The University of Queensland
School of Languages and Comparative Cultural Studies
St Lucia, Australia
School Website
Is your training program Undergraduate or Postgraduate?
Postgraduate
What is the official title of the degree awarded?
Master of Arts in Japanese Interpreting and Translation
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?
51%-75%
Is the Programme Director/Course Leader currently a professional conference interpreter?
No
What percentage of interpreting courses is taught by conference interpreters who are AIIC members
26%-50%
Has your staff been trained in how to teach interpreting?
No
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?
as a special lecture
How many SEMESTERS long is the training programme?
4
Is the curriculum posted online?
Yes
What is the curriculum's URL?
http://www.uq.edu.au/study/program_list.html?acad_prog=5207
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"?
15
How many hours does the curriculum spend on "Interpreting studies (research/theory)"?
10
How many hours does the curriculum spend on "Elocution, diction, voice training"?
42
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?
interpreter training software in-house online speech banks webstreaming & podcasts recordings (audio/visual) of live speakers
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?
Yes
Does the jury include professional conference interpreters who also teach on the programme?
always
Does the jury include professional conference interpreters acting as external examiners?
Yes
Does the jury include teachers who are not professional conference interpreters?
never
Does the jury include other recruiters of conference interpreters?
never
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?
Yes
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?
1
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?
6
For the last academic year, how many degrees/diplomas were awarded?
6
For the last academic year, how many degree/diplomas were awarded to candidates taking their final exams for the first time?
6
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
Overall I believe we are implementing best practices. \x0d\x0dRegarding the question re whether the director of the program is a practising conference interpreter. I (Y Sayeg) was a practising conference interpreter and AIIC member until diagnosed with cancer 2 years ago. I am still a member of AIIC but for the time being only interpreting at shorter meetings while in the rehabilitation phase. I plan to return to 'normal' workload as soon as my health condition permits.\x0dLikewise, re percentage of courses taught by AIIC members: for the same reason I (Y Sayeg) am teaching a half-time load. Therefore the current percentage of courses taught by an AIIC member is 36%. Once I return to full-time work this percentage will increase to 65%.
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 would be wonderful, but unfortunately probably not feasible given the geographical distance between Australia and Europe (unless we could arrange a video conference or something similar) and our funding situation.
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:
Some clarifying comments:\x0d\x0d1. Admission requirements - a) time spent abroad is not an official requirement but we find that candidates that have not spent time abroad generally do not pass our aptitude test.\x0d\x0db) Aptitude test is not necessarily held on-site at the university, due to the geographical distances involved between Japan and Australia. Local students sit the aptitude test on campus.\x0dJapanese students can sit the test at a centre in Tokyo. Students outside of Tokyo or in other countries , or Australian students outside of south-east Queensland, may sit the test with a supervisor (a university professor) who then sends us the completed test.\x0d\x0d2. Re exams: under university rules, students who fail the interpreting exams may only sit a supplementary exam if this is the only subject they need to pass the degree. Therefore if for example they also failed the translation exam they would not be entitled to sit for any supplementary exams and would fail the degree. However they would be able to graduate with a Graduate\x0dDiploma in Japanese Interpreting and Translation, equivalent to the 1st year of the MAJIT (MA in Japanese Interpreting and Translation) program.\x0d\x0d3. Although we now have only one AIIC member on staff, three of our part-time interpreting instructors are accredited at Conference Interpreter level by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI). (AIIC members are NAATI Senior Conference Interpreters.) For the final exams, the examiners include UQ MAJIT staff members (1 AIIC, 1 NAATI Conference Interpreter) plus one external examiner who is an AIIC member.