The reflection and self-assessment of student interpreters through logbooks : a case study

Abstract

The aims of the current study are threefold. The first aim is to investigate how writing reflective journals may facilitate student interpreters’ learning process in becoming more reflective and in assessing their own interpreting performance. The second aim is to investigate the relationship between self-assessment and reflection. The third aim is to explore how different scaffolding tools may have influenced the development of students’ reflective thinking and their approach to self-assessment. Initially, educational theories, theoretical constructs on reflection and learner self-assessment were reviewed to examine the concepts of reflection and self-assessment in the context of interpreter training. Empirical studies on the functions of reflective journals and on self-assessment, particularly those carried out in the field of interpreting were explored to help the researcher design the theoretical framework. As a case study, logbooks were collected from students taking introductory interpreting courses in a translator and interpreter training institute in a British university. The main method adopted for the analysis of the logbooks collected was thematic analysis. The themes which emerged from the data enabled the researcher to explain how writing reflective journals can shape student interpreters’ learning process and how scaffolding tools used in the study influence students’ self-assessment and reflection. The study found that the student interpreters in this case study focused more on self-assessment of their interpretation performance in their logbooks. However, this study also found evidence showing that writing logbooks have indeed helped students to become more reflective. The scaffolding tools provided, according to the result of this case study, appear to have significant influence to help some participants to move beyond reflecting on individual learning experience and to think about the learning experience from a long-term perspective.