Classroom Interactions in Online Translator Training Classes as Communities of Inquiry in the Iranian Context[Latin Thesis]

Zahra Jaberi

Interaction is a key component in translation classes. Drawing on the community of inquiry (COI) framework, the present study specifically focuses on interaction in online translation courses, where a lack of in-person contact makes interaction challenging. The COI framework describes effective learning as an interactive process supported by social presence (participants feel they belong and are safe), teaching presence (the teacher's designs and guides in class), and cognitive presence (participants' ability to do critical thinking), which together facilitate learning. In pursuit of the aims of the study, a mixed-methods design was employed. For this purpose, 84 students from four universities in Iran took the COI survey and answered four open-ended questions in an interview. Five translation teachers were also interviewed in order to gain a better perspective from the instructors’ point of view. The results showed that the most challenging themes in online translation classes are; No change in strategy, no groups in class, Not knowing and seeing each other, and High teacher talking time. It was concluded that the difficulties are mostly in the social presence area; therefore, some activities and changes are suggested to improve online translation classes in this regard.