The military exercise as an arena for practicing language and interpretation skills - The Hammarskjöld exercise Eva Marie Håland Associate professor The Norwegian Defence Language and Intelligence Academy The Norwegian Defence University
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Presentation Transcript
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The military exercise as an arena for practicing language and interpretation skills - The Hammarskjöld exercise Eva Marie Håland
Associate professor
The Norwegian Defence Language and Intelligence Academy
The Norwegian Defence University<br>
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Content The Hammarskjöld exercise 2023
Role distribution
Post-field activities for Arabic language cadets
Evaluation and feedback
Lessons learned<br>
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The Hammarskjöld exercise 2023 Held by The Norwegian Military Academy
Part of the course “Complex Operations”
“The course consists of three parts. Initially the course addresses the differences between high- and low intensity warfare, as well as irregular and complex conflicts. Part two is devoted to insurgency and counterinsurgency with an emphasis on understanding the premise, practice and criticism of population centric counterinsurgency. Part three focuses on peacekeeping operations, its inception and its four stages of development. A particular attention will be given to protection of civilians.
(…)
The practical parts of the module will utilize a variety of map-exercises, war-games and a field training exercise. ”
(www.forsvaret.no)<br>
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Scenario and actors Buskerud
Telemark
UN-mandated peacekeeping operation
the International Stabilization Force (ISFOR)
National Army of Telemark
Telemark Police<br>
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The Hammarskjöld exercise 2023 Participants:
Cadets from The Norwegian Military Academy
The International Stabilization Force (ISFOR)
Cadets from The Norwegian Defence Language and Intelligence Academy
Interpreters for the ISFOR forces or members of the Buskerudian and Telemarkian communities
Role-players from the Norwegian Armed Forces and external role-players from various civilian institutions
Members of the Buskerudian and Telemarkian communities, Telemarkian police as well various other roles<br>
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Cadets from the language and intelligence academy - 6th semester
- Course: “Arabic for intelligence personnel”
- interpretation in a military context<br>
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Post-field activities - “Hot wash-up”
- Podcast production
- Vocabulary review
- Interpretation exercises
- Physical exercise with Arabic instructions<br>
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Evaluation - Language training
- Interpretation
- Multilingual communication in military operations<br>
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Evaluation - language training Greater outcome than initially expected
The opportunity to speak Arabic only for a long period of time leading to enhanced fluency and control
The opportunity to confer with instructors and external role player
Post-field activities: podcast and vocabulary drills<br>
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“That we had the chance to speak Arabic almost as much as we wanted. When we were with other Arabic-speaking role players, only our imagination restricted the topics we talked about. Therefore, we could benefit from exchanging opinions and questions about ways of expressing oneself in the different scenarios” “We therefore changed to an Arabic mindset for the entire day, where Arabic was associated not with school lessons, but rather treated as our everyday language” “I experienced that we, in these conversations, have gone through a wide range of topics, for example medicine, the military, the United Nations, conflicts, military operations, food, daily life (family, place of residence, origin), and so on. This was rewarding, since I had to put the various topics into context” “I experienced that being forced to speak a lot in front of strangers, with strangers and through an interpreter lowers the threshold for speaking next time.”<br>
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“I had a moment of realization regarding amount of practice and self-confidence […] we just have to throw ourselves into it, make mistakes, misunderstand and make a fool of ourselves in order to achieve the progress in language that we need” “I was able to internalize the language to a greater degree than before, especially when it comes to ‘standard’ formulations that are frequently used”<br>
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Evaluation - interpretation Learning outcome on several aspects regarding the role of the interpreter:
The role of the interpreter in a military context
Positioning
Interpretation ethics
Techniques
Turn-taking
Note-taking
Tone of voice<br>
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“As interpreters, we also face many challenges when interpreting for speakers who do not have experience with communicating through an interpreter. Specific challenges include taking turns and choice of words” “We were a part of ISFOR, and no matter how often we said that we are merely interpreters, the local part would always regard us as ISFOR soldiers. This meant that positioning oneself in the conversation was even more important, as well as use of intonation and volume.” “Interpreting an entire day in a new setting has made me gain greater insight into the challenges interpreters meet in the field. I am used to interpreting in calm surroundings where everyone involved knows what interpreting means. This was not the case here.” "At exercise Hammarskjöld, we have had the opportunity to make preparations, create relations to the persons in need of an interpreter, and experience the sense of responsibility one can feel as an interpreter on a military mission"<br>
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The Hammarskjöld exercise 2023 "What I want to take away from this experience is how important language and body language are for creating relations with others and for creating an emotional reaction in others. I want to become more aware of other people's body language, so that if I end up in a similar situation, I will be able to meet the person with compassion and empathy regardless of whether I understand the words they say. I have learned from the exercise that body language is in many cases more important than words, if you manage to read it correctly" Being a civilian in conflict "As a role player, I noticed how frustrating it is not to be understood when you need to convey so much important information to a counterpart"<br>
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Lessons learned - summarized High level of satisfaction with the achieved learning outcomes
Post-field activities: Focus on vocabulary/terminology
Increase the number of instructors
Increase the number of external Arabic-speaking role players
Improved coordination with the Military Academy prior to the exercise<br>
