Psychological prerequisites for improving the oral tranlation activity of students of philological faculty

Размещено на http://www.allbest.ru/

Rivne State University of the Humanities, the translator

PSYCHOLOGICAL PREREQUISITES FOR IMPROVING THE ORAL TRANSLATION ACTIVITY OF STUDENTS OF PHILOLOGICAL FACULTY

Abstract

In the article we define oral translation activity as a process of active, purposeful, language-mediated and situationally determined communication between people with the aim of conveying both the content and the meaning. Translation activity appears for us as the ability of the individual to use all the facts about the language. Our concept of speech activity refers to the simultaneous designation of both the process and the result of language use, as well as the designation of social and individual conditions of this use.

We define oral translation activity as a form of active attitude of the subject of the activity (of a student) to a reality, with the aim of achieving a clearly formulated goal (mastery of an oral foreign language and a translation technique). According to this definition, two components are distinguished in the oral translation activity: a cognitive one and operational type of the activity. The cognitive component of oral translation activity includes mechanisms of internal design (or analytical-synthetic phase) of oral translation activity. The operational component includes mechanisms that implement the sequence of actions of the translator within the phases of oral translation activity.

Considering the activity of subjects of the translation activity, it can be assumed that its structure should include a component that will perform the function of initiating the activity of the individual. Thus, in the translation activity, such a component is communicative motivation. It is motivation that is the mechanism of oral translation activity that leads to the state of the activity of other mechanisms that directly implement the translation activity itself.

In the functional-dynamic plan oral translation includes the processes of listening and speaking. Defining interpreting as the activity makes it much more difficult to understand the content of this process, taking it beyond just speaking and listening. Thus, oral translation activity is, in our opinion, a set of speech operations and speech actions on the part of the speaker and the listener, which is caused by certain needs; it sets a certain goal and it is carried out in specific conditions of its implementation.

Key words: oral translation activity, a cognitive type of the activity, the operational type of the activity, communicative motivation, listening, speaking.

Анотація

ПСИХОЛОГІЧНІ ПЕРЕДУМОВИ ВДОСКОНАЛЕННЯ УСНОЇ ПЕРЕКЛАДАЧОЇ ДІЯЛЬНОСТІ СТУДЕНТІВ ФІЛОЛОГІЧНИХ ФАКУЛЬТЕТІВ

Ернест Івашкевич кандидат психологічних наук, доцент кафедри практики англійської мови та методики викладання Рівненського державного гуманітарного університету, перекладач.

Ми визначаємо усну перекладацьку діяльність як процес активного, цілеспрямованого, опосередкованого мовою та обумовленого ситуацією спілкування людей між собою з метою донесення як змісту, так і смислу. Перекладацька діяльність постає як здатність особистості до використання всіх фактів про мову. Поняття мовленнєвої діяльності у вченого відноситься до одночасного позначення і процесу, і результату використання мови, а також позначенню соціальних та індивідуальних умов цього використання.

Психолого-педагогічний науковий підхід визначає усну перекладацьку діяльність як форму активного ставлення суб'єкта діяльності (студента) до дійсності, спрямовану на досягнення чітко сформульованої цілі (опануванням усною іноземною мовою та технікою перекладу). Відповідно до цього визначення, в усній перекладацькій діяльності виокремлюють два компоненти: когнітивний та операціональний. До когнітивного компоненту усної перекладацької діяльності відносяться механізми внутрішнього оформлення (або аналітико-синтетичної фази) усної перекладацької діяльності. До операціонального компоненту - механізми, які реалізують послідовність дій перекладача в межах фаз усної перекладацької діяльності. З огляду на активність суб'єктів перекладацької діяльності можна припустити, що до її структури має входити компонент, який виконуватиме функцію ініціації активності особистості. Так, в перекладацькій діяльності таким компонентом є комунікативна мотивація. Саме мотивація є тим механізмом усної перекладацької діяльності, що призводить у стан активності інші механізми, які безпосередньо реалізують саму перекладацьку діяльність.

