Integrating CAI Tools & ASR in the Interpreting Classroom: A Proposal for Lesson Plans Using InterpretBank

Technology advances have brought some important changes to interpreting practice, such as making distance interpreting possible and creating useful computer-assisted interpreting (CAI) tools. Tools such as InterpretBank that include features like terminology building and automatic speech recognition (ASR) are advantageous to interpreters in various settings. This study aims to present an overview of the CAI tools and their development, analyze the current market demand for technology-related skills, and integrate CAI and ASR tools with interpreter education. To analyze technology requirements in the job market of interpreting, we collected twenty-four job advertisements and examined employers’ demand for the aspects of distance interpreting and other technology-related requirements. This study then proposes a lesson plan that integrates a CAI tool (InterpretBank) into an interpreting course for MA-level students. The lesson plan contains three modules: the first one introduces the basic concepts of CAI tools and interpreting remotely; the second module focuses on the terminology-building feature of CAI tools, especially in creating multilingual glossaries and extracting terminology in the preparation stage of interpreting; the third module highlights ASR feature of InterpretBank. Keywords: CAI tools, interpreting, InterpretBank, terminology, speech recognition.