Reality-based court interpreting didactic material using new technologies

Abstract

Training for future court interpreters has traditionally been based on role-play exercises, recreations of actual trials or audios based on prototypical communicative situations. In the case of interpreting in court these kinds of simulations are not enough to train future court interpreters, since they do not fully reflect the great complexity of real communication in court. This article is intended to present a new reality-based audiovisual training material specifically devoted to court interpreters training in Spain. The material was inspired by the positive results of the conference interpreting teaching materials developed using real videos at the University of Granada. One of the most interesting aspects of the material presented here is its exclusivity, as it is, to date, the only didactic material for court interpreting training that achieves such a high degree of authenticity, since it works on the basis of real criminal trials. The material takes into account well-known translation subcompetences and it specifically addresses students who have previously received training in conference interpreting.