Показано, що дослідження перекладацької діяльності не має зводитися лише до пізнання лінгвістичних закономірностей цього процесу. Та й сам переклад не можна вважати перенесенням готового мисленнєвого змісту в ході різних змістових перетворень, тому що мовленнєва діяльність не є перетворенням суто готового змісту. Переклад не є процесом мовного перекодування, це - особливий вид психічної діяльності суб 'єкта. Так, ми розглядаємо переклад як процес спеціальної заміни, при якому зберігається смисл та змінюються значення. Доведено, що у функціонально-динамічному плані усна перекладацька діяльність вміщує процеси слухання і говоріння. Визначення усного перекладу як діяльності значно ускладнює розуміння змісту даного процесу, виводячи його за межі лише говоріння та слухання. Так, усна перекладацька діяльність є, на нашу думку, сукупністю мовленнєвих операцій та мовленнєвих дій з боку того, хто говорить і слухає, яка викликається певними потребами; в ній ставиться певна мета і вона здійснюється в конкретних умовах її реалізації.

Ключові слова: усна перекладацька діяльність, когнітивний тип діяльності, операціональний тип діяльності, комунікативна мотивація, аудіювання, говоріння.

Problem's statement

Analyzing the problem of psychological prerequisites for improving the oral translation activity of students of philological faculty becomes impossible without studying the very phenomenon of “translation”, its main types, as well as the general characteristics of the individual's translation activity in the oral form. Oral translation (as it is opposed to the written form) is represented by three types: simultaneous one, translation from the paper media and consecutive translation.

Analysis of recent researches and publications

A simultaneous translation is an oral translation carried out by a person at the same time as the auditory perception of the source text. In scientific literature three types of simultaneous translation are distinguished:

- simultaneous interpretation by ear - it is the most widespread type of simultaneous interpretation, which is used for the implementation of some following technical means, which are necessary: a specially equipped cabin where the interpreter is located (during the conference); a microphone, through which the conference participant receives the text for translation, as well as headphones, thanks to which the translator perceives the original fragment of the speaker's speech (Bredart, 1991; Blagovechtchenski, Gnedykh, Kurmakaeva, Mkrtychian, Kostromina & Shtyrov, 2019);

- simultaneous translation from paper media, which is a marginal type of translation (if we take into account the oral translation of the speaker's speech and the oral translation of written materials). In the case of this type of translation the translator uses the source text in a written form, which he/she received before the speech, and also focuses on the perception of the speaker's oral speech (Bates, Maechler, Bolker & Walker, 2014);

- synchronous reading of pre-translated text. This type of simultaneous translation differs from the previous one. In this case the translator has a completely translated text, and he/she only makes corrections if the speaker changes something during the speech (Chen, 2022; Cilibrasi, Stojanovik, Riddell & Saddy, 2019).

The second type of simultaneous translation is the translation from paper media, namely the one that involves the oral execution of the translation simultaneously with the visual perception of the primary text. In turn, consecutive translation appears as an oral translation of the text after listening to it. One-way and two-way types of sequential translation are distinguished, as well as translation with and without recording (paragraph-phrase, etc.) (Booth, MacWhinney & Harasaki, 2000).

So, the aim of our article was to show psychological prerequisites for improving the oral translation activity of students of philological faculty.

The results of the research and their discussion

Oral translation is characterized by: auditory perception of the message, complex memorization, time-limited switching of the specialist from one language to another, oral and one-time execution of translation, synchronous order of operations (listening and execution of translation for simultaneous interpretation; reading and execution of translation for paper translation; listening and recording, translating and decoding recordings for consecutive translation with recordings).

It is also important that the process of oral translation takes place in rather complex working conditions of the translator's thinking, in situations close to stress, when the amount of incoming information is too large, and the time of translation is limited by the pace of the speaker's speech. In this sense for comparison, written translation is carried out in more relaxed conditions, although it requires a very creative approach and the ability to preserve and convey the author's style. Thus, written translation is characterized by the following features: visual, multiple perception, simple memorization, unlimited switching from one language to another one, multiple written translation, sequential order of operations, etc.

These characteristics are also pointed out by scientists (Arbuthnott & Frank, 2000), who compare written translation, consecutive oral translation and simultaneous translation from the point of view of the degree of fusion of the receptive and reproductive sides of the activity process, the degree productivity and, accordingly, reproduction, as well as, as a consequence, the degree of participation in memory, mnemonic activity of a person.

If we take into account the complexity of the translation activity, then the most difficult type of translation is synchronous, such as: Simultaneous Translation>Consecutive Oral Translation>Reproduction. If we start from the level of productivity, that is, the presence of creative elements, these types of translation is placed in the reverse direction (such as: Simultaneous Translation<Consecutive Oral Translation<Reproduction).

