The effects of using mock conferences to teach interpretation skills to the 4th year cadets of the English department at military science academy

een in the 
table, the percentages of cadets envisaging mock 
conferences as a new, captivating, worthwhile, 
useful and exciting learning experience are high. 
More statistically, the proportions of the choice 
“totally agree” in the items 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 made 
by the cadets are 66.4, 39.8, 54.3, 75 and 65.6, 
respectively. Moreover, 0% is the figure of all the 
options of “disagree” and “totally disagree” in all 
items. These figures decode that mock conferences 
are of a positive learning experience. This also 
suggests that mock conferences can be perceived 
as an effective learning activity as presented in the 
following table 1. 
The result of the survey questionnaire on the 
effects of adopting mock conferences to teach 
interpretation skills can be uncovered in the 
following charts 1.
Chart 1. The effects of mock conferences of items 
1-6 (N=22)
As indicated in the first chart, the number of 
the cadets choosing the answer “totally agree” 
Table 1. Cadets’ ratings of mock conferences as a learning experience
Questionnaire Items Totally agree Agree Quite agree Totally disagree Disagree
1. The mock conferences I have taken part in in my 
interpreting lessons are new learning experiences. 66.4% 24.4% 9.2% 0% 0%
2. The mock conferences I have taken part in in my 
interpreting lessons are captivating learning experiences. 39.8% 36.3% 23.9% 0% 0%
3. The mock conferences I have taken part in in my 
interpreting lessons are worthwhile learning experiences. 54.3% 26.1% 19.5% 0% 0%
4. The mock conferences I have taken part in in my 
interpreting lessons are useful learning experiences. 75% 16% 9% 0% 0%
5. The mock conferences I have taken part in in my 
interpreting lessons are exciting learning experiences. 65.6% 28.3% 6.1% 0% 0%
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 LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODOLOGY v
for the six questions concerning their motivations 
in applying mock conference in learning 
interpretation ranged from less than a half to 20 in 
the total of 22 cadets surveyed. Similarly, the data 
of the cadets ticking “agree” and “quite agree” 
options filled the rest of all the gaps. Therefore, 
there was no room for the options “disagree’ or 
“totally disagree”. These figures illustrate that the 
cadets felt less stressful, more motivated and more 
absorbed in this activity. In other words, thanks to 
mock conferences, the cadets could build up their 
confidence in acquiring interpretation skills. From 
these statistics, it can be concluded that mock 
conferences seemed to have positive effects upon 
the cadets’ learning motivations.
As for the cadets’ acquiring interpretation 
skills, the findings from the survey questionnaires 
also unveil that mock conferences appeared to 
have brought about a plethora of merits. The first 
plus is the interpretation rotation for each cadets, 
which is proved by the fact that the percentages of 
cadets’ choice of “totally agree” and “agree” for 
the question related to the frequency of rotating 
their interpreting turns in the booth were 44.9 and 
40.5, respectively. This can be confirmed by the 
findings from question 11 in which 96.3% cadets 
stated their preference for “totally agree” in the 
option “mock conferences provides opportunities 
for me to practise different real-life situations”. 
Moreover, being asked if they could have their 
creativeness promoted when fulfilling the assigned 
tasks of mock conferences, 77.6% informants 
favored the choice “totally agree”. Question 9 
asked the participants whether the conference 
model enriched their background knowledge 
in terms of both linguistics and interpretation 
skills. 0% was the proportion of the selection of 
all the three scales: “quite agree”, “disagree” and 
“totally disagree”. In contrast, 88.8% preferred the 
answer “totally agree”. In addition, having their 
interpretation environment familiarized is another 
pivotal benefit of utilizing the mock conference. 
Indeed, 100% informants nodded their head with 
the options “totally agree”, “agree” and “quite 
agree”, leaving no room for the two other scales 
“disagree” and “totally disagree” in question 
10. Besides, question 12 also uncaps one more 
benefit of applying mock conferences in teaching 
interpretation: enabling the cadets to manage their 
time in a scientific and rational way. In short, mock 
conferences seemed to be beneficial to those who 
had applied them to acquiring interpretation skills 
as seen in chart 2. 
