Developing exercises to improve short term memory for english maors at vinh university

Acknowledgment
For completion of this study, I have received invaluable help and encouragement
from many people.
First of all, I should like to express my deepest thanks to my supervisor, Mrs.
Nguyen Thi Lan Phuong, M.A for her indispensable assistance, excellent suggestion,
precious advice and detailed critical comments, without which I would have not completed
the work.
In addition, I am greatly indebted to Foreign Languages Department for offering me
a great opportunity to carry out my study, to all teachers of the Foreign Language
Department for their support and encouragement.
I would also extend my sincere thanks to the students from class 47B English for
their enthusiasm when participating in my survey and their contributive ideas to my work.
My warmest thanks are due to my parents for their unconditional love, support and
encouragement.
Finally, I would like to thank all my friends who gave me a lot of useful ideas,
good advices, encouragement and spiritual support.
Vinh, May, 2010
Nguyen Thi Hoai

Abstract

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Interpreting is a demanding and challenging job. A professional interpreter must
possess an ability of combining many skills in order to perform the task of orally
transferring the text from one language into another one. Those skill are listening,
note-taking, memorizing, public speaking, etc. Among these skills, memorizing
(especially STM), is a crucial key which decides the success of the interpreting
task. Recognizing the importance of STM in interpreting, the author has carried out
the study with a small survey to investigate the factual state of students’ use of

STM as well as difficulties they encounter when applying STM in interpreting. The
findings of the survey show that most of students still have many problems when
applying short-term memory in interpreting. Thus, some exercises have been
proposed as models for students to practice with the hope to contribute a modest
part in improving STM for interpreting students in Vinh university.

Table of content
Page
Acknowledgement......................................................................................................................
i
Abstract ...........................................................................................................................................
ii
2


Table of contents.......................................................................................................................
iii
List of figures and tables......................................................................................................
iv
List of abbreviations................................................................................................................
v
Part i
introduction
1. Justification of the Study............................................................................................................
2. Aims and Objectives of the Study..............................................................................................
3. Methods of the Study.................................................................................................................
4. Scope of the Study......................................................................................................................
5. Design of the Study....................................................................................................................
Part ii

development

Chapter 1
theoretical background
1.1. Interpreting.......................................................................................................................................
1.1.1. Definition of Interpreting..............................................................................................................
1.1.2. Modes of Interpreting...................................................................................................................
1.1.3. Stages of Interpreting....................................................................................................................
1.2. Short-term memory..........................................................................................................................
1.2.1. Definition......................................................................................................................................
1.2.2. Characteristics of Short-term memory.........................................................................................
1.2.3. Differences Between short-term memory and Long-term memory............................................
1.3. Short-term memory and Interpreting...............................................................................................
1.3.1. Role of STM in Interpreting.........................................................................................................
1.3.2.Short-term memory and Consecutive Interpreting........................................................................
1.3.3. Short-term memory and Simultaneous Interpreting.....................................................................
1.4. Memory Exercises...........................................................................................................................
1.4.1. Types of Memory Exercises.........................................................................................................
1.4.2. Characteristics of Memory Exercises...........................................................................................
1.4.3. Effects of Memory Exercises on Short-term Memory.................................................................
1.5. Types of Memory Exercise to Improve STM in Interpreting.........................................................
1.5.1. Retelling in Source Language......................................................................................................
1.5.2. Shadowing....................................................................................................................................
1.5.3. Mnemonic to Memory..................................................................................................................
1.5.4. Exercises with Interference..........................................................................................................
1.5.5. Memory Games.............................................................................................................................
1.5.5.1. Story Telling..............................................................................................................................
1.5.5.2. Pexeso: Matching Pair...............................................................................................................
1.6. Summary..........................................................................................................................................
Chapter 2

the survey
2.1. Introduction......................................................................................................................................

