Differential Teaching and Authentic Interpreting T...

Differential Teaching and Authentic Interpreting Tasks for Achieving Independent Learning

Constructivism emphasizes that students actively construct knowledge during the learning process，and places them at the core of this process，whilst respecting their individual differences and paying attention to interactive learning methods.Constructivism provides free reign to students’individuality，so that students are autonomous，active and creative.Due to the“diversity”characteristics and individual differences of students in interpreting classes，students’ability to receive interpreting training differs，and a“one size fits all”approach to teaching may cause some students to perform in an unsatisfactory manner，and detrimentally affect their learning.Traditional interpreting textbooks lack local cultural background and the relevant language background knowledge.As such，teachers have to spend a lot of energy to find all kinds of original interpreting materials，which result in a collection of mostly written materials.Additionally，real-life interpreting assignments involve many variables，such as unfamiliar terminology and complex sentence structures，which may frustrate those lacking in skills and competency.Therefore，the instructor is responsible for designing original materials with a step-by-step approach that progress from easier to more difficult interpreting tasks(Li，2019).In an MBL environment，the teacher involves students in contextualized and authentic tasks and provides scaffolding assistance，teacher’s support in the form of task guides，framework or resources to meet students’learning needs and help them achieve learning objectives during their learning process(Li，2015).Therefore，SmartClass+creates a scenario that is as realistic as possible in relation to the current learning theme.For example，it provides links to the designated website and information database，which contains a large number of original realistic language materials，which makes the teaching content intuitive and conducive to students’independent choice of interpreting learning content.

Constructivism’s“problem-solving model”emphasizes breaking learning down into complex and meaningful problem situations.By letting learners cooperate with each other to solve problems with interpreting authenticity，students learn the scientific knowledge that serves as the basis to the issue，and form problem-solving strategies with the ability to conduct self-directed learning(Zhang，2000).For example，there is an assessment that requires students to choose a topic from the“Contextual Studies portfolio”，which is based on the theme of the interpreting unit of guiding students to solve complex and realworld problems.Through collaborative study in groups，students are able to search information pertaining to the topic using background resources in Chinese and English，and organize them into a set of“special research materials”.The final results of the research are then presented to the whole class in the form of speeches by the team.In the process of researching and solving problems，students actively build a generous and flexible foundation of interpreting background knowledge and vocabulary，independently developing effective lifelong problem-solving and learning skills.

The nature of learning in an MBL environment such as SmartClass+makes it possible for students to make their own choices and put them in charge of their learning pace，sequence，and content that best suit their ability(Milheim and Martin，1991).This practice is known as“differential teaching”(Paulsen，2015)，which is an example of a diversified teaching method utilised in teaching with SmartClass+program and enables instructors to assign multiple activities of varying difficulty levels.Students can choose activities suited to their individual ability，therefore having control over their learning progress by allowing custom practice settings，giving students“options to choose easier tasks，such as simulation or press conference”.(P9，interview).SmartClass+prioritizes self-learning，which is one of the fundamental reasons that distinguish it so drastically from traditional learning environments.

Interpreting programs require intensive learning(Sandrelli，2005:3)，such as the working memory strengthening，note-taking，language conversion and other skills，in addition to plenty of self-study.The change to an MBL environment achieves a dynamic integration of sound，form^[5]and meaning at various levels.By simulating an authentic language environment，students can independently listen to/view multimedia teaching materials， and can simultaneously record segments and make their own independent recordings.On SmartClass+，teachers can choose the resources to store on the server，and select multiple mediums such as text，images，audio and video on the network.Teachers can upload and assign multiple tasks of varying levels of difficulty，and not directly instruct students on how to solve the problem but provide them with pointers through a guiding process.Students can select what to practice at a time and a place of their own choosing，according to their skill level and learning progress.For example，the level of difficulty ranges from single sentences(including short and long sentences)，to paragraphs(including short，medium and long paragraphs)，to simulation of press conferences.Students are also able to seek the guidance and assistance of teachers according to the difficulties encountered in their learning，allowing them to achieve true independent learning.For example:in this unit，13 episodes of“Australia Today”(by the ABC-Australian Broadcasting Corporation)are selected as training materials.After editing the audio and text，each 30-minute interview dialogue is equipped with a Chinese-English text transcript.Taking the sixth episode“Where the Jobs Are”as an example，the host of the show encounters geographers，heads of the Melbourne Women’s Professional Health Centre，accountants，university students facing employment，and new immigrants，etc.On-site interviews were conducted on issues such as the need for talent，and the respondent’s different professional identities，conversational expressions，opinions and accents were all to various difficulty levels in listening tasks.This way，students can choose the training method suited to their abilities，by either listening to the text without reading，or reading the English text whilst listening，or reading the Chinese text whilst listening.Alternatively，students can perform“shadowing exercises”，an independent segmented interpreting exercise，or a simultaneous interpreting training activity，in order to take on greater challenges.Multimedia teaching helps to cultivate students’ability of analyzing and summarizing problems，allowing students to build a knowledge system according to their cognitive structure.This student-centered teaching model goes beyond the traditional teacher-centered teaching method，allowing teachers and students to communicate harmoniously on a shared platform，thus forming a principled interaction-based atmosphere，reducing boredom amongst students.Additionally，a sense of tension can promote initiative and enthusiasm of students in learning.