USING LANGUAGE LABS FOR INTERPRETATION PRACTICE

As new technologies advance language teachers are gaining more and more new tools to use in their work and to improve, upgrade and expand their teaching methods. Within a TEMPUS project, the Faculty of Philology in Banja Luka recently obtained a Sanako computer phonological laboratory for use in its foreign language departments. This paper presents one possible use of such a language laboratory, specifically for teaching language interpretation skills. The paper first gives a short overview of the software and activity options available through the language laboratory, followed by a comparison of how language interpretation skills were previously exercised to potential new approaches which make use of the language laboratory. The paper further gives a brief overview of some of our experiences in such classes with an experimental group of students, reflecting on the observed benefits, difficulties and possible outcomes, aiming to enable a broader implementation and utilization of the language laboratory and hoping to support the English Department’s efforts to keep up with modern trends in EFL. Keywords: language laboratory, interpretation, computer-assisted language learnin