Interpreting Students’ Use Of Meta-cognitive Strategies During Interpreting Training

In second language learning,meta-cognitive strategy has been proved to be effective in improving students’learning outcomes.However,little research is devoted to its application in the field of interpreting training.This research attempts to fill this gap by investigating the relationship between metacognitive strategy use and the interpreting achievement,the difference among high-achieving and low-achieving students in this regard,in the hope of guiding students to better employ meta-cognitive strategy and achieve training goals.With the guidance from O’Malley and Chamot’s(1990)meta-cognitive strategy use model,this research puts forward a theoretical framework of meta-cognitive strategy use in interpreting training.Three research questions have been proposed:(1)What is the general situation of students’ meta-cognitive strategy use?(2)What is the relationship between interpreting performance and the use of meta-cognitive strategy?(3)What are the differences between high-achieving students and low-achieving students in the use of meta-cognitive strategy?Taking interpreting students at Xiamen University as participants,the research adopts both quantitative and qualitative methods.The Questionnaire of Metacognitive Strategy Use in Interpreting Training is adapted under the guidance of the framework and administered to thirty-one students.Among them,four students are interviewed.Results show that(1)Students’ meta-cognitive strategy use is at a medium level.(2)Meta-cognitive strategy use has a medium positive correlation with students’ interpreting achievement.(3)No significant difference between high-achieving students and low-achieving students is found in employing meta-cognitive strategy.However,high-achieving students use strategies a bit more frequently than low-achieving peers in general.Through discussions on students’use of meta-cognitive strategies,the research puts forward suggestions for both interpreting teachers and students.It is hoped that this research can raise the awareness of both interpreting teachers and students to the importance of the meta-cognitive strategy use in interpreting training and shed some light on future research.