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2.2. Aims and Objectives........................................................................................................................
2.3. Subject of the Survey.......................................................................................................................
2.4. Instrument........................................................................................................................................
2.5. Procedures........................................................................................................................................
2.6. Findings and Discussion..................................................................................................................
2.6.1. The Factual State of Vinh University Students’ Use of STM.....................................................
2.6.2. Difficulties Encountered When Using STM as an Interpreting Skill..........................................
2.6.3. The Students’ Practice of STM Improvement.............................................................................
2.6.4. The Role of Teacher in STM Application for Students’ Interpreting Skill.................................
2.7. Summary..........................................................................................................................................
Chapter 3 Some suggested exercises for improving short-term
memory
Introduction.............................................................................................................................................
1. Suggested Primary Methods for STM Enhancement.........................................................................
1.1. Auditory STM Improvement...........................................................................................................
1.1.1. Comprehensive Listening.............................................................................................................
1.1.2. Intensive Listening........................................................................................................................
1.2. Visual STM Improvement...............................................................................................................
2. Suggested Advanced Methods for STM Enhancement.....................................................................
2.1. Retelling in Source Language.........................................................................................................
2.2. Shadowing........................................................................................................................................
3. Memory Games...................................................................................................................................
3.1. Storytelling.......................................................................................................................................
3.2. Matching Pair...................................................................................................................................

Summary.................................................................................................................................................
Part iii
Conclusion
1. Summary.....................................................................................................................................
2. Suggestions for Further Studies.................................................................................................
References ......................................................................................................................................
Appendix 1..........................................................................................................................................
Appendix 2..........................................................................................................................................

List of Figures and Tables
Figure 1: Difference types of memory
Figure 2: Major headings of LTM
Figure 3: Gile’s Model Effort for Consecutive Interpreting
Table 1: Average time of storing source language utterance
Table 2: Average length of information that can be remembered best

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Table 3: Percentage of information that remembered after the first listening
Table 4: Percentage of information that remembered after the second listening
Table 5: Percentage of information that remembered after the third listening
Table 6: Way of remembering the source information
Table 7: Time needed to rearrange information before interpreting
Table 8: Time spent to forget information
Table 9: Common situations encountered when applying STM in interpreting
Table 10: Self-evaluation of interpreting work
Table 11: Types of information causing difficulty to remember
Table 12: Reasons of difficulties when using STM in interpreting
Table 13: The frequency of practicing STM in interpreting

Table 14: Methods adopted to practice STM in interpreting
Table 15: The aids supporting for STM when interpreting
Table 16: The kinds of memory exercises usually used in class
Table 17: The effectiveness of memory exercises
Table 18: the reasons choosing the exercise to improve STM
Table 19: The effectiveness of STM training measures
Table 20: Teacher’s role in improving students’ memorizing skill

List of abbreviations
1.
2.
3.
4.

SI: Simultaneous Interpreting
CI : Consecutive Interpreting
STM: Short-term Memory
LTM: Long-term Memory

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Part I . introduction
1. Justification of the Study
In the age of global integration, the need of mutual understanding
among countries in the world is increased. However, there exist
communicative barriers between them because of different languages. Being
considered as bridge of human communicative interaction, the profession of
interpreter is an effective mean to break these barriers. Thus, interpreting is
now becoming an attractive and potential career. However, the work of

interpreting is not simple and always demanding and challenging.
Interpreting consists of such phases as listening, decoding, storing,
transferring and delivering the information. These process are supported by
some interpreting skills such as note-taking skill, memorizing skill, public
speaking skill etc. If one process in this chain does not go smoothly, the
interpretation will be unsuccessful. Among these skills, memorizing is an
important one which help the interpreters store particular data in their mind
and then recall when interpreting. It decides the success of interpreting task.
Therefore, it is understandable when some interpreters who are very skillful
at listening, note-taking public speaking, etc. fail to transfer the source
language text into the target language due to bad memory. In interpretation,
short-term memory is more helpful than long-term memory. It allows
interpreters to hold amount of information in mind and readily available state
for a short period of time.
That is the reason why at the first term of interpreting course, the
interpreting students in Vinh university are taught about short-term
memory’s characteristics and the way to improve it. However, with the
limited time of practice in training curriculum, students haven’t had many
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chances to practice and improve their STM and many students desire to have
more chance to practice and improve their short-term memory. Recognizing
the importance of short-term memory to interpreting, and the need to
improve short-term memory to meet requirement of interpreting task, the
author chooses topic: “Developing exercises to improve short-term memory
in consecutive interpreting for English majors at Vinh university”.
2. Aims and Objectives of the Study
This graduation thesis aims at developing exercises to improve
students’ STM. In order to achieve that aim, the research attempts to:

- Investigate the factual state of Vinh university students’ use of
short-term memory.
- Analyze difficulties they encounter when using short-term memory
in interpreting.
- Evaluate short-term memory

practice and improvement of

students.
-

Propose some kinds of memory exercise to improve short-term
memory.

