T&I field training for undergraduate students: a case study of Korean undergraduate students’ peripheral participation into the community and their furthered understanding of the role of interpreters/translators

ABSTRACT

This article reports on a case study of Korean translation and interpreting (T&I) undergraduate students engaging in peripheral participation into their community as interpreters/translators and their improved understanding of the role of interpreters/translators. Such peripheral participation was made possible through a module called T&I Field Training for senior students, through which students were assigned as interpreters/translators to seven organisations. The module was based on the belief that students should be able to experience the field of T&I at the very end of their studies before graduation and that one of the main aims of an undergraduate T&I programme may be to nurture future dialogue interpreters/translators. At the same time, the module allowed students to engage with various problems troubling Korean society. Most importantly, however, the module enabled students to serve as ‘peripheral participants’ and absorb and better understand what roles they are expected to assume as interpreters/translators. This article discusses the rationale for launching the module, describes how the module proceeded, and investigates how students improved their understanding of the role of interpreters/translators through T&I journals, through interviews with students and staff of these organisations.

KEYWORDS:

• undergraduate translation and interpreting (T&I)education
• student-centred process-oriented approach
• situated learning
• peripheral participation
• role ofinterpreters/translators

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the reviewers of this paper for their insightful comments. I also deeply thank Professor Michael Chesnut and Professor Hyang Lee for their support and guidance. And lastly, I thank my student Mr Chul Hee Kim for his indispensable assistance in preparing this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Through the event, overseas adoptees visited orphanages and adoption agencies, and some successfully reunited with their biological families.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Research Fund of 2015.