Introducción a la interpretación : sección Inglés

Abstract

Each of the learning tasks included in this work is intended to be a contribution to the pedagogical materials and activities currently used in the Introduction to Interpreting course at the School of Languages, National University of Córdoba (U.N.C.). It is worth noting that these materials already provide students with ample practice in the various competences needed to engage in interpreting tasks; however, we believe there is a need for more systematic work on the development of specific learning strategies that may empower students to identify their strengths and weaknesses regarding their discourse competence in interpreting. Thus, it is expected that the students will profit from the class practice and online activities designed for this pedagogical proposal, which focus on working on critical thinking skills and raising the interpreters in-training awareness of particular learning strategies, such as assessing their own performance and the performance of others in a systematic and guided way. We believe that a strategies-based teaching approach empowers students to appraise their performance so as to acquire the self-confidence and monitoring skills needed for the development of discourse competence, mainly due to the fact that interpreters in-training tend be over-concerned with minor or slight mistakes, which may interfere with their performance (Karlina as cited in Choi, 2006). Also, such approach would not only contribute to the students' autonomy and reflective learning, but also to more collaborative learning practices in the interpreting class.