3. Methods of the Study
To complete the study, quantitative approach was employed with the
use of

the survey questionnaire. Besides, the author also utilize the

following methods:
-

Collecting information from reference books, internet, etc.

- Consulting the supervisor, other teachers in the Foreign Language
Department and classmates
- Consulting the graduation thesis of former students.
4. Scope of the Study
Within the scope of a graduation thesis, the author only focuses on

some exercises of STM which is believed to be in accordance with the need

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of selected students. Further research may be needed in order to reach a
generalization.
5. Design of the Study
The study consists of three main parts:
Part I: Introduction. This contains the justification, aims and objectives,
methods, scope, and the design of the study.
Part II: Development with 3 chapters:
Chapter 1: Theoretical Background. The chapter provides the definition of
interpreting, its modes and phases. The part also introduces the definition of
short-term memory, its characteristics, the differences between short-term
memory and long term memory, the definition of memory exercises, their
characteristics and suggests some kinds of memory exercises to improve
short-term memory in interpreting.
Chapter 2: The Survey. This investigates factual state of students’ use of
short-term memory, difficulties encountered when using short-term memory
in interpreting, students’ practice to improve short-term memory and the role
of teacher in improving students’ short-term memory.
Chapter 3: Some suggested exercises to improve short-term memory. This
part proposes some kinds of exercise to improve short-term memory.
Part III: Conclusion. The part includes the summary and the suggestions for
further studies.
The paper also contains Acknowledgement, Abstract, Table of Contents, List
of Tables and Figures, List of Abbreviation, References and Appendices.

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Part II: development
Chapter 1: Theoretical background

1.1. Interpreting
1.1.1. Definition of Interpreting
There are different definitions of interpreting. Each definition views
interpreting from different corners.
According to Adolfo (1996:5), interpreting means “the oral transfer of
message between speaker of different languages is thus one of the oldest of
human activities, and the role of interpreters is arguably one of the oldest of
profession “.
Ginori and Scimone (1995:11) define “Interpreting is to transfer
orally a text from a language to another”
It is necessary to distinguish interpreting and translation so that the
definition of interpreting is clarified. There are some differences between
interpreting and translation. The first difference is that interpreting is the
spoken transference while translation is the written transference. This means
that interpreter occurs in real time with the presence of the parties for whom
the interpreter renders an interpretation. On the other hand, translation is the
transference of meaning from text to text.
The second difference is the time. Translators have more time to
consider and revise each word and sentence by accessing to resources such
as dictionaries, glossaries, etc. before delivering their translation. Whereas
interpreters have a very short period of time to listen, analyze, transfer and
reconstruct before their interpretation in the target language is delivered.

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As a result, the accuracy in translation is higher than in interpreting.
Translators have time to cover all details of source language text while
interpreters try to achieve total accuracy at all times, so details of the original
speech can be omitted from the interpretation into the target language, with a
pause.
1.1.2. Modes of Interpreting
There are two basic modes of interpreting, consecutive mode and
simultaneous mode.
In consecutive interpreting (CI), the interpreter starts to deliver his
interpretation after the source-language speaker has finished a segment of
speech which is usually a paragraph (from 5-7 sentences) and may last from
a few seconds to several minutes.
CI is usually used in high level political talks, press
conferences, speeches for welcoming address, speeches for banquets, two
language negotiations for industry or business, drafting committees, court
interpreting and tourism with the aim to help people overcome the language
barrier.
In CI, because the interpreter does not need to split his attention
between receiving the message and monitoring the output, as required in
simultaneous, all his attention is paid to analysis and reformulation of the
text thereby producing a more accurate and equivalent interpretation. As
Seleskovitch (1978:28) points out “In consecutive interpreting, the
interpreter has the advantage of knowing line of the argument before he
interprets”. There fore, he can easily understand meaning of the message and
the standard of accuracy is higher.
In simultaneous interpreting (SI), the interpreter renders his
interpretation while still receiving the source utterance. This means that the
interpreter works at the same time with the source language speaker who
speaks continuously into a microphone. The simultaneous interpreter, sitting

