Contact: tamuratomoko (at) icu.ac.jp

Second International Conference on Legal and Healthcare Interpreting at ICU (28-30 November, 2025)

Conference Website: Second International Conference on Legal and Healthcare Interpreting

Information about My Publications

(著書・論文・学会発表等の詳細ウェブサイト)

日本語ウェブサイト：

https://researchers.icu.ac.jp/icuhp/KgApp?kyoinId=ymiygkgdggo

English Website:

https://researchers.icu.ac.jp/icuhp/KgApp?kyoinId=ymiygkgdggo&Language=2

MCC Interpreting Course: Trainnes' Networking Website:

ICU TI Friends – an online community for connecting ICU TI students

田村智子

Tomoko Tamura

Associate Professor of Interpreting Studies (MCC)

Interpreter Training and Interpreting Studies at ICU are offered as a part of MCC major, and consist of the following five courses.

MCC107 Introduction to Interpreting (通訳入門)

MCC231 Beginners Interpreting Practice (実践通訳初級)

MCC232 Interpreting in Society (社会と通訳)

MCC235 Media Interpreting (メディア通訳)

MCC331 Advanced Interpreting Practice (実践通訳上級)

In addition, the following two interpreting-related courses are offered at ICU, one in the General Education and the other in the Media and Language major in the Graduate School of Public Policy and Research Program.

GES054 The World of Language Interpreters (通訳の世界)

QPML502 Theories of Interpreting (通訳理論)

All the MCC Interpreting Courses combine highly rigorous skill training and an academic exploration of various socio-cultural-linguistic issues that concern interpreters and interpreting work.

1. Interpreting Skill Training

Students who are interested in interpreter training usually start with MCC107 (Introduction to Interpreting), in which trainees begin with the basics of both relevant skill practice and exploration of interpreting studies as an academic field. MCC231 (Beginners Interpreting Practice) focuses primarily on such skills as: consecutive interpreting, note-taking, sight-translation (deverbalization, chunking, first-in-first-out syntacrobatics, etc.), based on which, the trainees will move on to more advanced skill practice in MCC331 (Advanced Interpreting Practice), including simultaneous interpreting and whispering, in addition to more advanced consecutive interpreting, accompanied by various on/off-campus interpreting assignments.

In addition to these three courses, MCC231 (Media Interpreting) and MCC232 (Interpreting in Society) offered in MCC also provide ample skill practice opportunities, directly relevant to each genre of interpreting work. In MCC231 (Media Interpreting), the trainees are exposed to various types of news broadcast interpreting assignments, including voiceover and simultaneous interpreting. MCC232 (Interpreting in Society) introduces the trainees to the world of community interpreting, in which they learn about and practice the skills in such genres as healthcare interpreting and judicial/legal interpreting, in addition to the proper interpreting protocols required by the professional code of ethics in these fields.

Though still in undergraduate, interpreting trainees in MCC are exposed to highly advanced skill training and practice, including simultaneous interpreting and whispering skills, the effect of which is evinced by numerous tangible results such as winning prizes in interpreting contests or successfully performing in on-demand on/off-campus assignments.

The interpreting trainees at ICU’s MCC come from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, and their Japanese-English bilingual balance and proficiencies also vary. One thing they all have in common, however, is the strong enthusiasm to further improve and strengthen their bilingual skills for professional purposes, and the trainees pursue this goal together in a genuinely collaborative manner, supporting and helping each other.

A. ICU’s MCC Interpreting Trainees Winning Contest Prizes

■Yuta Okuyama 奥山裕太さん (graduated in 2018): 1st Prize 11th Annual Interpretation Contest at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies (November, 2017)　

第11回学生通訳コンテストで本学学生が優勝｜国際基督教大学（ICU）

■Yuta Okuyama 奥山裕太さん (graduated in 2018):1st Prize at 1st Simultaneous Interpreting Grand Prix (Japan Association of Conference Interpreters) (June, 2018)　

同時通訳グランプリ　入賞者の声 – 日本会議通訳者協会 (japan-interpreters.org)

■Rena Nagase 永瀬礼奈さん (graduated in 2018): 2nd Prize at 1st Simultaneous Interpreting Grand Prix (Japan Association of Conference Interpreters) (June, 2018)

