Abstract
In this paper, I reflect on over twenty years of teaching interpreting, evolving from a “listen and interpret” teacher to an aspirant for innovation. There are discussions of how I broke out of the comfort zone of notions of “accuracy” and “correct interpretation,” but the focus of the paper is on how a broadened vision enabled me to formulate my own teaching philosophies and on how I am teaching interpreting in an evolved regime. I will also discuss the outcomes of the innovations. As will be shown, there are positive outcomes for the students, the innovator, and the university. But there are also disappointing outcomes, including emerging signs of the unsustainability of the innovations vis-à-vis the commercial reality of interpreter education programs in Australia. I concede that I have not been able to reconcile the innovative teaching of interpreting and the pressure of commercial forces. However, I would like to think that if discussions and debates can be generated, more ideas may emerge that will eventually make innovations more acceptable. This paper is intended to stimulate such discussions and debates.
Recommended Citation
Zhong, Yong
(2010)
"Struggling Between Aspirations to Innovate and the Tyranny of Reality,"
International Journal of Interpreter Education: Vol. 2:
Iss.
1, Article 15.
Available at:
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/ijie/vol2/iss1/15