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in a sound-proof booth, listens speaker’s voice through an earphone and
transfers speech into target language via the microphone that transmits the
interpreter’s words to those listening that language.
In SI, the interpreter does not have time to analyze the message to
understand the full implications of each sentence, he has to work on the
message bit by bit. Therefore, the standard of accuracy in SI is lower than in
CI and the required profession level in SI is higher than in CI.
Beside simultaneous and consecutive modes, there are some other
modes of interpreting such as whispered interpreting, relay interpreting,
liaison interpreting, sight interpreting. These modes are less popular than the
two above. However, they play important role in breaking language barrier
between two or more different language speakers.
1.1.3. Stages of Interpreting
Interpreting is a quick and complex process. It requires the
combination of many skills at the same time. In order to interpret a text, the
interpreter must be able to receive and understand the incoming message and
then express its meaning in the target language. In order to accomplish this
task, the interpreter must go through an overlapping series of cognitive
processing activities. These include: attending to the message, analyzing the
message for meaning, visualizing the message nonverbally, and finally
reformulating the message in the target language. Those cognitive processing
activities can be summarized as listening skill, analyzing skill, memorizing
skill, transferring skill and reconstructing skill
An interpreter needs to have a good listening skill. This is the first and
the most important because the interpreter can not work if he can not hear
any thing. Analyzing skill helps the interpreter understand whole meaning of
the message. A good memory and effective note system are also important

requirements for the interpreter to recall information.

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Depend on the level of the interpreter, those cognitive processing
activities may happen quickly or slowly. However, they are necessary
activities in interpreting process and they support each other in order that the
interpreter can deliver a final perfect product.
1.2. Short-term Memory
1.2.1. Definition
Before learning short-term memory, it is necessary to understand what
memory is. Memory is the mental activity of recalling information that you
have learned or experienced. That simple definition, though, covers a
complex process that involves many different parts of the brain and serves us
in disparate ways. Memory can be short-term or long-term.
Short-term memory (STM), in term of psychology, is defined as a
conscious, brief process in a person’s mind.
According to Dental Dictionary, STM is the ability to retain and recall
recent events or experiences.
Sports Science and Medicine defines that STM is a component of the
information that must remain for a minimum of 20-30 seconds or
information will be lost.
Those are different definitions, however, all of them refer to the
capacity for holding a small amount of information in mind in a short period
of time and readily available state. STM allows to recall for a period of
several seconds to a minute without rehearsal.
1.2.2. Characteristics of Short-term Memory
The first characteristic of STM is the limited duration. The duration of
STM is believed to be in the order of seconds, usually from 2 to 20 seconds.

Smith (1985:38) notes that “Short term memory…has a very limited duration.
We can remember…six or seven items only as long as we give all of our
attention to them.”

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STM is also characterized by a limited capacity of up to seven pieces
of independent information, depending upon the experimental design used to
estimate capacity. Types of information stored in STM are often sounds,
words and images.
Other characteristic of STM is that the appearance of decay which is
considered as the primary mechanism of memory loss. STM works basically
the same as a Computer’s Ram in that it provides a working space for short
computation and then transfers it to other part of the memory system or
discards.
Short-term memory should be distinguished from working memory
and which refers to structures and processes used for temporarily storing and
manipulating information and sensory memory which stores in very short
period of time. These differences is shown in the figure below:

