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Instrumentalising Foreign Language Pedagogy in Translator and Interpreter Training: Methods, goals and perspectives
Edited by Olaf Immanuel Seel, Silvia Roiss and Petra Zimmermann-González
[Benjamins Translation Library 161] 2023
► pp. 76–96

Chapter 5
Listening comprehension in translation and interpreting programs

A pedagogical proposal

| Universitat de València , Spain

This chapter seeks to show the specificity and uniqueness of listening comprehension in interpreter training. Although foreign language courses are aimed at enhancing students’ linguistic competence so that translation and interpreting tasks can be subsequently tackled, these courses often adhere to general foreign language principles, disregarding the specific linguistic needs of these students. In this chapter, listening comprehension is addressed with a view to elucidating the cognitive demands and nature of this linguistic skill for interpreting. A proposal of sample activities to enhance listening comprehension will also be presented to help language lecturers understand the essence of this skill and how it can best be approached when the goal is to train prospective interpreters.

Keywords: listening comprehension, interpreting, training, cognitive efforts, pedagogical exercises
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Listening comprehension in interpreting training
  • 3.Design of activities
    • 3.1General principles
      • 3.1.1The authenticity principle
      • 3.1.2The automaticity principle
  • 4.Proposal of sample exercises
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 1 June 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.161.05cer
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