ORAL LINGUISTIC MEDIATION TECHNIQUES SPANISH - ITALIAN 2 MOD.2

The course “Techniques of Spanish–Italian Oral Language Mediation 1” is a core component of the Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistic and Cultural Mediation and is intended for second-year students who have already acquired adequate language proficiency in the Italian–Spanish combination.

The course aims to introduce students to the main techniques and strategies of oral language mediation, with particular reference to bilingual dialogic interaction. From this perspective, the course moves beyond a narrow focus on dialogue interpreting to embrace a broader approach to mediation, understood as a complex communicative activity involving linguistic, pragmatic, and intercultural dimensions.

Throughout the course, students will be provided with an overview of the main application contexts of oral mediation (including institutional, healthcare, commercial, tourism, and trade fair settings), alongside a structured pathway for acquiring theoretical and practical tools aimed at the progressive development of mediation competences.

In particular, the course seeks to develop the following skills:

basic abilities to enhance concentration, active listening, and short-term memory;
comprehension, analysis, reformulation, and transfer of content from one language to another;
strategies for managing bilingual interaction in different communicative contexts, including through simulated activities;
communicative and pragmatic competences appropriate to mediation, with attention to intercultural aspects;
sight translation;
awareness of self-directed learning processes and continuous improvement, both at the linguistic level and in paralinguistic aspects (clarity of delivery, voice use, posture, and non-verbal communication).
The course adopts a strongly practice-oriented approach, based on guided exercises, simulations, and critical reflection on language mediation practices.

1. Knowledge and Understanding
Basic concepts of oral language mediation and the main interpreting modes (dialogue/liaison interpreting, consecutive and simultaneous interpreting, including whispered interpreting);
Fundamentals of the cognitive processes involved in interpreting (listening, memory, reformulation);
Main domains and contexts of oral language mediation (institutional, healthcare, commercial, tourism and cultural settings);
Introductory elements of professional ethics and deontology of interpreters/language mediators;
Linguistic, contrastive, pragmatic, and intercultural aspects relevant to Spanish–Italian bilingual communication.

2. Applying Knowledge and Understanding
Ability to recognize and distinguish between different interpreting modes and their corresponding communicative situations;
Ability to apply basic techniques such as sight translation, memorization, and note-taking;
Ability to listen, comprehend, reformulate, and transfer dialogic oral content from Spanish into Italian and vice versa;
Ability to manage bilingual interaction in simulated oral mediation contexts;
Ability to adequately prepare for a mediation task through linguistic and extralinguistic research and the development of thematic glossaries.

3. Making Judgements
Ability to analyze mediation-related communicative situations and identify context-appropriate strategies;
Ability to critically evaluate one’s own interpreting performance;
Ability to select and use relevant linguistic and cultural information based on a given briefing;
Ability to identify and manage cultural elements, realia, and implicit references in discourse.

4. Communication Skills
Ability to interact effectively in Spanish–Italian bilingual contexts, mediating between speakers of different languages and cultures;
Ability to reformulate messages clearly, coherently, and appropriately to the communicative context;
Ability to use communication and pragmatic strategies suitable for oral mediation;
Ability to manage paralinguistic (voice, intonation) and non-verbal communication (posture, gestures);
Ability to handle communicative situations across different domains (e.g. tourism, business, institutions, healthcare, culture).

5. Learning Skills
Ability to develop self-directed learning strategies and continuously improve linguistic and mediation competences;
Ability to independently update glossaries and terminological resources;
Ability to expand extralinguistic knowledge (current affairs, socio-cultural contexts);
Ability to reflect on one’s strengths and areas for improvement in oral language mediation practice.

The course does not require prior knowledge or experience in the field of oral language mediation. However, native-level proficiency in Italian and a solid command of Spanish are required, along with an adequate cultural background in both languages of study.

After a general introduction to the main interpreting modes and the theoretical foundations of oral language mediation, the course will focus on the dynamics of bilingual dialogic interaction, understood as the core form of mediation between interlocutors communicating in different languages. Within this framework, students will develop the skills required to move swiftly and consistently between Italian and Spanish, both into and out of their respective working languages.

Teaching activities will be structured around simulations of realistic communicative situations, characterized by varying degrees of complexity, formality, and specialization. Each activity will be preceded by thematic contextualization and by the activation of prior knowledge (brainstorming, identification of key terms, construction of semantic fields), with the aim of fostering the development of effective strategies both in the preparation phase and in the management of oral interaction.

As preparatory activities for mediation, emphasis will be placed on active listening, memory training, identification of relevant information, and summarizing skills. To this end, operational techniques such as shadowing and sight translation will be introduced, accompanied by continuous reflection on the quality of oral delivery (clarity, completeness, accuracy, and communicative appropriateness) in both languages of study. At a later stage, basic principles of note-taking will also be introduced in order to improve accuracy in output.

The course includes guided simulations based on dialogues prepared by the instructor, with advance assignment of topics in the form of briefings, with the aim of encouraging documentation research, independent study, and the autonomous development of domain-specific glossaries. The contexts addressed will reflect realistic areas of application of oral language mediation, including commercial, tourism and cultural, institutional, and socio-healthcare settings, as well as interviews with figures from the fields of culture, design, sports, and entertainment.

A distinctive feature of the Spanish–Italian language combination is the high degree of similarity between the two languages, which represents both a resource and a potential challenge in the mediation process. While this proximity facilitates comprehension and rapid reformulation, it also exposes students to the risk of interference, calques, and false cognates. In this context, the development of strong linguistic and metalinguistic awareness plays a key role, enabling students to make accurate and appropriate choices and to ensure effective and natural output in the target language.