Thus, a distinctive feature of oral translation is the complication of human thinking. Each of the types related to oral translation will differ from others in some certain characteristics.

However, each type of interpretation has rather complex characteristics. A separate exception is translation from paper, under the conditions of which the message is visually and repeatedly perceived and simple mechanical memorization occur, which are not characteristics of synchronous and sequential translations. With regard to other features, all three types of translation under consideration have some concrete identical characteristics.

Oral translation in scientific literature (Mykhalchuk & Ivashkevych, 2019) is considered by taking into account the following approaches: a) linguistic one; b) psychological and pedagogical approaches; c) psycholinguistic one; d) cultural approach.

Let's consider the peculiarities of the translation activity of an individual from the point of view of each of these approaches. The first, the linguistic approach (Alexandrov, Boricheva, Pulvermuller & Shtyrov, 2011), is sufficiently deeply presented in the researches of C.Beauvillain (1994). These scientists consider translation as a process of transformation of a text written in one language into a text written in another language. Thus, E.Batel (2020) emphasizes that to translate means to most adequate ones accurately express by us by the means of one language what has already been expressed by the means of another language. The author singles out two main criteria that distinguish translation from retelling and “adaptation” - such as accuracy and completeness of message transmission.

Scientists (Caramazza, Laudanna & Romani, 1988) define “translation” as the process of transforming a speech expression (a text) written in one language into the expression in another language under the conditions of preservation of the content plan. Thus, the authors propose to consider translation as a certain type of transformation, namely interlanguage transformation. We also have to note that translation is a means of transforming the original message.

However, the study of translation activity should not be reduced only to the knowledge of linguistic regularities of this process. And the translation itself cannot be considered a transfer of ready-made thought content in the course of various content transformations, because, according to the definition of scientists (Aleksandrov, Memetova & Stankevich, 2020), speech activity is not a transformation of purely ready-made content. Translation is not a process of language recoding, it is a special type of mental activity of the subject. Thus, we consider translation as a process of special substitution, during which the meaning is preserved and the meanings change.

We also consider any activity as a form of human activity. Activity, in turn, it is caused by need. The need is not experienced by the subject by itself - it is perceived as a state of discomfort, dissatisfaction, tension and it is manifested in the search activity of a person. In the process of finding solutions, a need meets its subject. From this moment, the activity becomes directed, the need is “objectified”, the need for something is specific, not “in general”, it is appears, and a motive “emerges” that a person may not be aware of. Now it is the time to talk about the activity. It is clearly correlated with the motive, because the motive is that for which the activity is carried out, and the activity is a set of actions that arise as a result of the existence of the motive. We've to note that the act of the activity appears as a tripartite process (Mykhalchuk & Bihunova, 2019). It begins with a motive and a plan and ends with a result, the achievement of a goal; at the center of this process is a dynamic system of actions and operations with the aim at achieving the goal. translation activity oral design

Let's describe the organization and methods of experimental research. At this stage of the experiment we conducted an experimental study with the aim of determining the significance of the identified prerequisites for improving the oral translation activity of students of philological faculty. In the third section, an assessment of the impact of the prerequisites for improving the oral translation activity of students having been identified by us on the productivity of mastering foreign speaking and translation skills are carried out, the results of the empirical study are discussed and interpreted.

640 students of Rivne State University of the Humanities (RSHU), International University of Economics and Humanities named after Academician Stepan Demianchuk (MEGU) took part in the ascertainment part of the experiment, which was organized during 2021-2022. All these students studied at the I-II courses of philological faculties. All groups were formed by us using the random method of control and experimental groups, such as:

- experimental groups:

E1 - 143 students of the first year of studying of the faculty of RSHU;

E2 - 153 students of the second year of studying of the faculty of foreign philology of MEGU;

- control groups:

C1 - 151 students of the first year of studying of the faculty of RSHU;

C2 - 193 students of the second year of studying of the faculty of foreign philology of MEGU.

