Chapter published in:
Teaching Dialogue Interpreting: Research-based proposals for higher education
Edited by Letizia Cirillo and Natacha Niemants
[Benjamins Translation Library 138] 2017
► pp. 323–340

Chapter 16
“That we all behave like professionals”

An experiential–dialogic approach to interpreter education and online learning

How may interpreting students acquire professional identity and knowledge online? The chapter explores knowledge building through the discourse analysis of students’ and facilitators’ interactions in real-time, text-only chats in a blended course. The university level course (30 ECTS) applies an experiential-dialogic approach to learning that sees the teacher as a facilitator. In the chat logs, the students discuss dilemmas of practice, while the facilitators reflect on the students’ ability to articulate knowledge through action in role-played exercises. The qualitative analysis shows how the didactic approach allows for professional identity and knowledge to develop. The data are derived from multiple year classes, each with up to eighty students from eight to ten working languages (WLs). To enter the course, students pass an admittance test that evaluates their listening and speaking skills in both WLs, one of which is always Norwegian. An exam testing practical interpreting skills completes the course.
Keywords: online learning, experiential-dialogic approach, text-only-chats, public sector interpreting, phronesis
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction: The need for interpreter education in the public sector setting
  • 2.The nature of professional knowledge
  • 3.Background and methodology
  • 4.An experiential-dialogic approach to learning in text-only chats
    • 4.1Students’ reflections on professional identity and knowledge
    • 4.2Facilitators’ text-only chat concerning the students’ professional development
  • 5.Learning points
Published online: 19 October 2017
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.138.16ska
Cited by

Cited by 2 other publications

Braun, Sabine, Elena Davitti & Catherine Slater
2020. ‘It’s like being in bubbles’: affordances and challenges of virtual learning environments for collaborative learning in interpreter education. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 14:3 ► pp. 259 ff. Crossref logo
Skaaden, Hanne
2018. Remote Interpreting: Potential Solutions to Communication Needs in the Refugee Crisis and Beyond. The European Legacy 23:7-8 ► pp. 837 ff. Crossref logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 31 march 2022. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.