Un'esperienza di formazione nell'interpretazione a distanza: la SHIFT Summer School

Over the last two decades the interpreting profession has changed considerably and remote interpreting started gaining ground. This dissertation aims at studying the characteristics of telephone conversations in order to analyse interpreting over the phone and its peculiarities, such as the lack of access to the visual channel and the feeling of “distance” from the interaction experienced by interpreters. Although scholars have pointed out that interpreting remotely is different from face-to-face interpreting, training in this interpreting mode is still uncommon in academic settings. This dissertation highlights the need for university training in remote interpreting and for this purpose it discusses the SHIFT project that specifically aims at closing the gap between the market demand for remote interpreting services and the lack of university training. SHIFT Summer School is the object of this study. Four learners’ telephone interpreting performances were selected and transcribed to be analysed with the main focus on the interpreters’ autonomous contributions (non-renditions) due to their remoteness in the interaction and the “communicative uncertainty” they supposedly felt. The particularly active role the interpreters played to regulate turn-taking, ensure the transmission of the message and facilitate the communicative flow with the main participants is discussed on the basis of examples. Then the learners’ perceptions of the Summer School – collected using a questionnaire – are reported with a focus on the challenges linked to remote interpreting and the strategies adopted by the learners to respond to them. Finally, their opinions on the organisation of the Summer School and their overall satisfaction with the training provided are illustrated in order to understand whether this Summer School might become an example to follow in providing training in remote interpreting, both for university students and professionals needing ad hoc training.