1. Teaching Transferable Skills – The Link between Module and Employability?
Mrs Eva Schumacher-Reid (Vice Master & Senior Tutor, University College)
Dr Philip Bolton (Assistant Principal (Student Support) , St Cuthbert’s Society)
Tuesday 13th October 2016

2. Subject-Specific Skills and Content
Position in Programme
(Curriculum)
Transferable Skills
(Enhancing Employability)

3. The Module: Final-Year Interpreting in German
Subject-specific Skills:
Simultaneous Interpreting
Liaison Interpreting
Consecutive Interpreting
On-Sight Translation
Content:
based on current debates in EU Parliament.

4. Level 4 German: The Curriculum
Level 3—Year Abroad (4 months minimum in German-speaking country).
Consolidates and increases language competence
Supports compulsory core language module.
Introduces high-register vocabulary and grammatical structures.
Introduces European and international politics, and gives insight into function of EU institutions.
Feeds into translation and interpreting at MA level (in Durham and elsewhere).

5. Going Beyond the Curriculum
Teamwork
Note-Taking
Presentation Skills
Stress Management/Confidence Building
Reflective Practice
Enhancing Concentration and Short-Term Memory
Independent Learning
Enhancing Creativity

6. Note-Taking Ideas, not words Links Proper names, numbers, dates, lists
Terms to be transcoded

7. Student Note-Taking
“…guerrilla groups emerged all over the world. Between 1968 and 1988, there were, in total, 120,000 terrorist incidents across Europe, in which 10,000 people died. More than 50% of these took place in Turkey; the remainder mostly in Northern Ireland”.

8. “According to this [The Geneva Convention], terrorism constitutes, and I quote, ‘criminal acts that are directed against a state, and which aim to throw particular people, groups or the population generally into a state of anxiety”.

9. Presentation Skills
‘Delivery’ is worth 20% in the assessment of each exercise.
How to command a room
How to convey confidence
Engagement with audience (eye-contact)
Animation
Projection
Tempo
Register
Professionalism

10. Confidence Building/Managing Stress
100% exam
Spoken assessment
Losing the thread of the text
Syntax (also known as ‘where’s the verb?!’)
Too much vocab!
Time for practice
Code-Switching
Multi-Tasking
Register

11. Reflective Practice
Time constraints: Relies on peer feedback in classroom
Assessing each other’s performance..
Student-led sessions: preparing and recording material, delivering teaching.
Creation of material for others to practise with.
Reflection on own performance; defining their students’ areas for improvement.
Reflection on own concerns or worries about the course.
All work is saved; allows for periodic reflection on progress and boosts confidence.

12. Student/Employer Feed-Back
‘I just wanted to let you know that I have been offered a training contract with Slaughter and May in London. As you probably know this is a ‘magic circle’ law firm which means that it is one of the top five international, commercial law firms worldwide… I thought that you would like to know that the partners who interviewed me were particularly enthusiastic about the fact that I was studying interpreting alongside other more traditional modules. They agreed that the presentation and communication skills together with the need for rapid responses were invaluable generic skills which would be extremely useful in their field of work.’ [Graduate ].