Abstract:

The third Millennium promotes the development of smart professional communities in domain specific areas. Centuries-long tradition viewed interpretation from one language into another as a purely human activity with no digital devices use except for interpreter's booth equipment.

Nonetheless, the digital society sets up new realities that pave way to digital technologies engagement in the process of interpreting from one language into another.

The above situation has led to the research statement that Academia should focus on the Industry needs in terms of Interpreters’ awareness of and capacity to use up-to-date electronic tools to enhance their professional activities. To this end relevant ICT tools should become part of interpreters’ training.

It is critical to underline that the above statement does not aim to draw the academic community attention to audio/video files repositories and other collections that can be used as educational aids and materials for classroom and self- training learning activities.

The present research starts with the point that the ICT Industry provides professionals with the software that can speed up and support interpreters’ pre-booth preparation and in-booth work. Such software as LookUp (1), Interpreter’s Wizard (2), InterpretBank (3) and other resources are widely known among professional interpreters who deal with diverse audiences and interpreting settings on the regular basis and have to process considerable amount of culturally or technically specific information without having much time for preparation.

However, such kind of software can be efficient only if individuals know ways to use the respective tools for particular purposes. Thus, university faculty who engage in university-based interpreters’ training are supposed to be aware of the above mentioned tools and to be ready to train students to use the instruments under study in different professional settings.

The research goals was to study the university faculty opinions and experiences regarding the prospects to include the existing software for interpreting activities in the curriculum for interpreters’ academic training.

The research methodology included theoretical and empirical studies. The literature review aimed to map current technological and didactic trends in the area under study. The empirical analysis was conducted to explore university faculty opinions on the above mentioned issues. Totally 154 university teachers took part in the survey. They represented 16 European countries and participated in the on-line open-ended questionnaire. It offered questions to check teachers’ awareness of the latest digital developments for the interpreters’ work and to map teachers’ attitude to incorporate the software under study into the university curricular for interpreters’ training.

The research results led to the list of the recommendations for Academia regarding ways to foster the teachers’ professional development and didactic competence related to the use of software for interpreters in the university teaching/ learning environment. The research findings also laid grounds for recommendations regarding curriculum design for university-based interpreter training.

References:
[1] LookUp. https://fortress.wa.gov/lni/ils/
[2] Interpreter’s Wizard. www.148apps.com/app/459840272
[3] InterpretBank. Available on-line: www.interpretbank.com/

Keywords:

Interpreter training, ICT tools for interpreters, interpreting in emergency situation.