Booysen, Lene (2015-04)
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In recent years, there has been an increase in the use of educational interpreting at tertiary institutions in South Africa. Various pilot studies, as well as long-running interpreting projects at North West University, University of the Free State, and the University of Johannesburg have shown that educational interpreting is a viable way of implementing a multilingual language policy and accommodating various languages in the classroom. Educational interpreting has also been researched at Stellenbosch University (SU) in recent years and following the success of a 2011 pilot project at the Faculty of Engineering, the university plans to implement the service in other faculties as well (see Stellenbosch University Language Policy 2014).
The study reported in this thesis was conducted at SU and was interested in the perceptions of interpreting held by the three main role players in the interpreting service. The main focus of the study was on examining perceptions of interpreting held by second year Engineering students who attended lectures in which educational interpreting was used as mode of delivery. The data collected on these perceptions was also contextualised by findings from data collected on students’ language backgrounds (including language use, language attitude and actual and perceived language proficiency). As a secondary aim, the study was interested in the perceptions held by lecturers and interpreters working in the Faculty of Engineering.
Findings indicated that students generally had positive perceptions of interpreting and felt that interpreting was a good way to accommodate various languages at SU. It also proved useful to collect data on students’ language backgrounds in order to contextualise the results of the interpreting questionnaire, as important nuances emerged which were not apparent when these results were considered on their own. This lead to the insight that feedback from students regarding their experience of the interpreting service should be contextualised in terms of their language backgrounds, as this would lead to more valuable and useful feedback.
Finally, lecturers and interpreters both showed positive perceptions of interpreting, with a marked progression in perception of the role of the interpreter in the classroom becoming apparent as experience of educational interpreting increased. The most important suggestion to follow from this finding was that students and lecturers should be made (more) aware of what interpreting entails, how interpreters are trained and how they prepare for lectures, as this should lead to more positive perceptions and increased use of this service.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Opvoedkundige tolking het oor die afgelope paar jaar baie gewild geword by tersiêre instellings. Verskeie loodsprojekte en gevestigde tolkprogramme by NWU, UVS en UJ het bewys dat opvoedkundige tolking ‘n lewensvatbare manier is om meertalige taalbeleide te implementeer, en om die gebruik van verskeie tale binne die klaskamer moontlik te maak. Opvoedkundige tolking word ook by SU nagevors en sedert die sukses van ‘n loodsprojek gedurende 2011 by die Fakulteit van Ingenieurswese het die gebruik van opvoedkunidge tolking in klaskamers begin toeneem.
Die studie het belang gestel in die persepsies van tolking van die drie hoofrolspelers van die tolkdiens. Die primêre fokuspunt van die studie was om die persepsies van tolking van tweedejaar-ingenieurswesestudente wat lesings gehad het met opvoedkundige tolking te ondersoek. Die data wat oor hierdie persepsies ingesamel is, is ook gekontekstualiseer deur bevindinge wat gemaak is uit die beskouing van data oor die studente se taalagtergrond (insluitende taalgebruik, taalhouding, en werklike en waargenome taalvaardigheid). Die sekondêre fokuspunt van die studie was om insigte te verkry oor die persepsies van tolking van dosente by die Fakulteit van Ingenieurswese, asook van die tolke wat die ingenieursmodules getolk het.
Soos reeds genoem het die Fakulteit van Ingenieurswese reeds sedert 2011 sekere modules aangebied deur middel van opvoedkundige tolking. Teen die tyd wat data ingesamel is in die tweede semester van 2013 was dit moontlik om data te verkry van tweedejaar-ingenieurswesestudente wat reeds vir amper twee semesters aan opvoedkundige tolking in hul klaskamer blootgestel is.
Die bevindinge van die studie het oor die algemeen aangetoon dat studente ‘n positiewe persepsie gehad het van tolking, en dat hulle gevoel het tolking ‘n goeie manier is om verskeie tale by die universiteit te akkommodeer. Die gebruik van data oor studente se taalagtergrond as konteks vir die bespreking van die persepsiedata was ook baie handig, aangesien belangrike nuanses vorendag gekom het wat nie duidelik was toe die persepsiedata op sy eie beskou is nie. Dosente en tolke het beide ‘n positiewe persepsie van die tolking getoon, met ‘n duidelike progressie wat plaasgevind het in hul persepsie van die rol van die tolk in die klaskamer namate die omvang van hul ervaring met opvoedkundige tolking vermeerder het.
Please refer to this item in SUNScholar by using the following persistent URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/97131