Note-Taking Proficiency in Interpreting Teaching: Putting the Note-Taking Fluency Scale to the Test

Abstract

Note-taking skills are critical to consecutive interpreting. As an important construct of translation competence and an essential skill of interpreting performance, note-taking merits rigorous and systematic investigations as well as reliable and valid assessment instruments and procedures. In the present study, we aim to further validate the note-taking fluency scale developed by Zhou and Dong (2019), focusing on four dimensions, the coordination between listening and note-taking, the timing of taking notes, the systematic nature of notes, and the use of notes. We evaluated the note-taking skills of a group of Master in Translation and Interpreting (MTI) students majoring in Chinese-Portuguese interpretation in Macao. The fluency scale was administered twice, at the beginning and the end of the training program respectively. The results corroborated the development of note-taking proficiency along with note-taking training in three cognitively less demanding dimensions, i.e., the timing of taking notes, the systematic nature of notes and the use of notes, while the more “stagnant/attractor” aspect of the coordination between listening and note-taking remained unchanged after several months' training. We conclude the paper by outlining specific pedagogical implications tailor made for the four dimensions of note-taking skills for future Chinese-Portuguese interpreting training.