The Cognitive Components of Autonomous Learning in Postgraduate Interpreter Training

Autonomous learning is a complex and multi-faceted construct. It can be defined as the learners’ capacity to self-direct their own learning, which means taking responsibility for the decisions concerning the different aspects of the learning process. In self-directed learning, learners’ choices remain mainly on the learning management level, i.e. behavioral level of learning, and it relates to the practical side of learning such as selecting learning materials, methods, the place and time of learning, the partners, and so forth. However, there is more to autonomous learning than its purely management aspect. Autonomous learning, first of all, means critical thinking, planning and evaluating learning, and reflection, a conscious effort on the part of the learner to continuously monitor the learning process from beginning to end. This is the cognitive side of autonomous learning. In my paper, I will discuss the findings of the empirical research I conducted as part of my doctoral dissertation at the Interpreter and Translator Training Centre (ITTC) of ELTE University of Budapest, Hungary. ITTC offers postgraduate translator and interpreting training. My research focused on the cognitive level of autonomous learning and the main aim was to explore the most important cognitive components of autonomous learning in would-be interpreters as well as the interrelationship of those components. For this part of the study, students’ diaries served as the instrument of data collection.