpreter should never use body language to attract the audience as a singer or an
actress/actor.
1.3.2.3 Appearance of Interpreter
In an interpreting, the stage belongs to the speaker, and the interpreter is his helper, that
means the interpreter should never be more fascinated than the speaker. An interpreter always
has to take care of his/her clothes. They should never too be attractive but should be formal and
polite.
The position of an interpreter on the stage also is one of the things that should be cared
of. An interpreter’s position on the stage cannot be higher than the speaker’s. The speaker is the
focus and he/she plays the most important role in the presentation. Interpreter is the assistant who
helps them to give an unforgettable and interesting speech. It should never be the interpreter who
acts like the earth’s center on that day, otherwise the speech will be unsuccessful.
1.3.2.4 Attitude of Interpreter
Like a public speaker, an interpreter also should be confident on himself, and on his
ability to do the interpreting job. He should not be nervous in front of the audience otherwise he

will forget what he hears and what he intends to interpret. Moreover, without the interpreter, the
speech will definitely be failed. The interpreter should always realize his role and try his best to
do the job.
On the other hand, an interpreter should also be friendly and polite with the speaker and
audience as well. Being polite and friendly will help him/her to get more confident and the
audience as well as the speaker’s impression on the interpreter will be positive.
Additionally, the interpreter always has to concentrate on the job, and do not ever try to
stand out of relief. They should never dim the speaker out.
1.3.2.5 Knowledge of Interpreter
Different from public speakers, who need to know the ways to use sense of humor,
proverbs, audios/visual aids, people who want to become interpreters must add to them the
ability to recognize the subject matter presented for interpreting and to work competently in it.
To be able to do so, an interpreter must have a wide culture: the larger the culture, the better the
interpreter's chances of success. Ideally, interpreters will be well versed in all current issues
affecting their country at national as well as at international level. They will also have knowledge
of history, geography, economics, politics, medical sciences, law, and other subjects of special

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interest, not least all that concerns government organization and public administration.
Interpreters, however, must display a thorough and accurate knowledge of all subject
matters concerning their work, including the use of appropriate terminology, to reflect their
understanding of the concepts to which it applies.

Summary
This chapter has provided a critical review of literature related to the research topic. Key
terms have been clearly elaborated to lay the theoretical basis as well as to eliminate possible
ambiguity and confusion in later part of the research. The brief review of related studies has also
revealed the research gaps that the study is striving to bridge and justified the significance of the

study.

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
In the previous chapter, a brief overview of the literature on the research topic has
been given, which laid the theoretical basis for the whole study. In this chapter, the method
employed to answer the research questions would be described in details. The participants,
the instruments and the procedure of data collection and analysis would be justified.
Besides, findings and discussions from the survey results would be presented in this chapter.

2.1 PARTICIPANTS
The process of data collection involved in the participation of the forth-year students of
English in Foreign Languages Department in Vinh University.
All students already had, to some extent, background knowledge about speaking skill and
theories in interpreting after their first year. In the second year, they were taught public
speaking skill and interpreting deeply. After the third year, they have had a good training

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about

Excellent

how to

0

conduct a good interpreting in which public speaking skill plays an important role as
delivery part. Thus, the information collected and the recommendations from this study

would be of great meaning and value to assist students in the following courses in their
learning.
In total, 72 students from 2 classes of 46B English of interpreting training in Foreign
Languages Department, Vinh university with varying backgrounds were involved in the data
collection process. The demographic features contributed to maximization of the diversity of
the samples. The participants’ gender, age, time of learning English and their self-assessment
of their mastery in speaking skill and interpreting skill were also taken into consideration.

Table 1: A summary of the students’ demographic background
The gender imbalance of the participant was obvious. However, this proportion
corresponds to the actual percentage of male and female students in the department.
Therefore, this does not mean that the participants chosen were not representative.

2.2 INSTRUMENTS
In order to obtain sufficient reliable and valid data, and to achieve the research objectives,
the survey questionnaire was chosen as the instrument of data collection.
The reason for this choice was that using questionnaires was particularly efficient in
terms of researcher time, effort, and financial resources (Hoang and Nguyen, 2006, p.10). By
administrating a questionnaire, a huge amount of information can be collected from a large
number of people within a short period of time.
Furthermore, the questionnaire construction was made convenient for the data to be
processed. Specifically, the Likert scale was adopted to reveal the participants’ attitudes and
behaviors. The participants only had to select the answer that was closest to their opinions;
therefore, even not very enthusiastic ones could feel comfortable to answer all the questions.
Further information was obtained through the open-ended questions. These features helped
facilitate the data collation and analysis, as well as the comprehensive collection of
information.
The survey questionnaire was designed with 13 questions of which there are 11
multiple choice questions and 2 open questions. The survey questionnaire was designed to

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investigate student’s habits and self evaluation in practicing public speaking skill in
interpreting.

2.3 DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
The procedure of data collection consisted of three main phases as follows:

Phase 1
During this period, the survey questionnaires were designed based on the conceptual
framework established in the Theoretical Background. These forms were then sent to the
supervisor of the researcher for feedback. Besides, the survey forms were piloted on five
voluntary students. Thanks to this step, the layout of the whole questionnaire and the
wording of several questions had been considerably improved to avoid possible ambiguity
and misunderstandings of respondents. Also, the pilot survey highlighted the need to
establish strict supervision and consistent understanding of terms to participants to ensure
the reliability of data collected.

Phase 2
The second phase was to conduct the survey. 72 students from two classes were selected.
The introduction about the study, instructions and definitions of key terms were given
clearly and the researcher was ready to answer any question that arose in order to guarantee
the quality of the information. 64 of 72 questionnaires delivered were returned. This
turnover rate was quite high thanks to careful administration of the survey, which had been
predicted by the researcher.

Phase 3
After the data collection process, the information obtained from the survey
questionnaires was classified according to the research questions. Since previously the

researcher had intentionally arranged the questions in questionnaires corresponding to the
research questions, the task became less complicated.
Consequently, for each research question, participants’ responses were calculated and
transferred into numerical form, for example the percentage of participants who shared
similar ideas or their average rating. The data were then tabulated and charted for clear
presentation and easier comparison and synthesis. Qualitative data like participants’ answers

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to the open-ended questions in the questionnaire were summarized and presented in the form
of quotations when necessary to provide more insights into the issue.

2.4FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
2.4.1 Results and discussion
In this part, the data obtained from the questionnaires will be collectively analyzed and
discussed to address the questions. Due to the constraints of time and resources, some data
obtained would not be included in the discussion but only for the purpose of cross-checking
the information.

2.4.2.1 Question 1: What are the attitudes of forth year students of
English toward public speaking skill in interpreting?
According to the result of question number 1 in the survey, most students realize the
importance of public speaking skill in interpreting.
Survey question 1: What do you think about public speaking skill in interpreting?
□ Important
□ Normal
□ Unimportant

Figure 1: Responses to the question “What do you think about public

speaking skill in interpreting?”

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