Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Consecutive Interpreter Training from Students’ Perspectives مقاله

The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed new demands on the global educational system and many classes are currently being held online. Based on Kelly’s (2005) evaluation framework, the present study is an attempt to explore the advantages and disadvantages of online interpreter training from students’ point of view. To do so, 24 students who had successfully passed an online consecutive interpreting course completed a questionnaire, which was developed by the researcher. The responses to the questionnaire items were analyzed and codes and themes were extracted. The results indicated that two thirds of the students were dissatisfied with online implementation of the course mainly due to technical and psychological problems they had experienced. However, a third of students were satisfied with online interpreter training via Adobe Connect, citing several educational, personal, and psychological benefits they gained from the course. Based on the congruity between the identified themes and the main tenets of constructivism, it was found that the online course was more compatible with cognitive rather than social constructivist principles. Finally, the pedagogical implications of the findings were discussed.