Information

Sensory
memory

Short-term
memory

Long-term

memory

Loss of information
Loss of information
Within about 1 second
within about 15-20 seconds
Figure 1: Different types of memory
1.2.3. Differences Between Short-term Memory and Long term Memory
Long term memory (LTM), other level of memory, is defined as a
system for permanently storing, managing and retrieving information for
later use. LTM is a learning process in contradiction to STM.
In term of duration, LTM can store information in a longer period of
time than STM. Usually, information stored in LTM can be recalled weeks,
months, even years later. Meanwhile, STM stores items for only around 1030 seconds.
Also, their functions is quite different. LTM is used to recall general
information about the world that learned on previous occasions, specific past
experiences, specific past events, etc. Therefore, the information stored in
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LTM need to be encoded for later recall. Meanwhile the function of STM is
to recall recent events, so STM requires primary information arrangement for
immediate usage.
In terms of structure, LTM is much more complex than STM. In
STM, the brain receives and stores input for a few seconds or a few minutes.
There is no encoding or concentration of information. Therefore, the
information goes “in one ear and out the other”. Where as, the information
stored in LTM needs to be encoded for later recall and requires a conscious
effort to recall, it goes through a complex process. STM is typically divided
up into three major headings: episodic memories, which are personal

memories about experiences got at specific time; semantic memories (factual
data not bound to time or place), which can be everything from the names of
the planets to the color of someone’s hair, etc. and procedural memory,
which involves skills and routines performed so often that they do not
require conscious recall. Those types of LTM are shown in following chart:
LONG-TERM MEMORY

DECLARARIVE (Facts)

Semantic

Episodic

Prez’s name
Word meanings

PROCEDURAL (Skills)

your last birthday
party

Riding a bike
Playing guitar

Figure 2: Major headings of long-term memory
1.3. Short-term Memory and Interpreting
1.3.1. Role of STM in Interpreting

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As mentioned above, STM is an essential part in the process of
interpreting. It is believed that interpreting is an STM-centered activity,
which includes encoding of information from the source language, storing of
information, retrieval of information and decoding of information into target
language. Depend on different modes of interpreting, STM has different
roles to interpreting process, however, its role is undeniable.
The most important thing to the interpreter when he gets input is that
he has to remember what he has just heard. He may have excellent analyzing
skill or skilled public speaking capacity but he will have nothing to say if he
does not remember what he has been heard. Thus, his interpretation fails.
That is reason why Phelan (2001: 4-5) mentions that “The interpreter needs
a good STM to retain what he or she has just heard and a good LTM to put
the information into context. Ability to concentrate is a factor as is the ability
to analyze and process what is heard”.
For the trained professional interpreters, STM is extremely important.
Because they are not allowed to omit any part of source language.
Especially, in court interpretation. It is not acceptable to omit anything
from the source, no matter how fast the source speaks. Thus, not only
transferring skill but also memory is necessary in interpreting.
1.3.2. Short term Memory and Consecutive Interpreting
According to Gile (1992:191, 1995b:179), consecutive interpreting
consists of two phases: a listening and reformulation phase and a
reconstruction phase which are illustrated by the formula:
Phase one: I = L+M+N
I = Interpreting
L = Listening and analyzing the source language speech
M = Short term memory required between the time information is heard and
the time it is written down in the notes.
N = Note-taking

Phase two: I = Rem + Read + P
Rem = Retrieving message from their STM and reconstructing the speech
15


Read = Reading the notes
P = Producing the target language speech

Listening and reformulation phase
Listening and analyzing effort
(listening and analyzing the source language speech)

Short term memory effort
(storing information just received before they are
noted down)

Note-taking effort
(producing note, not a target version of the
speech)

Reconstruction phase
Retrieving and reconstructing effort
(retrieving message from STM and reconstructing the speech)

Reading effort
(reading the notes produced at the first phase)

Producing effort
(producing the target language speech)

