Exploring The Effect Of Mock Conference On The Internalization Of Translation And Interpretation Learners' Motivation

The internalization of motivation in second/foreign language (L2) learning and the use of mock conference (MC) to prepare Translating and Interpreting learners for future professional careers have been widely researched by scholars, but whether mock conference can facilitate the internalization of T&I learners'motivation are under-researched. Based on the Self Determination Theory (SDT) and motivational teaching strategies as the theoretical framework, this thesis investigates the effectiveness of MC in facilitating the internalization of motivation through an empirical study. The research question is:Can mock conference facilitate the internalization of motivation?This research adopts a case study which involves a two-week long pedagogical experiment at the beginning of the second semester on two parallel classes of T&I learners taught by the same teacher in their first year of graduate study at Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation, Beijing Foreign Studies University by tracking the changes in their type of motivation, satisfaction level of three basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence and relatedness as well as their intrinsic motivation. Research findings show that the internalization process occurs in the experiment group.This article justifies the use of MC as a situated approach in interpreting teaching with the conclusion that after the systematic interpreting training at the first semester, MC at the second semester can facilitate the internalization of T&I learners'motivation. The paper also describes the design of MC according to the psychological needs of Self Determination Theory (SDT). In addition, the thesis offers suggestions for the further improvement of mock conference's design at the postgraduate level.