taught one group through music and songsand another with visual arts and dramaduring their French lessons. After six weeks ofinstruction, the singing group's performancehad improved more in the French tests thanthe control group. This is especially interestingbecause we didn't test them on the specificwords of the songs or dialogues; it wasgeneral French skills, such as listening,speaking, pronunciation, reading and writing.'For her doctorate, Ludke set English-speaking adults a series of strictly controlledtests. Three groups were taught 20 Hungarianphrases using a 'listen-and-repeat' method.One group learned spoken phrases, asecond learned rhythmically spoken phrasesand a third learned sung phrases. 'Overall,the people who learned through singing didbetter in the five Hungarian tests, and therewas a significant difference between them andthe other groups' performance for the twotests where they had to speak in Hungarian.'Vol/51 No/4 2012AUGUST/SEPTEMBERTheLinguist27FEATURESschool children, but the activities are reallyadaptable - you can use them for differentclassrooms and teaching environments,' she says.The otolaryngologist Charles Limb, a self-professed music addict, has conductedequally interesting research. In order toexplore the effects of musical improvisation onthe brain, he put jazz musicians with portablekeyboards into an fMRI scanner and recordedtheir brain function while 'trading fours' - amusical 'conversation' in which musicianstake turns to improvise a passage of music.The areas of the brain that engaged werethose used in language and communication. New soundsWhile multi-language choirs don't aspire toteach their members any of the languages inwhich they sing, they can offer an introductionto the types of sounds those languagescreate. 'There has been a link between musicand languages for a long time,' says ElizabethLake MCIL, an interpreter, teacher and trainer.'If you're using an entirely new language, it'seasier if it's put to music, as you've gotsomething to pin it on and associate it with -and if you're learning a tune at the sametime, you're doing two things at once, whichinterests me because of my interest insimultaneous interpreting.'Eaton feels these choirs can also extend anunderstanding of culture. 'Teaching in arange of languages adds to my feel fordifferent types of people. A good example isthat this term my Dagenham choir is doing aShona funeral song, which is a celebration.That's interesting culturally. It's a South Africanlanguage, and they sing about sendingsomeone off to a really good place. It's nothow we would generally view death.'Dyson adds that it also gives choristersnew confidence. 'Being able to stand up andsing does a lot for people, and I think doingthat in different languages gives them evenmore confidence. It opens minds.' But for allthe philosophising, what's important, saysDyson, is the music. 'We're all about enjoyingyourself and enjoying sound,' she concludes.See www.vocalitysinging.co.uk for more onVocality; www.lifebulb.org for details of theDagenham and Barking choir; andwww.emportfolio.eu for information onEuropean Music Portfolio workshops,methods and downloadable resources.SINGING LESSONS: The Vocalitysummer concert last year (above); and astudent in Ludke's Hungarian study (left)What makes Ludke's research moreinspiring is the nature of the 'eureka moment'that prompted it. 'I was in Cantigas Women'sChoir in New York City, where we wouldoften sing in different languages,' sheexplains. 'I was also teaching English as anadditional language to adults, and when I waswalking home from choir one night, I had aflash of insight that I should research the linksbetween singing and language learning. I wasusing songs as a tool in my lessons, but then Igot worried that it might not be helpful: songssometimes have quite unusual grammar, andI wondered whether that might, potentially,hinder their language learning. I looked into itand I was surprised at how little research therewas. I couldn't find any studies comparinggroups that had been taught material from anew language with singing and without.' Her research, conducted at the Universityof Edinburgh, informs the 'European MusicPortfolio - A Creative Way into Languages'project, which runs workshops and providesdownloadable resources on teachinglanguages through singing and musicalactivities. 'A lot of that is targeted at primary

28 TheLinguistAUGUST/SEPTEMBERwww.iol.org.ukFEATURESThe series continues with an overview of the publicservices interpreting situation in Sweden Is there a need for public serviceinterpreting (PSI) in Sweden? Yes. The most frequent combinations arebetween Swedish and Arabic, Persian, Polish,Romanian, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish,Somali and Sorani.Are there best practice standardsthat require equality irrespectiveof language, and support thedevelopment of PSI? The Ordinance on Authorisation ofInterpreters and Translators containsprovisions governing public authorisation ofinterpreters. The authority responsible forauthorising interpreters and supervising theiractivities, Kammarkollegiet, has drawn upregulations for enforcement of the Ordinanceas part of its Regulations for AuthorisedInterpreters. Other laws contain provisionsrelevant to interpreters, including the Actconcerning confidentiality for interpreters andtranslators, the Administrative Procedure Actand the Public Access to Information andSecrecy Act.Have working standards beensecured for PSIs in Sweden?There is a fixed tariff for assignments in publiccourts, police stations, the enforcementservice and the prosecution authority; all otherpublic sector assignments are paid accordingto a price list set by the agencies. Thesituation for PSIs is rather insecure today.Are there national PSI standards?In order to be authorised as an interpreter inSweden you have to pass a proficiency examwith high professional qualification standards.The test is available in 40 languages and isGlobal insightsarranged by Kammarkollegiet, which can takedisciplinary action if needed. There is a database of authorisedinterpreters. Kammarkollegiet has a separatedatabase that includes trained interpreterswho are not tested according to theOrdinance and are not supervised byKammarkollegiet. There are also interpreterswho do not belong to either group. Publicsector service users are getting better atdistinguishing between these three groups.Do public service personnelreceive training on how to workwith PSIs and across cultures?Interpreting service providers give sometraining to public service personnel. Is there a code of conduct forPSIs working in Sweden?Kammarkollegiet has published a professionalcode of ethics for authorised interpreters andtranslators. 'Good Interpreting Practice andGood Translation Practice' is based on a seriesof principles and is intended primarily forauthorised interpreters and translators,although it is useful for anyone who acceptsinterpreting and translation assignments. Thepublication also provides service users withinformation about the interpreting task.Are PSI qualifications from othercountries recognised?Kammarkollegiet authorises interpreterstrained in other EU member states accordingto the EU directives on the recognition ofprofessional qualifications. There is noconversion course for PSIs trained elsewhere.What are the main obstacles toprogress? Public service personnel's poor knowledge ofthe issues surrounding PSI. Many of thosewho apply for authorisation have poor orinsufficient skills (both language andinterpreting skills). Lack of qualified languageexperts in some languages makes it difficultto arrange proficiency tests. A greatercommitment from politicians in interpretingissues would be desirable. What would you like to achieve inthe next five years?A sufficient number of qualified andauthorised interpreters, training programmesthat respond to needs, better knowledge ofthe business among users, a more securesituation for interpreters, better use of newtechnology, reduced travel time. To be ableto offer authorisation for more languages,which could be achieved partly through goodprocurement, but mainly by political decisions.Klas Ericsson and Ivett Larsson,Kammarkollegiet© ISTOCKPHOTOSERVICE USERS:A police car outsideKarolinska Hospital in Stockholm