Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
Graduate School of Global Studies, International Communication and Interpreting
Tokyo, Japan
School Website
Is your training program Undergraduate or Postgraduate?
Postgraduate
What is the official title of the degree awarded?
Master of Arts
Is your programme part of an international educational network?
Is your programme sponsored financially or pedagogically?
No
Specify which institution(s) sponsor(s) your programme?
Is your postgraduate programme offered every year?
Yes
Are applicants required to have spent time abroad?
No
Must applicants take an aptitude test?
Yes
Is the aptitude test eliminatory?
Yes
Does the aptitude test comprise oral components?
Yes
Does the aptitude test comprise written components?
Yes
Is the test assessed by trainers who are also interpreters?
Yes
What percentage of students passed the aptitude test last year?
Is the Programme Director/Course Leader currently a professional conference interpreter?
Yes
What percentage of interpreting courses is taught by conference interpreters who are AIIC members
1%-25%
Has your staff been trained in how to teach interpreting?
Yes
Did you provide/fund any teacher training for your staff last year?
Yes
What percentage of your teaching staff has received teacher training?
Describe the type of teacher training provided.
Do students receive any information about the short and medium-term market potential for their language combination?
Yes
If yes, when?
generally during classes
How many SEMESTERS long is the training programme?
4
Is the curriculum posted online?
Yes
What is the curriculum's URL?
http://www.tufs.ac.jp/ts/society/tsuruta/
Are courses offered in (long) consecutive?
Yes
Are courses offered in simultaneous?
Yes
How many hours does the curriculum spend on "Professional ethics and working conditions"?
30
How many hours does the curriculum spend on "Interpreting studies (research/theory)"?
30
How many hours does the curriculum spend on "Elocution, diction, voice training"?
30
Do you have a eliminatory mid-course assessment or exams?
Do you use a digital environment in the classroom?
Yes
Which digital tools do you use?
webstreaming & podcasts cassette
What material is used to interpret from?
Do your simultaneous booths comply with international standards, is ISO 2603 for built-in booths or ISO 4040 for mobile booths
Yes
What percentage of students pass?
What out-of-class interpreting opportunities do students have?
What was the average student-to-teacher ratio in your CI classes (interpreting classes only, not lectures)
Is there a maximum class size?
What is the maximum class size?
Are your postgraduate theses openly available to researchers?
Does the program benefit financially from assignments worked by their students?
Do students take their final exam before a panel of examiners/jury?
No
Does the jury include professional conference interpreters who also teach on the programme?
Does the jury include professional conference interpreters acting as external examiners?
No
Does the jury include teachers who are not professional conference interpreters?
Does the jury include other recruiters of conference interpreters?
Does the jury include representatives from international organisations and/or other recruiters of conference interpreters?
Are external jurors' comments taken into account when the jury evaluates candidate's performance?
If a candidate fails the final exams, which tests must be retaken?
only those tests which the candidate failed
How many times may a candidate retake the failed tests?
99
Does your degree/diploma list the language pairs/combinations awarded?
Must candidates pass both consecutive and simultaneous interpreting in all language pairs listed on their degree/diploma?
Does your pass mark correspond to a professional entry standard?
Does your degree/diploma include only "Conference Interpreting" in its title (excluding other subjects)
For the last academic year, how many candidates took their final exam?
9
For the last academic year, how many degrees/diplomas were awarded?
9
For the last academic year, how many degree/diplomas were awarded to candidates taking their final exams for the first time?
9
Do you follow up alumni?
How many students in total have graduated over the last 5 years?
How many of those graduates are currently working as conference interpreters?
Which language combination did your programme include during the last academic year?
AB
Enter EVERY source-target language pair that your programme offers ON A REGULAR BASIS.
Are any languages compulsory? if yes, which?
no
Does your school ALSO offer additional languages which are NOT part of the regular programme as defined here, but for which students may apply?
Are there any regulatory or practical constraints that prevent your from implementing AIIC best practices
We do acknowledge the importance of having native English trainers for the directionality of Japanese into English.\x0dHowever, due to practical constraints of limited availability of native English trainers/interpreters in our language combination, we currently do not have any in our faculty.
Do you have specific needs of trainer's training?
What kind of support would you like to receive from AIIC Training?
All of the above mentioned (e.g. talk to students about AIIC and the profession, participate in exam juries, provide classroom support) would be greatly appreciated. Moreover, training of trainers course is highly useful to which two members of our faculty can personally attest.
If you feel that the phrasing or terminology used in some of the questions do not allow you to describe the circumtances at your school,
or you would like to include other relevant comments, please do not hesitate to provide additional information below:
In the Japanese graduate school framework, our policy is to provide the best training we can for the students, and it is not our intention to select only the successful applicants. Moreover, under the graduate school framework, MA thesis is mandatory in order to receive the degree. We collaborate both within and outside the university to provide as much practicum as we can for our students. That way, the graduates can write and show a list of interpreting experiences when applying for job assignments.