Designed to replicate professional contexts that involved unrehearsed oral presentations for live audiences, this weekly task sees students complete oral performances under simulated conference conditions. In JAPN7200 students listen to a guest speaker and interpret this source material using specialised language interpreting booths located at UQ's St. Lucia campus. Students are marked on how effectively the convey the meaning of what is being said, whether the major points of source material is actuarially conveyed to the target audience, and their use of appropriate linguistic style and register. Students are required to liaise with speakers in advance and are marked (in part) for their professionalism. In JAPN7200, these weekly exercises run in conjunction with a teaching clinic that occurs immediately after the live interpreting forum. This provides students with an opportunity to workshop issues that arose during the exercise, discuss conceptual knowledge that underpins and informs practice, and receive immediate qualitative feedback. Although this example is tailored specifically to language interpreting, this assessment model could be adapted to any courses which seek to develop skills to effectively communicate orally in response to unfolding stimuli, reinterpreting messages for specific client needs, and liaise with stakeholders to deliver specialised oral (or written) outputs.
Details
- CLASS SIZE
- 10-20
- CLASS LEVEL
- Post-graduate
- ASSESSMENT SECURITY
- High security
- TIME REQUIREMENTS
- High time
- GRADUATE ATTRIBUTES
- Effective communication skills
- CONDITIONS
- Identity verified
- FEATURES
- Authentic
- TAGS
- presentation, client liaising, practical exam
Advantages
Builds confidence in oral communication and thus develops skills that directly and indirectly enhance student employability. Through its emphasis on meaning over linguistic or semantic accuracy this assessment gives students an opportunity to effectively display communication skills, creativity, and critical judgment. Well suited to language courses as interpreting helps to develop linguistic proficiency, and any courses seeking to foster professional speaking or interpreting capabilities.
Challenges
In the case of JAPN7200 – all students perform simultaneously meaning that teaching staff cannot listen to every performance in its entirety – this problem can be overcome by recording performances and re-listening to them. It may be challenging to recruit appropriate guest speakers – Staff should organise speakers well in advance, drawing on professional and collegiate networks
Tips for implementation
To avoid subjective biases during the marking process (which can occur when students are graded on their subjective rather than literal interpretations), course staff should be sure to develop clear, well defined criteria and rubrics to ensure equitable distribution of grades.
How it supports academic integrity
This assessment takes place during class time and is therefore identity verified through observation. Students are unfamiliar with the source material prior to the exercise hence there is no possibility of outsourcing any preparation work.
Ms Junko Ichikawa
jichikawa@uq.edu.au