TEACHING REMOTE SIMULTANEOUS INTERPRETING: STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION AND TRAINING PERSPECTIVES

This study focuses on Remote Simultaneous Interpreting (RSI) from the perspective of interpreter training—an area that has been relatively underexplored in the existing literature, which has primarily addressed professional practice. Recognizing that RSI is not merely part of the legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic but it is here to stay, starting from the academic year 2022/2023 IULM University has included English-Italian RSI modules in the curriculum of its master’s degree programme in Specialised Translation and Conference Interpreting. These modules are offered both to 1st and 2nd-year students and are taught on a professional platform adapted for teaching purposes (Converso Education1). The platform has been made fully accessible and has been endowed with an artificial boothmate. Against this backdrop, this contribution intends to present the results of a project initiated by Baselli and Garzone at IULM University, with a dual objective: 1. verify the effectiveness of our RSI teaching in terms of performance quality; 2. evaluate students’ perception of RSI interpreting vis-à-vis in-person Simultaneous Interpreting (SI), aiming to gauge the effectiveness of the RSI modules and understand learners’ needs. Within this scope, questionnaires were administered at the end of the academic year 2023-24. Based on the results obtained, a focus group was organized to explore the specificities of RSI, evaluate the perceived effectiveness of the training provided, and examine fatigue-related factors that have been linked to diminished RSI performance (Moser-Mercer, 2005a). This study presents findings aimed at addressing the challenges of training interpreters in this technology-intensive mode of SI and contributing to the development of effective teaching strategies.