近年來內口譯教學蓬勃發展，各大專院校爭設口譯課程。其中翻譯系所設置口譯課程以培訓夕業口即人才應屬明確定位，但一般大專外語系口譯課的教學目標則仍存有爭議。多數學者專家認為大專口譯課應定位在提升學生口語能力，不過這樣的規畫尚未有實徵的研究證據支持，畢竟口譯課和口語課所訓練的技能不盡相同，口譯能力和口語能力是曾能互相轉移周有再深入探究之必要。因此本研究旨在使用實驗法(experimental method)，以口譯課和口語課兩班學生為實驗對象來比較其學習成效，並輔以學生自評上完口譯課的問卷調查結果，希冀提供實徵的證據(empirical evidence)以說明大專口譯課程的實質效用。研究結果顯示口譯課確實有助於提升學生外語技能，並增進其學習興趣和動機。由此研究結果為基礎出發，大專口譯課應該還有更多元層次技能的發展空間，例如納入對話口譯、導覽口譯、工商口譯等專業技能門檻較低之口譯訓練。簡言之，本研究之結果希冀能有助釐清目前大學譯課定位之相關議題。

Over the past few years, many interpretation programs have been established around Taiwan. In view of the rapid increase of interpretation courses, however, their teaching objectives are still not clearly specified. In general, most colleges are incorporating interpretation skills into their foreign language courses, while professional interpreter training is left to specialized courses at graduate level. Although many interpretation scholars and teachers have claimed that the main purpose for college interpretation courses is to enhance students’ oral English proficiency, rather than to train professional interpreters, such as statement has not been sufficiently supported by empirical evidence yet. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine if the interpretation instruction would improve student’s oral English performance. Through an experiment, learning outcome produced by an interpretation class and an oral English training class was compared and analyzed. Also, a questionnaire was filled out by students to elicit their responses to the interpretation instruction. The results of this study clearly support the notion that interpretation instruction could facilitate students’ acquisition of oral English skills, as well as promote students’ motivation and interests to learn English well. Theses research results may contribute to a better understanding of the role of interpretation classes in foreign language curriculum at college level.