The development of expertise in interpreting through self-regulated learning from trainee interpreters

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of self-regulated learning in the development of expertise in conference interpreting for trainee interpreters. It aims to identify and quantify the learner factors affecting the development of expertise in interpreting and their interrelationships, chart their changes over time, and specify their relationship to interpreting performance. Participants were thirty Stage-1 students and eleven Stage-2 direct-entry students admitted into the MA in Translating and Interpreting Programme (Chinese strand) at Newcastle University in September 2009. Quantitative data were collected at three time points over the course of the academic year with the aid of a self-designed questionnaire. Trainee interpreters’ motivational beliefs and metacognitive knowledge of strategies were found to be major influences on their use of self-regulated learning strategies. Motivational beliefs and strategy use predicted interpreting performances. In turn, interpreting performances were found to influence subsequent motivational beliefs, metacognitive knowledge and strategy use. Student entry characteristics such as level of language on entry and age played a moderating role in the relations between the cognitive and motivational factors and the development of self-regulation, as well as in the relations between self-regulated learning and the development of expertise in interpreting. These findings can be seen in the context of a model of expertise development in interpreting. The findings highlight the role of modifiable learner factors in interpreter training theories, as well as the role of unmodifiable learner factors in deliberate-practice or self-regulated learning approaches to the learning of interpreting. The key implication of the study for interpreter training practice is that teaching and learning need to focus more on the adaptive use of self-regulated learning strategies, rather than solely emphasizing time spent practising. At the same time, strategy use needs to be taught as part of a framework of motivational and cognitive factors, rather than in isolation.