The first stage of the experimental research has the aim at testing a group of students in order to identify the level of communicative and speaking activity. In order to study the degree of the formation of the sense of a language, we used the Eysenck's Verbal Thinking Test (2022). The justification for the expediency of our choice lies in the fact that developed verbal thinking is recognized by many researchers as an indicator of the presence of a sense of language. In this regard the invariant feature of the sense of the language can be considered the linguistic design of an utterance from the point of view of its grammatical and stylistic correctness. At the same time, the so-called “primary model” of verbal elements appears as a determinant of the mechanism of the functioning of the sense of language, according to which the combination of speech signals and the design of a holistic expression of activity takes a place.

Testing was conducted during school hours in the classroom in small groups of 8-10 students. Each of the participants of the experiment was given a form with a task and a form for recording answers. Before the start our activity, the conditions for completing the tasks were announced and instructions were given regarding the rules for performing the test, such as: a) mandatory independent solution of all tasks; b) completion of work in 30 minutes. The instructions for performing the test contained the rules for solving the verbal problems of the methodology. The latter were divided into the following main types: a) selection of the same ending for several words; b) selection of a word that has an equivalent relationship to two nouns of different classes; c) logical exclusion of one of four words with a broken sequence of letters; d) matching up to two words with a common prefix or ending.

These test tasks reveal all the main aspects of the manifestation of the sense of the language in oral speech: the volume of working out verbal memory, the ability to make probabilistic predictions, the ability to establish independently a certain regularity in a given language, the level of differential sense of language.

At the end of the testing, the correctly solved problems were counted according to the keys of the methodology. The number of solved problems was converted into the Eysenck's Verbal Thinking Test (2022) coefficient (V) according to the parameters specified in the test.

Also, for the purpose of researching the feeling of the language, we used psychodiagnostic method “Exclusion of words” (Mykhalchuk & Ivashkevych, 2022), which allows us to assess the ability of the subject to distinguish essential lexical-semantic features. The technique also has limitations in the time it takes to complete the task, like to the Eysenck's Verbal Thinking Test (2022), it involves checking the speed of the subject's reverse reaction and the rigidity of the individual's verbal thinking.

To conduct the research, the respondents were given pre-prepared forms of the “Word Exclusion Method”. The method consists of 15 series, each of which contains 4 words. The experimenter used a stopwatch and a protocol for recording responses. The research took place in groups of 8-10 people during one day in a classroom.

The evaluation of the results of the verbal and logical test took place according to the scheme:

- according to the keys, the performance of the task was evaluated in such points: for each correct answer - 2 points, for the incorrect answer - 0;

- the task execution time was calculated taking into account the minimal loss of time;

- the integral indicator of verbal-logical thinking (VLT) was calculated, which combines the productivity indicator (PI) and the time for completing the task taking into account the minimum loss of time (LT) according to the formula VLT = PI - LT. Having received individual data according to the indicator of individual-logical thinking, we calculated the average arithmetic value for all the groups as a whole.

At the stage of studying the degree of the formation of communicative and speech activity, we conducted testing using the Cattell 16 PF Questionnaire (Тест Кеттелла 16-PF, 2022). Among all the individual characteristics of the personality, this questionnaire allows us to identify a number of communicative features of the personality that are of interest to us, which determine: a) dynamic characteristics of the communication process: readiness for communication, ease, courage, immediacy in communication, extensiveness, expressiveness, spontaneity and emotional stability in communication and others; b) the content side of communication: the ability to broadcast information, the ability to initiate communication, the activity, the independence, the independence in relations with the partner of communication, the ability to be a leader, attentiveness, the ability to flexibly navigate in various communication conditions. In general, we took into account indicators by factors: A, E, H, F, L, N, Qi. The general level of communicative and speech activity (^K_faa) was calculated by adding up the scores for all indicators.

We will analyze the results we have obtained at the first stage of the ascertainment study according to the selected criteria, such as: a) the level of students' communicative and speaking activity; b) the level of personal and situational anxiety; c) the language hearing level.

The most of the students who took part in the ascertainment study had a low and average level of communicative and speech activity during translation activities (see Table 1). In our opinion, this is explained, first of all, by the insufficiently formed translation skills of listening, which implies the ability to perceive, to recognize, to understand and to interpret the message that comes to the ear, with the aim of conveying the original message in the translation language. Thus, students of both the experimental and control groups have the following skills insufficiently having been formed: sound differentiation within a word; word differentiation in the speech stream; word synthesis into elementary syntactic blocks (phrases); recognizing the grammatical scheme of a sentence, etc.

Table 1

Communicative and speaking activity of students during translation activities (in %)