Retour interpreting revisited: tuning competences in interpreter education

Abstract

For the past two decades interpreter trainers have been wondering not whether retour interpreting should be taught, but how it can be taught (Harris, 1990, 1992; Snelling, 1992). The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) offers new opportunities for the proliferation of networks and exchanges of didactic materials or methodologies for the teaching of interpreting into B. First, we critically appraise the traditional dichotomy between models based on constructivism and liberalism in interpreter training. We then present those competences inherent to retour interpreting and describe the joint edition of a DVD featuring didactic materials and speeches in its initial phases. We finally discuss our experience in the use and evaluation of the teaching materials for the learning and teaching of simultaneous interpreting into B from Spanish into English and into German with the aim of fostering those skills.