Flipped Learning in Interpreter Training : Rationales, Resources, and Activities

Flipped learning directs students to acquire content and carry out asynchronous activities out of the classroom for more collaborative and higher-order activities during the classroom session. It leverages technologies to shift the emphasis of education from the instructor to the learner. As an initial attempt to apply flipped learning to interpreter training, this study explores the conceptual category of the model within the wide spectrum of blended learning. Based on a clear understanding of the concept, social, cognitive, and teaching presences of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework is put forward as the underlying rationales behind the selection of the resources and activities for flipped classrooms. This paper then classifies and discusses the resources and activities that best serve the rationales and meet the needs of interpreter training. Following the discussions, this paper reports on two flipped interpreting classrooms that have been piloted at a graduate school of interpretation and translation.