COMM 610 Xiaowan Zheng

Action research project conclusion

Based on the practice done in this semester, a few results have been

achieved on my research question How to balance effective listening

with note-taking? Due to the constant training in class and learning

from self-practice, my abilities to take notes and coordinate have been

getting better, thus some results made in the middle of the semester

may not be presented here. However, it should also be noted that

those results made during the process have made crucial contributions

to the final conclusions explained below.

The goal of consecutive interpreting is getting best possible rendition,

and rendition includes content, language use, presentation and form.

Active listening and note-taking affect mostly on the content element.

They do affect more or less on the other two elements, but they

contribute a lot more on the content quality than other qualities. The

first conclusion I get is that for interpreting from B(English) into

A(Chinese), active listening should always get priority. The analysis of

the source text is always crucial in the work, because we convey the

meaning, not the words. Active listening will help me get the logic and

make sure I analyze my required language in the correct way.

 COMM 610 Xiaowan Zheng

However, for interpreting from A(Chinese) into B(English), note-taking

should always take priority. This is because there are no listening and

comprehension problems in my native language (Chinese). As long as I

hear the words, I get their real meanings. Chinese speakers tend to

speak faster and with more content but less grammar rules and logic

than English speakers, so it is crucial to work on into-Englishs note-

taking, especially on those meaning links. I tried to build up a note-

taking system for Chinese source text and worked to internalize

symbols, abbreviations, etc. However, I have to say I am still in my

beginning stage of building up an efficient Chinese note-taking system.

The possible reason is that I have just had Ch>En class for three weeks

and I havent got enough time to practice. Thus, the goal of the next

semester is to work on build up efficient note-taking systems for both

directions (Ch>En and En>Ch).

The last conclusion is a general one: context is the king! The first two

conclusions should be adjusted with the difficult levels of the source

texts. For example, if I get an English source text about Physics (my

major), it is easier than a Chinese text about philosophy. In that case, I

will work harder on my notes and try to render out all the details.

However, if a Chinese speaker has a dialect, I will focus more on the

listening. Factors that may affect include but not limited to speech

rate, terminologies at hand, and familiarity of the area.

COMM 610 Xiaowan Zheng