Chart 2. The effects of mock conferences of items 
7-12 (N=22)
The third chart also depicts the positive 
effects of mock conferences upon the cadets’ 
interpreting performance. At the first glance, 
it can be clearly envisioned that the choices 
of “totally agree” and “agree” accounted for a 
weighty net in the overall picture of the four listed 
questions; whereas, the choice of the rest two 
scales was made by no informant. Statistically, 
20 out of 22 respondents picked out the choice 
“totally agree” and “agree” in the item stating that 
they performed better interpreting attainments 
thanks to mock conferences. Furthermore, the 
figures for the cadets’ selection of “totally agree” 
for the benefits of conference model in terms 
of harnessing collective wisdom, enhancing 
interactions and bringing all the existing facilities 
into full play in items 14, 15 and 16 are 2, 13 and 
18, correspondingly. Therefore, the results of all 
the aforementioned questions skewed towards the 
vertical axis as follows. 
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v LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODOLOGY 
Chart 3. The effects of mock conferences of items 
13-16 (N=22)
Chart 4. The effects of mock conferences of items 
13-16 (N=22)
The promising outcomes of the application of 
mock conferences are also unsealed by the figures 
in chart 4. Obviously, the four last questions 
were posed with a view to rejecting the doubt as 
to whether the model has long-term effects on 
the cadets’ career orientation. The results of the 
questionnaire reveal that the doubt can be rejected. 
More specifically, only one cadet picked out the 
option “disagree” in item 18; whereas, other items 
17, 19 and 20 witnessed a high ratio of agreements 
among the informants when 16, 21 and 22 
participants ticked “totally agree”. In other words, 
mock conferences result in a significant difference 
in the cadets’ orientation for their future job as it is 
a context-bound activity. (Chart 5)
Together with the aforementioned 
questionnaires, 19 other questions were designed 
with a view to getting an insight into their 
acquisition of interpreting tactics and skills 
necessary for their future job as what they have 
been instructed in their textbook. Apparently, 
nearly all the part and parcel requirements, tactics 
and skills for interpreters have been trained via 
mock conferences. As envisioned in chart 5, 
the cadets’ total scores for the items concerning 
the opportunities to train their concentration, 
comprehension tactics, self-reflecting performance, 
on-site problem solving skills, note-taking skills 
short-term memory, preparing real-life-oriented 
conferences, preventive tactics and public speaking 
skills were all above 100 out of 120. Moreover, 
mock conferences also enable them to be exposed 
to many other interpreting tactics and skills such 
as complying with professional ethics, bridging 
gaps between two cultures, reconstruction tactics, 
summarizing skills, anticipating skills, sharing 
attention between listening ahead and note-
takings, monitoring production, simplifying skills, 
Chart 5. The cadets’ total scores of skills and 
tactics acquired from mock conferences (N=22)
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 LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODOLOGY v
reformulating skills and visualizing skills when 
the total scores of these items are 59 minimally 
and 99 maximally as follows. 
In a nutshell, from the aforementioned statistical 
findings of the study, it is possible to conclude that 
mock conferences could have positive effects on 
cadets’ interpretation performance and acquisition 
of interpretation skills.
5.2. Findings from the cadets’ videos and 
introspective interview
The research question “Are there any effects of 
mock conferences after they have been adopted 
to teach interpretation skills to the fourth-year 
cadets of the English Department at Military 
Science Academy? was fully answered when the 
two other angles of the study: the cadets’ videos 
and the introspective interview were portrayed. 
The use of mock conferences uncapped the 
following benefits. 
To begin with, mock conferences were likely 
to enhance the cadets’ awareness of autonomy 
and cooperative work for better interpretation 
performance as they themselves had to fulfill all 
the tasks. In order to accomplish their assigned 
tasks, each group had to explore information 
related to the topic they had chosen from different 
sources. Also, they had to cooperate with each 
other to fulfill their job in a smooth way.
In addition, mock conferences appeared to 
orientate the cadets to study in a systematic and 
comprehensive way. Indeed, they had to make all 
the necessary preparations for their conferences 
such as nominating or electing the leader and 
other roles for each conference; mapping out the 
content outline, the scripts, the procedures and 
backgrounds for their conferences. Moreover, they 
had to rehearse their tasks until all the members had 
mastered their roles. Finally, they had to present 
their conference in the cabin with some unexpected 
interference from other groups and lecturers. 
