‘The teaching and learning that matter today’

The Centre for Translation and Interpreting at Queen’s University Belfast is delighted to host the 5th Conference of the Association of Programmes in Translation and Interpreting Studies, UK and Ireland (APTIS) on 1-3 November 2023.

The professional and educational landscapes of translation and interpreting (T&I) are changing rapidly. Our understanding of T&I as a discipline and profession, the needs and expectations of service users, the advances of technology and AI, and the urgency of the climate and biodiversity crises, are all factors affecting the contours of those landscapes. COVID-19 has expediated the pace of change and forced educators worldwide into a state of “emergency remote teaching” (Bozkurt and Sharma 2020, i). As we return to the (pre-COVID) ‘normal’ or enter the post-COVID ‘new normal’, this is an opportune time to take stock of where we are as a discipline and profession, where we are – and want to be heading, and how and for what we are preparing the next generation of professionals, practitioners, and academics.

What and how should we teach? What and how should students learn? Answers depend on the job profiles we have in mind, market specificity, and opportunities and limitations afforded by each educational environment. Understanding the aims of any T&I programme (or even of individual modules) is of critical importance when deciding what and how to teach and learn. This conference aims to ignite discussions over situated approaches to curriculum and learning design that is fit for individual contexts and purposes, to (ex)change thoughts and ideas, and to facilitate the sharing of useful and effective teaching and learning practices among our academic community.

Professor Lorraine Leeson, PhD

Mitigating Effortful Engaging in Interpreting Contexts

Living parts of one’s life in interpretation can be challenging, with systemic barriers and bureaucratic systems inhibiting access to services and inclusion in society in ways that legislation seeks to ensure (e.g. via the UNCRPD (2006) European Directives like the Victims Directive (European Parliament and the Council of the European Union),  or the Directive on on the right to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings (2010); the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (1992); the Istanbul Convention (2011) and national legislation recognising signed languages) (e.g. see Blumczynski & Wilson, 2022; Leeson, Sheikh, Rozanes, Grehan, & Matthews, 2014; Napier, Young, & Oram, 2017; Sheikh et al., 2021). For end-users of interpreting services, it can be exhausting (Leeson, 2019), labour-intensive (Brunson, 2010) and stressful (Napier et al., 2021). This can have significant implications for health and liberty (e.g. Leeson, Napier, Haug, Lynch, & Sheikh, 2021). In the case of those working through systems focused on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, for example, it has the potential to re-traumatise (and leave interpreters and others open to vicarious trauma) (Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, 2023).

As interpreters, we have the potential to make things more complicated, more challenging, but equally, we have the opportunity to collectively and individually alleviate the challenge. The role of the interpreter is, of course, just one factor in a broader context. Given this, the training and ongoing professional development of interpreters must not occur in isolation. Further, we must avoid the siloing effect when it comes to consideration of sign and spoken language interpreting. In this talk, I will unpack the idea of ‘effortful engaging’ and consider what role interpreter educators, interpreting associations, registration bodies and other partners across the system have in mitigating the significant effort that currently lies with individual service users as they seek to navigate systems via interpretation.  

*Lorraine is an academic and multidisciplinary researcher with 30 years’ interpreting experience. A leader in the development and delivery of sign language interpreter education in Ireland, she has also made significant contributions at European level. As Professor in Deaf Studies at Trinity College Dublin, her work includes consideration of aspects of interpreting in various contexts, e.g. the development of evidence-informed training resources for those working in gender-based violence contexts (Justisigns 2 Project), and engagement on the question of machine translation/sign languages (SignON project). She is passionate about ensuring research can inform policy and practice, resulting in engagement with a broad range of governmental agencies and non-governmental bodies in Ireland and internationally.

Dr Catherine Way, PhD

Streamlining translator training and assessment

For over 30 years at the Translation and Interpreting Faculty of the University of Granada, we have blended different aspects of translation pedagogy to improve Translator Competence (TC) development and created a method of assessment, which will measure this development within an overarching framework, designed to lead trainees towards expertise. This approach, used in authentic project-based, learner-centred, collaborative translation classes, cultivates the ability to identify and solve translation problems by encouraging trainees to become self-regulated, autonomous learners, whilst preparing them for lifelong learning. Putting all this into practice can seem daunting. So, how exactly can we juggle the complexity of developing TC, transitioning from translator competence to expertise and individualised academic assessment? Individualised assessment of trainees can be a complex, time-consuming activity. The rubrics we present provide both individual and collective assessment of the translation process and the final translation product. They also allow us to see each trainee’s TC development. To allay time concerns, an outline of how to incorporate these tasks in an efficient, manageable way is presented. This system has led to more comprehensive improvement of TC and also increased trainees’ self-efficacy and preparedness for the industry.

*Catherine has been Associate Professor of Translation at the University of Granada for 30+ years and has practised as a court/conference interpreter and freelance translator. Until recently she was lead researcher of the AVANTI group, has co-edited several books, is a member of the Editorial Board of The Interpreter and Translator Trainer (previously Editor) and of the Advisory Board of Fachsprache, the International Journal of Legal Discourse and the series Aprende a traducir amongst others. She also co-edited the Proceedings of the 6th EST Conference and has peer reviewed for several publishers. Her research interests are legal translation, directionality, the translation profession, translator training and action research. She has participated as an expert for the EU in the TRAFUT programme and one of her last PhDs has received the CIUTI Award for excellence in doctoral research and contributing to advancing TS.

APTIS 2023 - draft programme (updated 21 September 2023)

APTIS 2023 - Workshops (updated 21 September 2023)