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Figure 3: Gile’s Effort Model for Consecutive Interpreting
It can be seen clearly from the chart above that, STM appears very
soon, at the first phase of consecutive interpreting process. It is the link
between what is heard and what is noted down. Thus, the interpreter will
have nothing to take note and then interpret if he can not memorize.
1.3.3. Short-term Memory and Simultaneous Interpreting
SI process is illustrated by Gile’s Effort Model for Simultaneous
Interpreting as follow
SI = L + M + P
SI = simultaneous interpreting
L = Listening and Analysis, which includes “all the mental operations
between perception of a discourse by auditory mechanisms and the moment at
which the interpreter either assigns, or decides not to assign, e meaning(or
several potential meanings) to the segment which he has heard.”
M= Short-term Memory, which includes “all the mental operations related to
storage in memory of heard segment of discourse until either their restitution
in the target language, their loss if they vanish from memory, or a decision by
the interpreter not to interpret them.”
P = Production, which includes “all the mental operations between the
moment at which the interpreter decides to convey a datum or an idea and the
moment at which he articulates (overtly produces) the form he has prepared
to articulate” (1995a:93)
Gile emphasizes that the memory effort is assumed to stem form the
need to store the word of a proposition until the hearer receives the end of
that proposition. The storage of information is particularly necessary in SI,
since both the volume of information and the pace of storage and retrieval
are imposed by the speaker.

In short, Gile emphasizes the significance of short-term memory in
both modes. It is actually one of the specific skills which should be imparted
17


to trainees in the first stage of training. 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.
1.4. Memory Exercises
1.4.1. Types of Memory Exercises
The importance of memory to human is deniable. Especially in the
past, when people lived in ages with no paper, speeches were committed to
memory, lawyers depended on their memory in court, and poets regularly
drew on their enormous powers of recall to recite long passage of verse,
memory was ranked as one of the most important tools. Aware of the
importance of memory, people at that time, especially the Greeks and latter
the Romans developed initial kinds of memory exercise to keep human’s
memory active and sharp like mnemonic, audible, etc.. Those kinds of
exercise have been modified along the time in order that they are appropriate
with the user and bring to the user highest efficiency.
People can improve memory through two main types of memory
exercise, physical exercises and mental or brain exercises. Physical exercises
include some kinds daily exercises such as walking, yoga, etc. Elsayed,
Ismail, and Young (1980) explained the reason why physical exercises can
enhance cognitive function. That is physical exercises help increase
transportation of oxygen and glucose to the brain, as well as increase selfesteem and decrease psychological distress which result in improved
performance on complex psychological tasks.
Mental exercise or brain exercise is another kind of memory exercise
which is very effective to keep memory sharp. They are puzzles, games,
riddles and other brain-challenging

exercises and activities which are

usually used in interpreting training such as retelling in source language,
making story, shadowing, etc. These mental exercises help build new
connections between brain cells and strengthen those that already exist. They
18


exercise and sharpen people’s mind by forcing brain to involve in a series of
complex mental tasks, including mathematics, logical reasoning, pattern
recognition, etc.
1.4.2. Characteristics of Memory Exercises
Both types of memory exercises are simple and easy to practice. For
physical exercises, users can treat them as a task in their routine. They can
practice through morning exercise. For mental exercises, it need more effort
of the users because when practice mental exercises, brain has to involve in
many complex tasks. However, it is not necessary to spend too much time
for practicing, 30 minutes a day for practice is thought to bring the highest
efficiency.
The users are interested in practicing such kinds as puzzle, game or
riddle because these kinds are really interesting. Moreover, they do not
create any pressure of being exercised for users but make them feel relax
and excited.
These types of memory exercises are also proved to be very effective
and they can improve human’s memory in short time. This is clarified in
following part.
1.4.3. Effects of Memory Exercises on Short-term Memory
How effective is memory exercise? This is an interesting topic for
many researchers.

Rogers, Mayer and Mortel (1990) conducted a study with 80
volunteers. They measured cerebral blood flow and cognitive performance
using the radioactive Xe inhalation method and a standardized cognitive
screening. As the results of this study, Roger et al. proposed that regular
participation in physical activity and minimize cognitive decline by
sustaining optimal “cerebral perfusion”.