同時通訳グランプリ　入賞者の声 – 日本会議通訳者協会 (japan-interpreters.org)

■Ryoko Haruta 春田僚子さん (graduated in 2020): 1st Prize at 13th Annual Interpretation Contest at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies (November, 2019)　

本学の学生が「第13回学生通訳コンテスト」で優勝｜国際基督教大学（ICU）

■Ryoko Haruta 春田僚子さん (graduated in 2020):1st Prize at 2nd Simultaneous Interpreting Grand Prix (Japan Association of Conference Interpreters) (June, 2019)　

第2回同時通訳グランプリ学生部門で本学学生が優勝｜国際基督教大学（ICU）

■Ayako Iwasaki 岩崎彩子さん (Graduated in 2021): 2nd Prize at 14th Annual Interpretation Contest at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies (November, 2020)　

本学学生が「第14回学生通訳コンテスト」で準優勝｜国際基督教大学（ICU）

■Aloha Komatsu 小松あろはさん (3rd-Year MCC Interpreting Trainee): 1st Prize at 15th Annual Interpretation Contest at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies (November, 2021)　

本学学生が「第15回学生通訳コンテスト」で優勝｜国際基督教大学（ICU）

■Mako Yoshida 吉田眞子さん (4th-Year MCC Interpreting Trainee): 2nd Prize at 16th Annual Interpretation Contest at Nagoya University of Foreign Studies (November, 2022)　

本学学生が「第16回学生通訳コンテスト」で準優勝

ICU Student Wins 2nd Prize in the 15th Annual Student Interpretation Contest 2022

◆MCC interpreting trainees serving as simultaneous interpreters for a Special Lecture by Prof. Yukimi Mishimura of the University of Toyama (February 8, 2019) at ICU’s Faculty Development Seminar

ICU’s MCC Interpreting Trainees Serving On/Off Campus

MCC interpreting trainees have also been serving as interpreters in various events on/off campus, such as:

B. ICU’s MCC Interpreting Trainees Serving On/Off Campus

MCC interpreting trainees have also bee serving as interpreters in various events on/off campus, such as:

■Simultaneous Interpreting for ICU SSRI-Sophia IGC Symposium "Accelerators for Sustainable Development" (December, 10, 2022)

■Simultaneous Interpreting for Keynote Speech by Dr. Hirotaka Takeuchi, Chair of ICU's Board of Trustees at ICU’s Freshman Retreat (October, 28, 2022)

■Simultaneous Interpreting for International Symposium for the 20th Anniversary of SLAN (Service-Learning Asian Network) on "The Future of Service-Learning in Asia: A Regional Dialogue on Networking" (July 2, 2022)

■Simultaneous Interpreting for GE Japanese Constitution Law Open Class "Constructive Dialogue with the President: ICU's Response to COVID-19 and the Students' Life" (June 16, 2022)

■Simultaneous Interpreting at ICU C-Week Special Chapel Hour (May, 18, 2022)

■Simultaneous Interpreting for Keynote Speech by Mr. Eigo Matsuzaki, Managing Director and Executive Director of Japan Blind Football Association at ICU’s Freshman Retreat (October, 1, 2021)

■Simultaneous Interpreting at ICU C-Week Symposium (May 17-22)

■Simultaneous Interpreting for a Special Lecture by Prof. Yukimi Mishimura of the University of Toyama at ICU’s Faculty Development Seminar (February 8, 2019)

■Simultaneous Interpreting for a Special Talk by Mr. Kazuo Hirai, Chairman of Sony Corporation (an ICU alumnus) given at ICU (October 23, 2018)

■Volunteer interpreting work at the Kawasaki International Eco-Tech Fair (February 1-2, 2018) 川崎国際環境技術展2018 (kawasaki-eco-tech.jp)

■Simultaneous Interpreting for a Special Lecture by Prof. Shinichiro Kumagaya of the University of Tokyo at ICU’s Faculty Development Seminar (January 12, 2018)

■Volunteer simultaneous interpreting for "TEDxICU 2017" (September 30, 2017) TEDxICU | TED

◆ MCC interpreting trainees served as simultaneous interpreters for ICU-SSRI-Sophia IGC Symposium "Accelerators for Sustainable Development" on Dec. 10, 2022.

