Traveling light and attentively (on occasion): mystics in three novels by Lettie Viljoen/Ingrid Winterbach By means of references to mystics, the author Lettie Viljoen/ Ingrid Winterbach creates a framework within which characters who exhibit mystic tendencies – namely Fonny Alexander and Boetie Kareltjie (“Buller se plan”) and the master (“Landskap met vroue en slang”) – can be compared. This matrix activates a number of issues: the place of women within a religious-cultural system and the power they wield within such a system by resorting to mysticism, engagement with existing systems of authority and the possibility of exerting power by withdrawing from such systems, the traditional opposition between physicality and spiritual purity, and the issue of martyrdom. Against this backdrop Fonny’s obliteration of her own identity in an attempt to cope with trauma is contrasted with the master’s approach of experiencing and accepting change and attempting to learn from it. Ultimately it is argued that there is an attempt to reject a type of mysticism that pretends to offer power to its proponents while actually disempowering them.
This article focuses on data obtained from three separate studies conducted during a four-year period at Stellenbosch University, a higher education institution in South Africa. All three studies centred on the simultaneous interpretation of undergraduate lectures. Various data sets were used to examine whether there would be a discrepancy between what lecturers in a particular academic department emphasised when they first considered the feasibility of this type of educational interpreting, and what they actually focused on when assessing the interpreters' performance. Discrepancies and correlations in the quality criteria identified by lecturers were examined against a rubric taken from existing literature on interpreter assessment (notably that of Kurz (2002)). Using this information and augmenting it with comments from a similar assessment of the same material undertaken by experienced interpreters, these discrepancies and correlations are briefly discussed. Given the exploratory nature of this case study, few recommendations are made. However, the fact that the data from this study seemin broad terms -to agree with studies conducted in the field of conference interpreting would seem to indicate that the discrepancy between stated and actual quality assessment criteria is real, and will require much more detailed study in an educational interpreting setting.
This article, primarily, presents a critical evaluation of the development and refinement of the assessment instrument used to assess formally the spoken-language educational interpreters at Stellenbosch University (SU). Research on interpreting quality has tended to produce varying perspectives on what quality might entail (cf. Pöchhacker 1994(cf. Pöchhacker , 2001Kurz 2001;Kalina 2002; Pradas Marcías 2006;Grbić 2008;Moser-Mercer 2008;Alonso Bacigalupe 2013). Consequently, there is no ready-made, universally accepted or applicable mechanism for assessing quality. The need for both an effective assessment instrument and regular assessments at SU is driven by two factors: Firstly, a link exists between the quality of the service provided and the extent to which that service remains sustainable. Plainly put, if the educational interpreting service wishes to remain viable, the quality of the interpreting product needs to be more than merely acceptable. Secondly, and more important, educational interpreters play an integral role in students' learning experience at SU by relaying the content of lectures. Interpreting quality could potentially have serious ramifications for students, and therefore quality assessment is imperative. Two assessment formats are used within the interpreting service, each with a different focus. The development and refinement of the assessment instrument for formal assessments discussed in this article have been ongoing since 2011. The main aim has been to devise an instrument that could be used to assess spoken-language interpreting in the university classroom. Complicating factors have included the various ways in which communication occurs in the classroom and the different sociocultural backgrounds and levels of linguistic proficiency of users. The secondary focus is on the nascent system of peer assessment. This system and the various incarnations of the peer assessment instrument are discussed. Linkages (and the lack thereof) between the two systems are briefly described.Keywords: assessment; assessment instrument; educational interpreting; peer assessment; quality IntroductionSpoken-language educational interpreting at Stellenbosch University (SU) received institutional sanction late in 2011 and, as of 2012, simultaneous educational interpreting formed part of the University's attempts at managing learning and teaching in a multilingual environment. Working into either Afrikaans or English, the educational interpreter acts as a communication facilitator between lecturer and student during formal lectures in cases where the student is either not proficient enough in the language of instruction or would prefer to receive tuition in the other language. The interpreting provided in the lecture venue should be of such a standard that it helps to ensure effective communication between lecturer and student.In order both to safeguard and improve the quality of the interpreting service provided to students, a system of regular assessments has been instituted. Regular assessment is ...
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