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Results of the Mac Arthur Foundation Study (Kahn and Rowe, 1998),
the New England Centenarian Study (Perls & Silver, 1999) also confirm the
importance of memory exercises in improving STM.
The researchers have done study on different participants with
different kinds of memory exercise. However, the results of these studies
show that memory exercises have great effects on improving STM.
1.5. Some Types of Exercise to Improve STM in Interpreting
1.5.1. Retelling in Source Language
Retelling in source language is an effective exercise to strengthen
STM. There fore it is used frequently in class practice and most of students
admit its effectiveness in improving STM.
Retelling in source language is a type of memory exercise in which the
instructor either reads or plays a recording of a text of about 200 words for
the trainees to retell in the source language. To promote the effectiveness of
this exercise, note taking should not be allowed. The trainees try to
remember as many details of the source text as possible and then retell it in
the source language. in the first instance, trainees should be encourage to
retell the text in the same words of the original to the largest possible extent.
This type of exercise should be widely used in memory training
because it is quite simple and using this exercise does not require many

materials and teaching aids. Moreover, the exercise can be carried out with
the large number of trainees.
After a certain time of training on retelling, the trainees should use the
following tactics of the exercise to enhance their STM. Those tactics are
Categorization, Generalization, Comparison and Description.
(a) Categorization: This is a type of exercise in which the trainees are

asked to group items of the same properties. The basic principle of
this exercise is to find out the link between items and the logical
order or sequence of items.
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(b)

Generalization: The exercise is designed to draw general
conclusions from particular examples or message from the
provided text. This exercise is useful for holding general content of
the source language text which is long and specific. Generalization
also helps students strengthen the ability to sum up and memorize
the main ideas of speech.

(c) Comparison: focuses on noticing the differences and similarities

between different things, facts and events. This exercise helps
STM distinguish the features of separated objects and rearrange
these objects into categories.
(d)

Description: Practicing this exercise, students are asked to

describe a scene, a shape or size of an object, etc. that are involved
in the source language text.

1.5.2. Shadowing
Shadowing exercise is defined as “a paced, auditory tracking task
which involves the immediate vocalization of auditory presented stimuli,
i.e., word-for-word repetition in the same language, parrot-style, or a
message presented through a head phone” (Lambert, 1899:381).
Practicing shadowing exercise, the instructor either reads or plays a
recording of a text about 200-250 words. The trainees are asked to repeat
every word they have just heard as a parrot. Usually, the trainees start to
repeat after listening 2 or 3 words.
This kind of exercise is recommended for training of Simultaneous
Interpreting, especially the splitting of attention skill and the STM in SI.
Like in SI, the trainees repeat the words nearly at the same time with the
reader. Shadowing is the combination of several tasks such as listening,
speaking and one another skill, usually writing. At the same time, the
trainees record the input, deliver out put and write down a list of number in
definite order. It is the slitting of attention skill.
21


For the first time practicing this exercise, the trainees would find it
impossible because they can not split their attention to many tasks at the
same time. However, after some times of practice, they will find they are
able to practice the exercise and interested to do that. This type of exercise
requires much effort and high concentration ability from the trainees.
1.5.3. Mnemonic to Memory
Another tool which is effective in memory training is Mnemonic to
Memory. In broad term, mnemonic is a device such as a formula or rhyme,

procedure or operation that are used as aids in remembering. In narrow term,
Scrugg and Mastropieri define “a mnemonic is a specific construction of
target content intended to the new information more closely to the learner’s
existing knowledge base and, therefore, facilitate retrieval”.
Mnemonics are methods for remembering information that is
otherwise quite difficult to recall. There are variety of mnemonic techniques,
including keywords, peg words, acronyms, loci method, spelling mnemonic,
phonetic mnemonic, etc. the basic principle of Mnemonics is to use as many
of the best functions of the human brain as possible to encode information.
There are several mnemonic techniques, as mentioned above,
however, five following techniques are usually used to facilitate memory.
(1) Acronyms: are formed by using each first letter from a group of

word to form a new word. This technique is particularly effective
when remembering words in a specified order. Acronyms are very
common in ordinal language and in many fields. Some examples
of acronyms include NBA (National Basketball Association),
LASER ( Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of
Radiation), etc.
(2) Sentence/ Acrostics: Like acronyms, the first letter of each word

is the subject to remember. However, in acrostics technique, these
letters are used to make a sentence. Fore example, you have to
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remember a list of words (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Genus,
Species) which are not related to each other. You’ll pick up such
letters KPCOGS and then make a sentence like: Kings Phil Came
Over for the Genes Special that easier for you to remember.

