Pronunciation Training Needs for Chinese and Korean Interpreters-in-Training

Abstract

Professional interpreters working in the English-Korean and English-Chinese combinations work in both directions; they render spoken Korean/Chinese into English and spoken English into Korean/Chinese. Graduate programs in Interpretation Studies (IS) have proliferated in Korea and China and admission to programs in these countries and the United States is competitive; pronunciation accuracy is expected. However, some students fear their speech lacks the desired degree of fluency or accuracy, or they worry that the pressure of interpreting will degrade their pronunciation. Pronunciation instruction addressing the concerns of these advanced language learners should build both their confidence and substantial skills. In this article, we present the findings of an initial needs assessment. Interview data from 9 IS professors suggest that little systematic pronunciation instruction is currently provided, though individual students receive self-study direction. Interview and survey data from 3 IS graduates and 22 Korean and Chinese IS students reveal that their early language study included both intuitive-imitative and analytic-linguistic pronunciation techniques. In the final section of this article we synthesize the findings and propose practices from second language pedagogy and speech therapy that could be incorporated into pronunciation training addressing the specific needs of these language professionals.