Moreover, this activity seemed to create 
opportunities for the cadets to learn from their 
own weaknesses and strengths in a frank and free 
manner. Furthermore, the new activity was likely 
to pave the way for the cadets to learn from their 
partner’s weaknesses and strengths. Indeed, when 
fulfilling their mission, they learned from each 
other and internalized what they had acquired in 
class and delivered their speeches, discussions 
and negotiations. The role of the teacher, hence, 
was to guide this “cadet-led” learning by ensuring 
information quality and to give them the tools to 
teach each other.
Another benefit of mock conferences revealed 
by the interview and videos is that this activity 
taught the cadets about the real-life world. They 
had to solve problems facing their community, 
country, region and the world. Likewise, they 
needed to integrate a wide range of skills and used 
them in simulated tasks to check their readiness to 
begin their career as interpreters. In other words, 
the use of mock conference with scaffolding 
from peers and lecturers may have served as a 
lever to arm them with real-life scenarios. It also 
served as a bridge joining classroom realism and 
professional realism, paved the way for them to 
embark into their career of interpretation. Hence, 
they had remarkable career orientations involved 
in professional experiences.
Besides, it is possible that mock conferences 
could bring about cadets’ positive attitudes and 
motivations towards their interpretation skills. 
Mock conferences activated their imagination and 
creativity which the cadets were naturally inclined 
to do. Hence, they enjoyed exploring new places, 
sharing common experiences with teammates and 
friends. They also strove to conquer the highest 
rate of their academic attainments as this activity 
accounted for 25% of their total scores of their 
interpretation subject. 
Furthermore, mock conferences built their 
leadership skills. As the cadets had to take turns 
20 KHOA HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ QUÂN SỰNo. 19 (5/2019)
v LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODOLOGY 
to deliver interpretation and to chair their meeting 
as well as to guide their group towards their goals, 
they themselves developed leadership skills via 
teamwork and negotiations. 
Last but not least, these lessons might have 
enhanced mutual interactions between the lecturer 
and the cadets and the cadets themselves. Most 
importantly, thanks to cadets’ reflections on the 
lecturer’s tasks, she/he could find out the strengths 
and weaknesses to adapt methodology for better 
lessons. 
It would also be interesting to find out that 
there was a close correlation between the times the 
cadets’ participation in delivering interpretation 
during their mock conferences and their academic 
attainments of the interpretation subject. It 
seemed that the more frequently they took turn in 
interpreting delivery, the more flying colours they 
got. In fact, each cadet had to join at least three 
different mock conferences for their interpretation 
subject. However, the group members and the 
roles of each member changed from time to time. 
Of all the conferences, one was performed by two 
11-member groups to take place of the mid-term 
test. The cadets; therefore, had one week to make 
all necessary preparations for what they were going 
to do; and their turn in delivering interpretation in 
the booth was of parity. As for the rest cadets, the 
number of members in each group varied as the 
lecturer assigned them on-the-spot. They had no 
preparations in advance. Hence, each member’s 
turn in delivering in interpretation in the booth 
was not of equality. The following table illustrates 
the positive correlation between the figures of 
each group member whose turn in delivering 
interpretation ranged from three to eight and the 
mean scores of all the mock conferences they held 
and participated in. 
However, applying mock conferences to their 
interpreting lessons seemed to be a challenging 
task to the cadets for many reasons. First, they are 
fledgling trainees with limited prior contextualized 
practices. Moreover, interpretation itself is a 
burdensome subject meanwhile the cadets had 
never had any chance to deliver interpretation 
in reality. Another obstacle lies in time strain in 
completing their task before deadline. The final 
worry is their limited background knowledge of 
the topic needed for the interpretation tasks. 
In general, from this study, it might be 
concluded that mock conferences could be 
Table 2. The correlation between the times of the 
cadets’ participation in delivering interpretation 
during their mock conferences and the mean 
scores of mock conferences
Cadets
Cadets’ turns in 
delivering interpretation 
during mock conferences
Cadets’ mean 
scores of mock 
conferences.
C1 5 7.63
C2 4 6.38
C3 4 6.55
C4 3 4.95
C5 4 6.68
C6 3 5.48
C7 4 6.98
C8 5 7.15
C9 8 9.07
C10 6 7.80
C11 6 7.68
C12 5 6.80
C13 7 8.98
C14 7 7.50
C15 5 6.98
C16 7 8.50
C17 6 7.33
C18 7 8.55
C19 7 7.93
C20 4 6.55
C21 3 5.55
C22 4 6.85