Implementing Safe and Effective Collaborative Environments in Technology-enhanced Interpreter Training

Abstract

The article offers a sociocognitive perspective on how online interactive pedagogical environments can make interpreter training collaboration more efficient. The author reflects on the ways Computer Assisted Interpreter Training can support collaborative blended learning based on the principles of deliberate practice (Ericsson 1993). An examination is made of how cait can motivate the teaching and learning of interpreting, along with an overview of some virtual tools and their potential impact on particular virtual interpreter training scenarios.

Group work has demonstrated motivational benefits for student learning, but there are complexities that trainers should consider carefully to ensure an effective learning environment. Building a learning community in an online space requires different elements than when face-to-face and therefore requires a pedagogical redesign of the interpreter training curriculum and practice in order to meet these particular needs and to avoid becoming ‘lost in technology’.