Simultaneous Interpreting in Yemeni Translation Programs: An Evaluative Study

Abstract

This study aimed at evaluating the availability of simultaneous interpreting (SI) courses as a component of UTPs and finding out to what extent they are offered, describing simultaneous interpreting curriculum, exploring the role of simultaneous interpreting courses in developing translation students to become competent simultaneous interpreters, and examining how simultaneous interpreting courses are taught at Yemeni universities. The study was conducted at one public university (Sana'a University) and two private universities (Science and Technology and Modern Science Universities) in Sana'a during the Academic Year 2022/2023. The sample of the study was one hundred ninty-seven 4th level students. A descriptive and analytical approach was adopted for analyzing data in this study. For achieving the study objectives, three tools were used: a checklist, a questionnaire, and an observation. The checklist aimed at investigating the availability of simultaneous interpreting courses as a component of university translation programs and describing simultaneous interpreting courses' curriculum. The questionnaire was designed to explore the role of simultaneous interpreting courses in developing translation students to become competent simultaneous interpreters, while the observation was developed to examine how simultaneous interpreting courses are taught in some Yemeni universities. The findings showed that simultaneous interpreting was available at the three investigated universities as a separate course; it was not available as a part of other courses at the universities under investigation. The findings also showed that students were neutral with their simultaneous interpreting courses provided by translation program that their perception was not very high nor very low. It was also found that simultaneous interpreting courses developed students' competencies more on the transferrable skills. The findings indicated that most students were expected to be paraprofessional interpreters, which means that graduates were able to perform well in non-specialized situation. In light of the findings, the study concluded with some certain recommendation that TPs should make a match between their goals and plans. SI courses' training should focus on achieving intellectual skills and professional and practical skills learning outcomes more and universities should supply TP with the necessary equipment for SI classes such as conference room, lab and booths.