Courage as Vulnerability: An Autoethnographic Action Research Project of a Novice Interpreter

Title: Courage as Vulnerability: An Autoethnographic Action Research Project of a Novice Interpreter
Creator: Malia Wong
Project Type: Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies
Date: 12/1/2023
Abstract: There is a significant gap in the literature on the concept of “courage” in the translation and interpreting field. The goal of this auto-ethnographic action research project was to begin the discussion on courage in interpreting from the lived experience of a novice interpreter. Novice interpreters face low levels of confidence (Moore, 2020) and personal distress can lead to burnout, a common factor for interpreters leaving the profession early (Schwenke, 2015). This research is based on Dean and Pollard's Demand-Control Schema (DC-S; 2013), specifically focusing on intrapersonal demands and liberal controls. For six months, I used qualitative data methods to 1) journal my experiences post-assignment during internship, and 2) journal general thoughts about my professional development journey. My results indicated that courage showed up as vulnerability, while the opposite of courage included coping mechanisms such as freezing and inauthenticity. I hope this study sparks future research on courage and vulnerability to combat the high burnout rate in the translation and interpreting profession.
Committee Member: Elisa Maroney; Amanda Smith
Language: eng
Type: Action Research Project; Text
Subject: interpersonal; self-efficacy; demand-control schema