Personal and interpersonal competence of to-be translators and interpreters during COVID-19 remote learning (students’ perspective)

Abstract

The main focus of the study lies on the challenges, procedures and consequences in personal and interpersonal competence development in university translation and interpreting (T&I) students during the COVID-19 pandemic. It reflects the significant change in learning conditions in Slovakia after shifting from campus-based to remote learning throughout the three waves of the pandemic, considering the personal and interpersonal competence an integral part of the curricula. The attention of the authors centres on the students’ perspective – their insight and evaluation of the applied training procedures in selected personal (self-assessment, time management, compliance with instructions and deadlines) and interpersonal (teamwork, collaborative tasks, communication with the client/assignor) skills. The year-on-year comparison of students’ responses shows improvement in training and learning strategies in almost all observed aspects of personal and interpersonal competence development and demonstrates students’ general adaptation to the changed learning environment. The findings of the research, however, raise several concerns related to students’ well-being and potential risks of mental health issues which appear to result from the overall crisis situation, social distancing, but also increased workload and work-life imbalance.