Tag: interpreting service

Online interpreting in the classroom – now even more seamless!

SU lecturers! Does your module use interpreting, or would you like to use interpreting in your module?

The SU Language Centre’s Interpreting Service interpreters are available online to interpret for students who would like to make use of the service.

For the second semester, we’ve tried to make the process easier and much less of an administrative burden. To do this, the Interpreting Service will be scheduling all English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa (where applicable) sessions necessary for interpreting on MS Teams.

Please read the following details carefully to ensure that your module gets confirmed on our timetable.

What has changed?

  • You no longer need to schedule any meetings. The Interpreting Service team will schedule all the meetings necessary to make interpreting happen in your module and invite you, so you have full access.
  • There will only be one link per language (Afrikaans and/or isiXhosa) for the interpreted sessions which students will use for every class during the week. This means you need only place one link on SUNLearn once. Students will not have access to the meeting recording or chat once they have left the session.
  • You will receive an ‘Interpreting Kit’ with links for SUNLearn, QR codes you can use in the classroom and the contact details of the liaison interpreter for your module.
  • You need to confirm the details of the scheduled sessions by accepting the meeting invites and replying to the email your liaison interpreter sends you. Only once you’ve confirmed the details will the module be confirmed on our timetable.

What is the same?

  • You still have full access and MS Teams permissions to all the meetings.
  • You can still stop and start the recording for the English session – in other words, your own lecture – and download the recording for your own purposes. Students will not have access to these recordings unless you have approved it.
  • You can still decide whether the interpreters should record the interpreted lecture – we will never record lectures without your permission. You can download the interpreted lecture for your own purposes. Students will not have access to these recordings unless you have approved it.
  • You can still monitor class attendance. The Interpreting Service will continue to keep a record of the students who use our service and can make this list available to you on request. Tip: Make sure your students understand what you mean by “class attendance”, if this is a requirement for your module – e.g., that they should be physically present in the classroom OR that they can simply listen to the lecture synchronously online.
  • You need to make the link or QR code to the interpreted session(s) available to students on SUNLearn and/or in the classroom. To ensure reasonable application of the Language Policy, all students must have access to interpreting at all times for modules earmarked for interpreting according to your faculty’s language implementation plan.

What can you expect before the start of the semester?

  • All the sessions required to make interpreting happen in your module will be scheduled by 1 February 2024.
  • You will receive an email from your liaison interpreter with your Interpreting Kit by 6 February 2024. Please confirm the details of the scheduled sessions by accepting the meeting invites and replying to your liaison interpreter by 12:00 on 8 February 2024. Please make the link available on SUNLearn or indicate to your liaison interpreter how you will ensure access to interpreting for all students by 12:00 on 8 February 2024.

What if you want to schedule the meetings yourself?

The default option will now be for the Interpreting Service to schedule all meetings required to make interpreting happen in your module. If you would like to schedule the meetings yourself, or if you would like meetings to be set up in a specific way (e.g., for recordings to start automatically in the English session), please let us know by 6 February 2024.

We look forward to another great semester of working together!

If you would like to find out more about interpreting, or if you would like to request interpreting for your module, please contact Christine Joubert or visit the Interpreting Service webpage.

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So, what does the Language Centre actually do?

The Language Centre is a vibrant hub for students, staff and clients who require language and communication assistance.

One of our most important jobs is to help students speak university. Although academic language is no-one’s mother tongue, you could get by very well once you’ve learnt its ins and outs.

We assist students to get there, in many different language-related ways:

  • We present credit-bearing academic literacies modules in seven of the University’s 10 faculties to equip our students for strategic communication – in an academic setting and in their occupation and industry. Modules focus on professional, business and scientific communication, writing skills and skills for academic discourse.
  • We provide real-time interpreting in lectures – in Afrikaans, English, isiXhosa or South African Sign Language.
  • We’ve created a safe space to discuss one’s writing with a trained writing consultant at our Writing Lab, as well as opportunities to create writing support groups, take part in writing marathons, or attend workshops on writing research proposals, literature reviews, journal articles or other academic writing.
  • We’ve established a Reading Lab that offers workshops, consultations and a visual cognitive processing program to optimise reading.
  • We’ve built a trilingual terminology tool for subject terminology in Afrikaans, English and isiXhosa – try it out here.
  • We present various courses to local and international students aimed at either enhancing skills in a language or acquiring a new language, such as the English for Academic Purposes Programme (EAP) and the Intensive English Programme (IEP), or tailored Afrikaans and isiXhosa We even have a Language Learning Hub for social language learning.

The Language Centre also casts its language and communication assistance net wider than the student community:

  • We offer an editing and translation service in English, Afrikaans and isiXhosa, and we translate into more than 12 other languages. Our services are available to the University, corporate clients and individuals, and we can edit and translate any document – from letters, reports, journal articles and advertisement copy to informed consent forms. In addition, we do transcriptions.
  • We provide an interpreting service at meetings or conferences. We work in Afrikaans, English, isiXhosa and German, but you could speak to us about other language combinations too.
  • We offer language courses aimed at individuals or groups who would like to learn isiXhosa or Afrikaans, or prepare themselves for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam, or who wish to gain the skills to teach English as a foreign language (TEFL).
  • We also present superbly crafted corporate communication short courses through our Comms Lab. Think: effective office documentation, report writing, writing for the media, or crafting confident presentations, to name but a few possibilities.

For us, language creates a transformational space that has the power to change lives, inform policy and unite people. If one of our services or courses appeals to you, speak to us at taalsentrum@sun.ac.za or 021 808 2176.

Great things happen when you work with us!

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