Covid 19 Related Challenges in Consecutive Remote Interpreting

During the Covid 19 pandemic lockdown, where the possibilities to meet face-to-face are restricted, remote communication has presented itself as a convenient solution for instance in doctor-patient consultations and police interviews. Remote interpreting (RI), where the interpreter communicates with the interlocutors via technological solutions across geographical distance, serves to enhance the availability also of trained interpreters in institutional discourse (Korak 2010). Approaching consecutive RI in an action research mode, this paper reports on interpreting students’ reflections via synchronous text-only-chats in an online classroom setting on their experiences with RI. Since the BA students already practice public sector interpreting (PSI), their reflections are on real-life experiences with RI in legal and health care settings as well as in the classroom setting. Although professionals in need of PSI embrace the RI option, the interpreters are experiencing more challenges and stress during RI than in onsite interpreting and describe challenges with feedback signals, turn taking and information overflow (Braun & Taylor 2012, Napier et al 2018, Skaaden 2018). The current content discourse analysis draws on chat logs from 57 hours of organized chat involving 90 students in two year-classes (2020 and 2021). All chat sessions are part of mandatory online classes where the students reflect upon their experiences with RI before and during Covid 19 in text-only-chats in the presence of a facilitator. Based on a comparison with results from previous studies on students’ RI experiences, the paper addresses the question: what general and specific challenges in performing consecutive RI during the Covid 19 pandemic do interpreter students practicing in the Norwegian public sector report on? References Braun, S. & J. Taylor (2012). Videoconference and Remote Interpreting in Criminal Proceedings. Cambridge: Intersentia Korak, C. (2010). Remote Interpreting via Skype. Berlin: Frank & Timme Verlag für wissenshaftliche Literatur Napier, J., Skinner, R., & Braun, S. (eds) (2018). Here or There. Research on Interpreting via Video Link. Gallaudet University Press. Skaaden, H. (2018). Remote Interpreting: Potential Solutions to Communication Needs in the Refugee Crisis and Beyond. In: The European Legacy. Towards New Paradigms. 2018-08-01. DOI: 10.1080/10848770.2018.1499474