Particular attention will be devoted to the appropriateness of linguistic register in relation to interlocutors, context, and communicative purposes, as well as to the development of extralinguistic competences. Students will therefore be encouraged to continuously expand their cultural knowledge and to remain up to date with current affairs, both of which are essential for effective and informed mediation.

RUSSO M., MACK G. (a cura di). (2005). Interpretazione di trattativa. La mediazione linguistico-culturale nel contesto formativo e professionale. Milano, Hoepli.

RUSSO, M. (2012). Interpretare lo spagnolo. L'effetto delle dissimmetrie morfosintattiche nella simultanea. Bologna, Clueb.

TROVATO, Giuseppe (2016). Mediación lingüística y enseñanza de español/LE , ESP, Editorial ArcoLibros, pp. 1-92 (ISBN 978-84-7635-948-8)

TROVATO, Giuseppe (2015). "Aspectos lúdicos en la didáctica de la mediación lingüística y cultural para estudiantes de español L2: el juego de rol como actividad para fomentar la competencia pluricultural y el aprendizaje cooperativo", in REVISTA REDELE, vol. 27, pp. 1-13 (ISSN 1571-4667)

TROVATO, Giuseppe (2013). La Mediazione Linguistica orale in un’ottica comparativa spagnolo-italiano. Proposte per la didattica dell’Interpretazione di Trattativa , ITA, Città del Sole, pp. 1-104 (ISBN 978-88-7351-727-6)

TROVATO, Giuseppe (2011). "La interpretación bilateral: algunas reflexiones metodológicas en torno a la combinación lingüística español-italiano", in REVISTA REDELE, vol. 23, pp. 1-23 (ISSN 1571-4667)

Students will be required to complete a practical assessment consisting of the simulation of a communicative situation, in which they will act as language mediators within one of the sectors covered during the course. Specifically:

Type of assessment: a role-play simulation of a dialogue between two interlocutors speaking Spanish and Italian, with the mediator facilitating linguistic and cultural interaction.

Content: the assessment will focus on the domains addressed during the course (interviews, trade fairs, commercial settings, healthcare, and education).

Assessment criteria: evaluation will be based on appropriateness of language use, grammatical accuracy, prosody, and turn-taking management.

Required competences: excellent command of both the foreign language and the mother tongue, as well as the ability to summarize and manage real-time interaction.

oral

The instructor is responsible for ensuring the authenticity and originality of all examinations and coursework. In cases of suspected academic misconduct, an additional on-site assessment may be required during the exams, which may differ from the standard format.

The final grade is based on the level of competence in oral language mediation, with reference to comprehension, reformulation, and transfer of content, management of bilingual interaction, as well as linguistic accuracy, prosody, and overall communicative effectiveness.

FAIL

≤ 17
Severely inadequate performance. Partial or absent comprehension of the message; incomplete or incorrect transfer of content. Numerous linguistic errors that hinder communication. Inability to manage interaction and turn-taking. Disorganized and hardly intelligible output.

PASS

18
Very limited comprehension of the message. Fragmentary and imprecise transfer of content. Frequent linguistic errors and interference. Basic and not very fluent interaction management.

19
Still uncertain comprehension, with loss of relevant information. Transfer not always accurate but overall understandable. Linguistic errors present but not always compromising communication. Simple interaction management.

20
Sufficient comprehension of the main content. Generally understandable transfer, albeit with inaccuracies and simplifications. Limited linguistic errors. Adequate but not very fluent interaction management.

SATISFACTORY

21
More than sufficient comprehension. Generally correct transfer of content, with some inaccuracies. Good interaction management, though with some hesitation.

22
Fair comprehension and substantially correct transfer. Non-systematic errors. Fairly fluent interaction management.

23
Good comprehension and overall effective reformulation. Limited inaccuracies. Interaction managed adequately and with reasonable confidence.

GOOD

24
Solid comprehension. Accurate transfer with minor imperfections. Good linguistic command and interaction management.

25
Correct and coherent comprehension and reformulation. Appropriate and generally accurate language use. Fluent interaction.

26
Complete comprehension. Secure and coherent transfer. Good linguistic and pragmatic command. Well-managed interaction.

VERY GOOD

27
Complete comprehension and effective reformulation. High linguistic accuracy. Fluent and well-controlled interaction.

28
Very good performance: precise, natural, and coherent transfer. Excellent management of interaction and register.

EXCELLENT

29
Very solid and autonomous performance. Complete and natural transfer, with excellent linguistic and pragmatic command. Minor and marginal imperfections.

30
Excellent performance: accurate, fluent, and fully context-appropriate transfer. Full linguistic and communicative mastery.

OUTSTANDING

30 with distinction
Near-professional performance. Flawless, natural, and precise transfer. Full mastery of mediation strategies, register, and bilingual interaction. High level of linguistic and pragmatic awareness.

To support the theoretical and practical components of the course, a series of practical exercises will be carried out with the aim of developing and consolidating listening, comprehension, memorization, summarizing, and reformulation skills in both languages of study. Particular attention will be devoted to the contrastive analysis of the solutions adopted by students in mediation tasks, with targeted feedback focusing on grammatical and syntactic aspects, in order to foster greater awareness of their linguistic choices and to prevent interference and calque phenomena. Finally, throughout the activities, practical guidance will be provided to improve public speaking skills, with particular reference to voice management, posture, and non-verbal communication.

Attendance is mandatory for at least 75% of the course activities.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development