Stress in online interpreting classes: changes in teaching and learning due to the “new normality” of education

Abstract

Stress is a timeless and recurrent issue in university classes where interpreting-related subjects are taught and numerous studies have been published to date that address it from diferent approaches. However, the current health crisis caused by COVID-19 has opened up new lines of research and actions by modifying the traditional concepts of “university classroom” and “teaching/ learning interpreting”. Professors have had to virtualize their courses and look for alternatives to continue training future interpreters online. Students, in turn, have had to adapt to this “new educational normality”, in which ICT has played a key role. Therefore, this study aims to redirect the problem stress in the interpreting class towards the current reality that has been experienced and is being experienced in the academic environment as a result of the digitisation of the class. To this end, this research will use a questionnaire to analyse the stress of the students, at the undergraduate and postgraduate level, in the online interpreting classes and compare it with the stress they experience in the face-to-face classes in Spain.