Students’ views on the use of film-based LangPerform computer simulations for dialogue interpreting

Abstract

This article describes the results of the pilot testing phase of the first LangPerform dialogue interpreting simulations, which replicated authentic communication situations in a Finnish daycare center and consisted of interpreting and sight translation tasks. Five students with German and three with English as their B-language participated in the pilot testing. Afterwards, they were interviewed about their experience and thoughts about the simulations. They were positively surprised by the authenticity of the simulation and regarded the simulation as an excellent additional training method for self-training and self-evaluation. Negative feedback that drew away from authenticity mainly concerned the predetermined time reserved for interpreting, which resulted in there sometimes being long pauses or, on several occasions, not enough time to interpret.