Acrostics technique is helpful when remembering a list in a
specific order. Moreover, this is less limiting than acronyms.
Because if your words do not form easy-to-remember acronyms,
using acrostics may be preferable.
(3) Rhymes and songs: Rhyme, repetition, melody and rhythm can all

aid memory. This is reason why people in ancient time when there
is no writing can remember long stories and poems. The use of
rhyme, rhythm and repetition helps the story teller remember and
helps too stimulate STM. Following is the poem “30 day hath
September”, a simple example of mnemonic:
30 days hath September
Thirty days hath September,
April, June and November;
February has twenty eight alone,
All the rest have thirsty one,
Excepting leap year that the time
When February’s days are twenty-nine.
(4) Method of Loci: This technique is really useful to remember
speeches with unrelated items. Using this technique requires the
combination of organization, visual memory, and association. The
principle of the technique is that the trainees associate each part of
what they have to remember with a landmark in a route you know
well and then create a vivid visual memory of the “path” and objects
along it, after that visualize it when interpreting. Following is an
example of this technique.
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My own place list is a window in the kitchen, the microwave oven, the

sink, the stove, the refrigerator, the front door, the television and so on.
Now, I can’t normally remember a list of three things by the time I get
to the grocery. If, however, I imagine wads of toilet paper hitting the
window, dish soap boiling in the microwave, cucumbers dancing in the
sink, potato chips burning on the stove, and the refrigerator full of
magazines.
(5) Chunking: This technique is useful for remembering numbers. It is

formed base on the idea that STM capacity limits vary from about
4 to about 9 items. When using “chunking” to remember, users
decrease the number of items held in memory by increasing the
size of each item. Fore example, to remember a phone number like
64831996, you create :chunks” of numbers by breaking that
number string into small string as 64, 83, 19, 96. Thus, instead of
remembering 8 individual numbers, you are remembering 4 large
numbers.
1.5.4. Exercises with Interference
One another type of memory exercise that is advised to apply in class
is exercise with Interference. In this exercise, students will record speeches
with specially “inserted” noises as a background. This is a kind of splitting
attention.
This exercise is provided in order to prevent information loss in the
STM, since the environment and other information present in the storage
may reduce the information encoded. Practicing this exercise will help
students reduce the influence of external environment to STM when
interpreting. Also, this is a very effective method to enable the students to
concentrate and thus strengthen their STM.
1.5.5. Memory Games

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In the previous section, the author has introduced some kinds of
memory exercise. However, exercises usually make the trainees have the
feeling of fear. Exercises create the pressure for the trainees when practicing.
Therefore, in this section, the author introduces the trainees several games to
work out their memory. These games will bring fun and interest for players
while their STM is improved.
1.5.5.1. Story telling
Story telling is the way you make up a story that connects unrelated
items or facts you need to remember, thus making them easier to recall.
Since the items are put in a logical framework instead of in unrelated
association, it is much easier to remember and recall the information.
Story telling is usually used for remembering list of items, objects or
locations. However, number of items or objects is not too large, if not it takes
much time and effort to weave together a story that in cooperates all the
items in a list or even the trainees may find it difficult to make up a story
with too many items. At that time, story telling become a rather complex
task, not a game any more. The game can be carried out individually or in
group, but it is more interesting and effective when using technique in a
group.
1.5.5.2. Pexeso: Matching pair
Pexeso involves matching pair of like cards or tiles from a large group,
when one of each group is hidden. Pexeso can be played with a set of cards
or tiles that includes pairs of picture or numbers. Using half of a pack of
standard playing cards, just remove 2 of the 4 suits, so you have just 2 aces,
2 kings, 2 queens and so on.
Start by laying out 24 of the cards, making sure the 24 cards consists
of 12 matched pairs. Once face down, move the cards around so that you do
not know where any single card is located. Turn one card over at a time, take

a look at the number or object, and then turn it face down again. Repeat this
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