Intercultural Promenades: Journal of Modern Languages and International Studies
Intercultural Promenades : Journal of Modern Languages and International Studies is an interdisciplinary, internationally peer-reviewed publication hosted by the School of Language, Literature and International Studies (SoLLIS) at the University of Central Lancashire in the United Kingdom. Intercultural Promenades is published bi-annually in an open-access electronic format.
School of Language, Literature and International Studies, University of Central Lancashire
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Customization in Designing a Course for Interpreter Training
This article deals with the notion of customization for the purpose of conference interpreter training. Two years ago a new MA level programme in Interpreting and Translation was created at the School of Languages and International Studies, University of Central Lancashire in Preston, UK. At the beginning of the third year of teaching on the programme, the author attempts to analyse the course design to find out if the course can be tailored to meet an individual student’s needs while at the same time ensuring that the students are taught all the key modules. All the modules that are directly relevant to practising interpreting skills are presented and carefully analysed. The author is also interested in the process of intercultural communication between students from the respective language streams on the course (so far, in alphabetical order, Arabic, Chinese, French, German and Polish) and the influence it could have on the students’ co-operation within the course. Another important background question is related to the impact customisation in the course design could potentially have on the alumni’s employability and in what way the programme actually prepares students for their future professional lives. Conclusions and evaluation form the last part of the article.
Breaking Barriers: A Case Study of Culture and Facebook Usage
This case study forms part of an ongoing project to examine how different cultures interact when using social networking websites in higher education; in this case the focus is on Facebook. It explores how current models and ideas continue to evolve and shift as the body of work within this subject area expands. It offers practical advice on how tutors and designers might improve their use of online social networking in the future. It certainly does not contain all the answers. However, it does offer some insights for educationalists and online social network designers. The paper concludes that cultural differences may have an effect on how social media (Facebook) is used. Suggestions are made on how barriers to using Facebook may be overcome, in order to include Facebook in teaching and learning as a useful tool to improve the language, social, and professional skills of International and European students.
The Young Hunger Artists: the Portrayal of Eating Disorders by Contemporary Austrian Women Writers
This paper explores how the abuse of food by young women is an expression of the need for attention as well as a form of self-punishment in psychological and physiological terms. In Anna Mitgutsch’s novel “Die Züchtigung” (“Punishment”, 1985) the daughter attempts to hinder the development of her femininity in order to abate her mother’s increasing hatred of her. At the same time she binges to prove to the rest of society that her mother has been feeding her well and is therefore a ‘good’ mother. In this ambivalent mother-daughter relationship Mitgutsch illustrates how the daughter agonises over her mother’s self-sacrifice, whilst eating/not eating in an almost sacrificial manner. Later she diets to please her lover and in the process becomes anorexic. This obsessive behaviour is the focus of Helene Flöss’ “Dürre Jahre” (“The Lean Years”, 1998). Here the desire to have the figure of a model begins at the age of 15 and ends after 7 years of calorie counting in a psychiatric ward for psychosomatics, where the protagonist weighs just 34 kilos. Both Mitgutsch’s and Flöss’ novels feature young women who suffer at the hands of family and social pressures, so much so that they are prepared to starve and are starved of love.
An overview of articles published in this inaugural issue.
Bridging the gap between Public Service and Business Interpreting:The Way Forward
The need for both public service interpreting (PSI) and business interpreting (BI) is increasing. Globalisation means not only do we need to communicate in order to create business, hence the need for business interpreters, but it has also opened the door for travel and immigration and to a different type of communication, hence the need for public service interpreting services. An interpreter is the link in all the above cases. In the past, the interpreters used were persons who could speak the two languages fairly well (or not, in the case of some of the rare languages). Nowadays, the issues raised in interpreting are so critical, that the need for training is ever increasing. Training needs are different in order to meet the difference in interpreting needs. To ensure appropriate and suitable training approaches, it is vital to determine the difference in training needs, if any. This paper will separate the needs for those receiving public services interpreting and those in conference and business interpreting. It will discuss who receives which type of interpreting and their expectations, and then how the training needs to be tailored to match those needs. Training in both methods include coping techniques, although the focus could be slightly higher in one rather than the other; the vocabulary used and needed would be different as PSI is localised while business interpreting is globalised. The paper will discuss how the emphasis in PSI interpreting is on ethical issues as well as certain vocabulary; eye contact is paramount and the cultural aspect plays a large role in this mix; while in conference interpreting culture does play a significant role but not as much as in PSI where the recipient may be vulnerable and the issues therefore extremely sensitive; training in this is therefore vital. The register used in PSI may be different to that in business interpreting and this is reflected in the training process. Stamina is an aspect that must not be dismissed lightly in business interpreting; the student must be seen as a whole, so stamina building is important in addition to voice training. Finally, the calibre of applicants for PSI courses is different to those going for business interpreting courses; data should be obtained to see if this affects their training requirements and therefore if training schedules need to be adjusted accordingly. Some choose to make the move from PSI to business interpreting, others already move in both domains; however, this must not be mistaken by thinking the move can be smooth in either direction.
Voices of Immigrant Adults: Perspectives and Experiences with French as a Second Official Language in “English-dominant” Canada
The federal government of Canada, through the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (OCOL) (2000), claims that immigration is a challenge to English/French official language duality in Canada. In its promotion of official language duality to potential immigrants, the government cites the advantages of official language bilingualism and the responsibility of immigrants to respect official language duality (OCOL, 2002). Supported by Anderson’s theory of imagined communities (2006), Lave and Wenger’s concept of situated learning (1991) and Bourdieu’s concept of capital (1977), this study reports on immigrant parents’ perspectives and experiences with French as a second official language (FSOL) in parts of English-dominant Canada as reported through interviews with adult immigrants to Canada. More precisely, the immigrants report on their pursuit of official language bilingualism for themselves and their children and their difficulty in accessing its cited advantages. I suggest the government has responsibility in converting its claims of the advantages to official language bilingualism into realities for the immigrant population
Ballard, M. (ed). 2009. Traductologie et enseignement de traduction à l’Université. Artois Presses Université. Artois, France.
This French-language collection of essays deals with the position of Translation Studies (la traductologie) within the contemporary University, and its relationship with the teaching of translation as an activity, for linguistic/pedagogical purposes and/or for the training of future professional translators. It also deals with the uses currently made of translation and Translation Studies within university departments.
Title of PhD thesis: ‘Interpreting Taboo: Developing and Evaluating Strategies in the Transfer of Taboo Language’