Prioritization in peer feedback

The questionnaire is designed to understand how students rank different aspects of an interpretation when they provide their own feedback and how they perceive the feedback they are given by their peers in the same terms.

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5.3.2.1. Aspects prior to interpreting

Chart 14 - Personal objectives in survey

Personal objective is rated to be of much or of some importance by all respondents when providing feedback. However, it is considered of some importance by 75% of respondents and of much importance by 25% when they are receiving feedback.

0

Providing feedback 0 0 0 50 50

Receiving feedback 0 0 0 75 25

Personal objective in survey

Providing feedback Receiving feedback

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Chart 15 - Complexity of original speech in survey

Complexity of original speech is considered an important aspect of the feedback provided and received by all respondents: 75% rated it of much importance in both categories, while 25% rated it

“neither important nor unimportant” and “of little importance” when providing and receiving feedback. It is possible that students use the perceived difficulty of a given speech as a scale for the severity of their assessment.

Providing feedback 0 0 25 0 75

Receiving feedback 0 25 0 0 75

Complexity of original speech in survey

Providing feedback Receiving feedback

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Chart 16 - Preparation in survey

Preparation is judged by the respondents to be “of some importance” in both questions by the majority of the people answering the questionnaire, while in one case it is deemed “neither important nor unimportant” when providing feedback but “of much importance” when they were on the receiving end of the feedback.

0

Providing feedback 0 0 25 75 0

Receiving feedback 0 0 0 75 25

Preparation in survey

Providing feedback Receiving feedback

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5.3.2.2. Content

Chart 17 - Main ideas and details in survey

All respondents judge the restitution of the main ideas of the original speech during the interpretation to be paramount both when providing and when receiving feedback. There is consensus on content being a main point in any assessment, which seems logical when noting that content is one of the main indicators of quality in interpretation (Lambert & Moser-Mercer, 1994) and since, according to the Expected Levels of Progress, it is one of the main areas of assessment for their grades and final exams (appendix 4). In comparison, respondents rank “restitution of details” of slightly less importance than main ideas, since it is marked “of some importance” by three respondents and

“neither important nor unimportant” by one of them.

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Main ideas providing feedback 0 0 0 0 100

Main ideas receiving feedback 0 0 25 75 0

Details providing feedback 0 0 0 0 100

Details receiving feedback 0 0 25 75 0

Main ideas and details in survey

Main ideas providing feedback Main ideas receiving feedback Details providing feedback Details receiving feedback

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Chart 18 - Logical structure and links in survey

Unlike with the restitution of main ideas and details, there is some disagreement on how important the restitution of logical structure and links are when providing feedback. 75% respondents deem these two factors important to determine their feedback production, while 25% think logical structure is “of little importance” and links are “neither important nor unimportant”. They also think that when they receive feedback, other peers judge logical structure and links to be either of much importance (75%) or of some importance (25%), so there is a slight disconnect regarding how this group of students thinks logical structure and links should be assessed in peer feedback and what they think happens when their fellow students evaluate them.

0

Links when providing feedback 0 0 25 25 50

Links when receiving feedback 0 0 0 25 75

Logical structure and links in survey

Logical structure when providing feedback Logical structure when receiving feedback Links when providing feedback Links when receiving feedback

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Chart 19 - Terminology in survey

Finally, terminology is marked as important when providing feedback by 75% respondents (50% of much importance; 25% of some importance), while only 25% thought that it was of little importance.

While receiving feedback, students answered that their peers considered terminology of much importance in 50% of cases and of some importance in another 50%.

0

Providing feedback 0 25 0 25 50

Receiving feedback 0 0 0 50 50

Terminology in survey

Providing feedback Receiving feedback

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5.3.2.3. Delivery

Chart 20 - Voice projection in survey

When asked about voice projection, students agree that it was of some importance, both when delivering and when receiving feedback, except for one respondent who thinks it is neither important nor unimportant when receiving feedback.

0

Providing feedback 0 0 0 100 0

Receiving feedback 0 0 25 75 0

Voice projection in survey

Providing feedback Receiving feedback

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Chart 21 - Confidence in survey

In contrast, confidence is ranked of much importance by 3 of the respondents and of some importance by 1 of them when they formulate their feedback. In comparison, “complexity of the original speech”, in this case interpreted as the level of difficulty perceived by the students regarding the original speech, is mentioned in 75.1% of cases.When receiving feedback, again 75% of respondents think it is of much importance, while one thinks it is “neither important nor unimportant”.

0

Providing feedback 0 0 0 25 75

Receiving feedback 0 0 25 0 75

Confidence in survey

Providing feedback Receiving feedback

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Chart 22 - Eye contact with audience in survey

Eye contact with audience is deemed of some importance by most respondents, while one of them thinks it is neither important nor unimportant.

0

Providing feedback 0 0 25 75 0

Receiving feedback 0 0 25 75 0

Eye contact with audience in survey

Providing feedback Receiving feedback

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Chart 23 - Pace in survey

Respondents are visibly divided regarding the importance of pace in peer feedback: each individual assigns a different degree of importance to pace both when giving and receiving feedback. This might be due to a different perception of what pace refers to, although it is to be noted that pace was referenced in the corpus several times and nobody seemed to express dissenting views or confusing about the concept or disagreed with the feedback regarding this aspect.

0

Providing feedback 0 25 25 25 25

Receiving feedback 25 0 25 25 25

Pace in survey

Providing feedback Receiving feedback

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5.3.2.4. Form and style

Chart 24 - Use of target language in survey

This question addresses the importance given by students to linguistic aspects of presentation, such as the use of the target language and register.

0

Providing feedback 25 0 0 0 75

Receiving feedback 25 0 0 0 75

Use of target language in survey

Providing feedback Receiving feedback

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Chart 25 - Register in survey

Most participants agree that use of target language and register are both of much importance both when receiving feedback and when providing it. However, 25% of the respondents marked both categories of no importance in both questions. It is clarified in their answer to another question that none of their peers is in their same booth and therefore they do not receive (or provide) any feedback regarding target language, which might account for why register is deemed of no importance regarding the feedback they receive, since anecdotal evidence suggests that students are more reluctant to give feedback on register on a passive language.

0

Providing feedback 25 0 0 0 75

Receiving feedback 25 0 0 0 75

Register in survey

Providing feedback Receiving feedback

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5.3.2.5. Advice

Chart 26 - Possible solutions and suggestions in survey

Most respondents think that discussing possible solutions and suggestions as a part of the feedback process is of much importance, while 25% think it is “of some importance” when providing feedback and “of much importance” when receiving feedback from others.

0

Providing feedback 0 0 0 25 75

Receiving feedback 0 0 25 0 75

Possible solutions and suggestions in survey

Providing feedback Receiving feedback

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Chart 27 - Note taking in survey

Note taking strategies seem to be in a second place compared to general advice, but still half of the respondents think it is of importance in both questions, while the other half deem it “neither important nor unimportant”.