FREN3331: FRENCH INTERPRETING

• French Language 2 (FREN2051) OR an equivalent qualification to the satisfaction of the Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

• Modern Languages, Combined Honours and all Joint and 'with' programmes: French Language 4 (FREN3041). Other: see Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative

• Students may take up to a total of two Translation/Interpreting modules in MLAC, Spanish Translation (SPAN3131), French Translation (FREN3051), Specialised Arabic-English Translation (ARAB3041), German Interpreting (GERM3041), French Interpreting (FREN3331) and Russian for Professional Communication (RUSS3381). Students may NOT take both French Interpreting (FREN3331) and German Interpreting (GERM3041).

• To enable students to interpret at a high level between French and English by teaching, simultaneous, consecutive, on-sight and liaison interpreting as well as conference note-taking; to build on translation skills introduced at levels 1 and 2.

• The module is based on a comprehensive set of authentic texts and multimedia materials made available in a dossier and on DUO.
• The dossier contains French and English material on a number of topics based on debates, reports and proceedings of the European Parliament and other international organisations in which French is an official or working language.
• A thorough mastery of the issues covered in this material and the linguistic skills and terminology required to be able to interpret quickly and accurately in a variety of modes between French and English will be acquired.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• By the end of the module students will have an in-depth knowledge of 6 topic areas and an understanding of the central issues involved in the four forms of interpreting (simultaneous, consecutive, on-sight and liaison).
• Students will have acquired a detailed knowledge of terminology relating to each of the topic areas studied and to the language of interpreting and debate more generally.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Students will have developed skills in the four forms of interpreting. They will also have developed the skill of conference note-taking (committing long texts or utterances to paper efficiently and recoverably).

Key Skills:

• Extended development of general oral and communication skills.
• The ability to discuss topical or general issues with a high degree of fluency.

• The module is taught in a language laboratory in groups of no more than 20 students; each group has two hour-long sessions per week.
• A wide variety of approaches and situations is used: students work alone, in pairs or small groups, using the microphone and recording equipment or face to face.
• All the activities will contribute to provide the maximum opportunity for the deployment of knowledge and skills acquired during the course.
• Modes of assessment reflect authentic tasks and situations and are based on authentic materials.

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