Using a Pedagogical Mini-Series to Teach Specialised Liaison Interpretation

Résumé En

Liaison interpretation refers to “the genre of interpreting where the interpreting is performed in two language directions by the same person”; even though the consecutive mode of interpretation is used, the context in which liaison interpretation is provided is less formal (Gentile, Ozolins & Vasilakakos, 1996, p. 1, 17). Liaison interpretation is principally required in legal, medical, social, and business settings (op. cit.).Within the framework of our liaison interpretation introductory course for master’s students in specialised translation, we set a two-fold objective: to help students develop skills necessary for liaison interpretation and acquire the specialised knowledge in relation to a business setting (cultural elements, specialised vocabulary, ethical issues, etc.). The course consisted of preparatory activities and practice activities. In what concerns the practice activities, we wanted to provide students with relatively authentic materials (Tatsuki, 2006) illustrating real-life business situations where a French-speaking and an English-speaking parties would be involved. To our regret, such material was not always readily available, so the decision was taken to create such material.In 2022-23, we carried out a pilot study, which consisted in designing a few video episodes, using them in class, and then evaluating their efficiency in terms of knowledge and skills acquisition as well student motivation. The preliminary results were promising, so we pursued the design of innovative in-house materials (Lacroix & Potvin, 2009) this time by creating an 11-episode mini-series that depicts an American company’s representative’s business trip to France with the purpose of selecting French products for import to the United States. Throughout the mini-series, students are invited to provide interpretation in a number of business-related situations in various specialised areas (e.g., wine making, accounting, production of cosmetics, etc.)In this paper, we wish to describe how the mini-series was designed (course objectives, content selection, script development, collaboration with specialists, etc.) as well as to precise how it will be used to teach liaison interpretation and how the efficiency of its use will be evaluated.