A Survey Report On The Interpreting Course Design Of MTI Program

The communication between China and the rest of the world is increasing.Interpreters, in particular, conference interpreters play a more important role ininternational communication. In2007the Academic Degrees Committee of the StateCouncil approved the establishment of the MTI (Master of Translation and Interpreting)Program to fulfill the demand for high-level expertise of the socialist market economy.From then on teaching seminars and trainings organizations blossom overnight,meetings and papers on course design are tremendous. The sixth year of the program isa milestone that the MTI program is growing up from an infant to a teenager, so thus weneed to figure out the strategy and vision by conducting a needs analysis survey.Needs analysis is viewed as the first step in program or course design, as well asthe basic support of marketing strategy. As a MTI student, the author is interested inthis subject. The goal of needs analysis is to collect information that can be used todevelop a profile of needs in order to make decisions on course design.The survey analysis collected data based on the interpreting teaching theoreticaland empirical research of scholars, trying to identify qualitative and quantitativefeedback of different shareholders. Data collected from surveys in form of previouslydesigned questionnaires and follow-up interviews. The questionnaires were distributedto three groups (A、 B、C) of respondents. Group A is employers who haveprofessional insight and experience of this field and can reflect the need of theinterpreting market, as well as employers who hire MTI graduates in other industries.Group B is former graduates from MTI Program. Their current profession could beclosely related to translation or interpreting, or graduates who are not work asinterpreters. They could be secretary of foreign companies, salesmen or other possibleoccupations. Group C is the first and second year MTI students who have obtainedcertain knowledge and understanding of interpreting, but lack of experience andpractices. They are the most direct party to reflect their needs of the course design.From the perspective of three groups of respondents, this report means to collect feedbacks on Interpreting Courses based on series of analysis including theinterpreter’s ability map, diversified field of majors, project process management,internship experience sharing. The main purpose of the report is to provide valuablereference for the existing MTI program and teachers to maintain the best and modelingparts, so as to make progress according to the insight from different sources.