Meeting the new normal: A case study of an online simultaneous interpreting course

ABSTRACT

With the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic, interpreting educators faced the daunting prospect of adopting virtual platforms to adapt to new ways of teaching provision. Common challenges included re-designing the original curriculum, selecting an appropriate platform with all the features required for efficient interpreting classes, tackling technical issues, and ensuring student active participation. This article presents the results of introducing a fully online simultaneous interpreting course (from February to June 2021) for second-year MA students of English Studies at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Poland. The research objectives of this study include assessing the usability of two online conference platforms (Zoom and Microsoft Teams) for simultaneous interpreting training, presenting the students user experience, and the trainer s reflections on using virtual platforms in the context of socio-constructivist principles such as incorporating situated learning activities, i.e. activities simulating real-life interpreting assignments, collaborative learning, ongoing feedback, and self-reflection. © 2022 International Association of Translation and Intercultural Studies. All rights reserved.