MCC Simultaneous Interpreters at ICU-SSRI-Sophia IGC Symposium on Dec. 10, 2022 (from left): Ayako Iwasaki (MCC graduate; TUFS M1); Rico Ota (3rd-yr MCC); Nao Ihara (2nd-yr MCC); Mako Yoshida (4th-yr MCC); Aloha Komatsu (4th-yr MCC); and Minami Ikui (4th-yr MCC)

◆MCC interpreting trainees serving as volunteer interpreters at the Kawasaki International Eco-Tech Fair (February 1-2, 2018)

2. Senior Thesis Researches in Interpreting Studies

Interpreting Studies, which is an empirical exploration of interpreting activities, is a relatively new field of social science. This discipline originally emerged with the birth of simultaneous interpreting, beginning in the 1920’s at the ILO in Geneva, making its public debut at the Nuremberg Trials right after World War II, and being adopted by the United Nations as the official mode of interpreting. In contrast, the act of interpreting itself, i.e., oral translation or communication assistance between two or more parties speaking in different languages, most probably dates all the way back to when mankind first began to speak and started interacting with other tribes who spoke a different tongue.

The discipline which was initially started by researchers intrigued by the highly acrobatic linguistic multi-tasking of these simultaneous interpreting pioneers has kept growing and expanding over the past several decades, especially since its ‘social turn’ that took place in the 90’s with the acceleration of global human migrations, creating new needs for language interpreters in every facet of social life. These new changes have also created new issues that await empirical inquires and investigations. Interpreter-mediated communicative events, not only of spoken but also of sign languages, are a very unique form of social activity that invites infinite explorations from various angles.

The MCC interpreting trainees have also been undertaking Senior Thesis researches in the discipline of interpreting studies in such topic areas as the following:

●言語意味認識とメディアの関係における世代間の有意差について

（Intergenerational Significant Difference of the Relationship Between the Recognition of Language Meaning and Media）

●日本のサービス業における外国人対応の現状と課題

（The Current Situation and Problems of Customer Care for Foreigners in Japan）

●機械翻訳の現状と意図の伝達性

（Transmissibility of an Intention and Current State of Machine Translation）

●学校通訳が現場で直面する課題：東京都における業務の現状と通訳者の役割認識を通じて

（On-site Issues Faced by School Interpreters: School Interpreters in Tokyo and Perception of Their Roles）

●村上春樹と日本語の檻：翻訳の限界

（Haruki Murakami in the Cage of Japanese: The Limitations of Translation）

●リオ・オリンピックにおけるボランティア通訳の立場と役割：ボランティア通訳はブラックなのか

（The Position and Role of Volunteer Interpreters in the Rio Olympic Games: Whether It Is Truly Fair and Reasonable or Not）

●Comparison of Japanese and English versions of Ghibli Films: Through Language and Culture

（日本語版と英語版ジブリ作品の比較：言語的と文化的な違い）

●An Analysis of Skills that are Required in Talk Show Interpreting

（トークショー通訳に必要な技術の分析）

●A Comparative Analysis of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Japanese and English

（世界人権宣言の英語版とその日本語訳の比較解析）

●Japanese Returnees and Japanese American Minorities on Overcoming

Language Barriers, Cultural Differences, and Identity Complications

（帰国子女と日系アメリカ人のマイノリティーが経験する

言語の壁、文化的差、及びアイデンティティーの複雑性）

●日系航空会社に女性客室乗務員が多い訳 - メディアが表象する客室乗務員像

（Reason why there are so many female flight attendants in Japanese airlines-Image of flight attendants represented by the media）

●コミックにおける多様性と売り上げの変動

（Diversity in Comics and Variation of Sales）

●Transcreation in the Game Localisation of Undertale

（Undertale のゲーム・ローカリゼーションにおける創造翻訳）

●A Comparative Analysis of Turn-Taking Management Cues between

Onsite and Remote Consecutive Interpreting

（オンサイト逐次通訳及びリモート逐次通訳における話者交替の管理に用いられる合図の比較分析）

●学生通訳の現状と諸問題

（The Current Situation of Student Interpreters and the Problems that They Face ）

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