Abstract
The College of Languages and Translation (COLT) prepares translators and interpreters. Some of the courses that the students take are language courses such as listening, speaking, reading, writing, vocabulary, grammar, and 4 types of interpreting courses (simultaneous, consecutive, liaison and sight). COLT has installed 4 multimedia language labs (MLLs) currently used for teaching listening courses, in addition to interpreting courses. Each MLL consists of a teacher's station and 40 student stations each with a computer, headsets, and an audio box. The MLL software consist of XClass, a multimedia classroom management software, a Digital Language Lab Software (DLL) software for improving the students’ oral listening skills, and WaveLab Mastering and Audio Editing Software. The presentation aims to find out whether the MLL is feasible for interpreting instruction and factors that affect lack of utilization of MLLs in interpreting instruction at COLT based on the instructors' views. A sample of 10 interpreting instructors and an IT specialist was interviewed. It was found that only 20% use the MLL in interpreting instruction (simultaneous and sight interpreting). By contrast, 80% use the MLLs as a classroom, use the speakers, text on a flash drive and MP3 players. They believe that MLLs are not suitable for teaching consecutive and liaison interpreting. They reported hardware and software problems, instructor-related, student-related, and technical support issues. The study concluded that normalization and attitude change towards new technology, hands-on practice, and availability of technical support on site are crucial in adapting the MLLs to interpreting instruction. The study reports results and some recommendations.
Highlights
1 Since the 1950’s, language labs have been popular in many countries for developing language skills of L2 students learning a second/foreign language (L2)
Since MMLs are new at College of Languages and Translation (COLT) and are different from the traditional labs the teachers are familiar with, a study is needed to explore how MMLs are perceived by the COLT faculty and whether MLLS are used in teaching interpreting
The purpose of the present study is to find out whether the multimedia lab (MLL) are feasible for interpreting instruction ay COLT, and to explore the factors that affect the utilization of MLLs in interpreting instruction and the challenges faced in using MMLs in teaching interpreting based on instructors' views
Summary
Due to the importance of language labs, in particular, a review of the literature has shown some studies that focused on the importance of language labs. Despite the importance of language labs in developing students’ skills in L2, further studies investigated the problems and challenges that students and teachers face in using them. Mohanty (2009) reported that in most of the oral assignments, technology-in-use was only limited to PowerPoint presentations about business case-studies She pointed out that for CALL to be successfully implemented, the role of the teacher becomes even more vital. She added that the teacher must work towards effective classroom management that combines accessing multimedia resources along with regular assignments in the form of innovative oral and written tasks. Since MMLs are new at COLT and are different from the traditional labs the teachers are familiar with, a study is needed to explore how MMLs are perceived by the COLT faculty and whether MLLS are used in teaching interpreting.
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