Dear Educators,
We’re so excited for yet another ATA Conference! Let’s make it the best ever in Miami.
Educators Division Annual Meeting
Thursday 11/05 • 12:30pm – 1:00pm
Come see what we’ve been up to, our brand new website and mingle. We look forward to seeing you.
Division Open House
Wednesday • 5:30pm – 7:00pm • Open to registered attendees
ATA welcomes you to Miami! Get to know the ATA Divisions!
Meet and mingle with your fellow Division members. This event allows all Divisions to socialize and introduce themselves to newcomers. Attendees who are not members of a Division can also take this opportunity to get to know the different Divisions and learn more about them.
Also, please consider becoming a buddy. This mutually rewarding networking opportunity lets “Newbies” (first-time attendees) get paired up with “Buddies” (seasoned attendees) to get the most from their conference experience. SIGN UP NOW to take part in this event. It’s easy.
Introduction: Wednesday, November 4 • 4:45pm -5:30pm • Open to registered attendees
During the Conference: Attend one session together and have one meal together.
Debriefing: Jamie Hartz and Helen Eby. Saturday, 3:30pm-4:30pm.
Education and Training Sessions
- Best Practices for Online Translation and Interpreting Courses
Cristina Silva
(Thursday, 11:15am-12:15pm; Advanced; Presented in: English)The current translation and interpreting market has many in-person and online course offerings. Online courses have become interesting models for both digital natives and digital immigrants. This session is based on the speaker’s experience at three U.S. universities. Topics will include planning short and long programs, techniques and activities, learning platforms, and the teacher-student relationship. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about practical activities for online courses in translation and interpreting.
- The First Generation of Conference Interpreters Trained Online: What Can They Teach Us?
Sheyla Carvalho
(Thursday, 2:00pm-3:00pm; All Levels; Presented in: English)In 2011, the speaker adapted the face-to-face conference interpreting training program she had first developed for her company in 2000, and designed a new, fully online training course on conference interpreting. Since 2000, the online course has improved based on input from students and changes in technology. This session will analyze data provided from interviews and surveys undertaken with the speaker’s former online students (specifically those who graduated two to five years ago). Students were asked about the impact of online training on their professional careers, with a view toward improving online education for interpreters.
- Finding the Student’s Inner Technologist: Best Practices for Teaching CAT Tools, Localization, and Terminology Online
Steven Gendell, Barbara Inge Karsch, and Jon Ritzdorf
(Friday, 2:00pm-3:00pm; All Levels; Presented in: English)In recent years, the translation industry’s need for technical skills has increased. However, students in academic translation programs often consider computer-assisted translation, localization, and terminology courses intimidating and/or superfluous. How do instructors dispel biases, engage students in the virtual classroom, and communicate their passion for these subjects to reveal their students’ inner technologist? A panel of instructors will provide tips and best practices to enhance course design. They will discuss developing strategies to make these subject areas compelling fields of practice so apprentice translators can thrive in today’s translation industry.
- New Approaches in Directionality for Teaching Long Consecutive
Leire Carbonell-Agüero and Cas Shulman Mora
(Friday, 3:30pm-4:30pm; Advanced; Presented in: English)Spanish interpreting students at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey have traditionally received instruction during all four semesters of their consecutive interpreting training in two distinct unidirectional classes, each taught by a native speaker of the target language. While this pedagogical model has been used for at least the past two decades at the Monterey Institute, the speakers have long posited that a bidirectional teaching model might provide interpreting students with significant additional benefits. The mechanics of the bidirectional class experiment and the associated outcomes will be discussed during this session.
- Assessment Activities in the Translation Classroom
Antonio F. Jiménez Jiménez
(Saturday, 8:30am-9:30am; All Levels; Presented in: English)The assessment of translation competence is arguably one of the most challenging aspects for translation instructors. Traditional assessment techniques follow a product-based approach that focuses on providing students with feedback that highlights the errors they make in their translation assignments (i.e., terminology, style, transfer problems, grammar mistakes). This session will provide additional modes of assessment that take both the final translation and the translation process into consideration. A wide variety of self-assessment, peer-assessment, and instructor-originated assessment activities will be discussed. Special emphasis will be given to the importance of self-reflection in the assessment process.
- “Expertise Effect” Among Translation Professionals: Survey Results and Strategies for Curriculum Design
Monica Rodriguez-Castro
(Saturday, 10:00am-11:00am; All Levels; Presented in: English)The speaker will investigate the “expertise effect” in the language services industry. Due to the complexity of many of today’s projects, specialization, technical expertise, and project management skills have become essential for a translator’s professional profile. This has become a source of concern for young professionals and students who may lack training in many required skills. Sources of dissatisfaction reported by novice translators have been identified based on data collected in a survey, and these findings will be used for curriculum design. This session aims to initiate a discourse between educators and employers on how to accelerate student expertise and prepare them for success in the language industry.