1. Role Play & Interpreting
in Virtual R eality
Petra Hoffstaedter & Kurt Kohn
Steinbeis Transfer Center (DE) University of Tübingen (DE)
Language Learning Media kurt.kohn@uni-tuebingen.de
www.sprachlernmedien.de http://projects.ael.uni-tuebingen.de
lin-quest expert meeting, Bad Sulzburg, 10 May 2014
Language
Learning Media

2. Language
Learning Media
The EU project EVIVA
Evaluating the Education of Interpreters and their Clients
through Virtual Learning Activities
 Business/community interpreter training & self-study in 3 virtual
environments
 the 3D world of SecondLife
 Google Hangout
 Backbone online interview corpora
 Languages: English, German, Greek, Polish, and Spanish
 Evaluation of student and client activities
 Role play – Practice with recorded dialogues – Practice & explorations with
video-recorded and annotated interviews
lin-quest expert meeting, Bad Sulzburg, 10 May 2014
A European LLP (KA 2) project with 5 partners from 4 European countries: Cyprus,
Germany, Poland, UK (Jan 2013 – Dec 2014)
Coordinator: University of Surrey (UK)
Forerunner project: “Interpreting in Virtual Reality” (IVY)
www.virtual-interpreting.net

3. Language
Learning Media
EVIVA role play - interpreting
SecondLife
lin-quest expert meeting, Bad Sulzburg, 10 May 2014

4. Language
Learning Media
EVIVA role play - interpreting
Google Hangout
lin-quest expert meeting, Bad Sulzburg, 10 May 2014

5. Language
Learning Media
Issues for discussion and exploration
Comparative evaluation: EVIVA/IVY SecondLife and Google Hangout
 Affordances
 role play, communication practice and testing
 interpreter training and interpreting
 Psychological attitude
 feeling natural and comfortable
 feeling present in the environment/group
 Affordances for learning
------------------------
Video recording: Role play in EVIVA/IVY SecondLife 
Video recording: play in Google Hangout 
lin-quest expert meeting, Bad Sulzburg, 10 May 2014

6. Language
Learning Media
Issues for discussion and exploration
 Affordances
 role play, communication practice and testing
 interpreter training and interpreting
lin-quest expert meeting, Bad Sulzburg, 10 May 2014

7. Language
Learning Media
EVIVA role play - interpreting
Affordances for role play, com practice and interpreter training
lin-quest expert meeting, Bad Sulzburg, 10 May 2014
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3
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5
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7
The environment is
attractive for
communicating with
others
The environment is
attractive for role
plays
The environment is
attractive for
interpreting practice
SecondLife
Hangout

8. Language
Learning Media
Issues for discussion and exploration
 Psychological attitude
 feeling natural and comfortable
 feeling present in the environment/group
lin-quest expert meeting, Bad Sulzburg, 10 May 2014

9. Language
Learning Media
EVIVA role play - interpreting
Psychological attitudes
lin-quest expert meeting, Bad Sulzburg, 10 May 2014
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2
3
4
5
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7
My interpreting experience felt
natural (same as in the real
world)
I did feel comfortable
interpreting in this
environment
I felt a sense of presence
(feeling of ‘being there’) in the
environment
Second Life
Hangout

10. Language
Learning Media
Issues for discussion and exploration
 Affordances for learning
lin-quest expert meeting, Bad Sulzburg, 10 May 2014

11. Language
Learning Media
EVIVA role play - interpreting
Affordances for learning
lin-quest expert meeting, Bad Sulzburg, 10 May 2014
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2
3
4
5
6
7
I felt the tool had a positive impact
on my interpreting performance
I feel that the tool has help me to
improve my interpreting skills
Second Life
Hangout

12. Language
Learning Media
Issues for discussion and exploration
 Developmental perspective
 familiarization
 learning to learn
lin-quest expert meeting, Bad Sulzburg, 10 May 2014

13. Language
Learning Media
EVIVA role play - interpreting
User Experience (SAP questionnaire)
lin-quest expert meeting, Bad Sulzburg, 10 May 2014
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
SecondLife
Hangout

14. Language
Learning Media
lin-quest expert meeting, Bad Sulzburg, 10 May 2014
Interpreting
students
T-stud: OpenSim
-2
-1
0
1
2
-2
-1
0
1
2
Time
A
Time
B
-2
-1
0
1
2
EVIVA role play - interpreting
Learning to learn

15. Language
Learning Media
Issues for discussion and exploration
 Implications for “secondary” users
 teachers and trainers
(language learning and interpreting)
 interpreting clients
lin-quest expert meeting, Bad Sulzburg, 10 May 2014

16. Language
Learning Media
References
Laugwitz, B., Held, Th. and Schrepp, M. (2008). Construction and evaluation of a user
experience questionnaire. In Holzinger, A. (ed.) (2008). HCI and Usability for
Education and Work. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, 63-76.
lin-quest expert meeting, Bad Sulzburg, 10 May 2014

17. Language
Learning Media
Thank you
lin-quest expert meeting, Bad Sulzburg, 10 May 2014