Prosody instruction for interpreter trainees: Does methodology make a difference? An experimental study

This study investigates the effect of explicit vs.implicit prosody teaching on the quality of consecutive interpretation byFarsi-English interpreter trainees. Three groups of student interpreters wereformed. All were native speakers of Farsi who studied English translation andinterpreting at the BA level at the University of Applied Sciences, Tehran,Iran. Participants were assigned to groups at random, but with equal divisionbetween genders (6 female and 6 male students in each group). No significantdifferences in English language skills (TOEFL scores) could be establishedbetween the groups. Participants took a pretest of consecutive interpretingbefore starting the program. The control group listened to authentic audiotracks and did exercises in consecutive interpreting. The fi rst experimentalgroup received explicit instruction of English prosody and did exercises basedon the theoretical explanation which was provided by their Iranian instructor.The second experimental group received implicit instruction of English prosodythrough the use of recasts. The total instruction time was the same for all thegroups, i.e. 10 hours. Students then took a posttest in consecutive interpretation.The results showed that explicit teaching of prosody had a significantlypositive effect on the overall quality of interpreting from Farsi into Englishcompared with that of implicit prosody instruction. These results havepedagogical implications for curriculum designers, interpreter trainingprograms, material producers and all who are involved in language study andpedagogy.