Cultivating Student Translators and Interpreters Beyond the Classroom: The Case of Academic Service-Learning

The paper, based on Lave & Wenger’s (1991) theory of situated learning, starts with the discussion of and comparison between different types of translation and interpreting learning beyond the classroom. Based on the theoretical discussion, the paper moves onto the exploration of different pedagogical methods applied to incorporate service-learning in translation and interpreting classrooms. An action research method is employed to explore the best practice of incorporating service-learning in two courses, i.e., Translation Workshop and Community Interpreting, both undergraduate electives conducted in the form of student-led agencies. The service-learning courses have been implemented for six and three consecutive years respectively, with learner and service-user feedback gathered on a yearly basis for further improvement. Both questionnaire and interview data were gathered, before and after the implementation of the courses, the analyses of which were triangulated with the different versions of working syllabi matching the course intended learning outcomes with service learning activities. Results of the study show the central themes that are of concern to the enhancement of service-learning in translation and interpreting classrooms, which can shed light on pedagogical enhancement in other disciplines. The study also touches upon topics including service-learning in the age of artificial intelligence.