Selecting trainee conference interpreters: A preliminary study

Abstract

This study developed and assessed a set of psychometric tests to aid selection of candidate simultaneous and consecutive interpreter trainees. Three kinds of test were used based either on text materials, linguistic subskills or speed stress Twelve tests in all were administered to 29 trainees beginning an intensive course. The test scores were correlated with judges' ratings in the final interpreting examination. Students who passed the examination had higher mean scores on all tests than those who failed (significant for seven tests). Test scores were positively intercorrelated. Of the two factors characterizing the pattern of correlations, the first loaded highly on completionldetection tests and simultaneous examination ratings; the second loaded highly on recall tests and consecutive examination ratings. Text-based tests were more predictive than subskills or speed stress tests. It is concluded that tests would aid candidate selection, and estimates of improved selection are given. The relationship between test type and interpreting is discussed together with possible reasons underlying differential performance on tests of the same kind.The increasing number and size of international organizations such as the United Nations, the European Economic Community, and other organizations of political, financial and professional collaboration has resulted in the parallel growth of the translation and interpretation services without which these bodies would be unable to function adequately. Conference interpreting is to be distinguished from written translation in that it involves the oral translation of spoken discourse (Pansini, 1979). The interpreter delivers hidher oral target language translation either simultaneously as the source language discourse is being spoken, or consecutively when the source language speaker has finished delivery of all, or part, of the speech. An interpreter's languages are classified as either active or passive. An active language is a language into which he/she interprets (target language), usually the mother tongue. A passive language is o n e j o m which he/she interprets (source language), that is a second or third language, usually acquired after puberty. Active languages need to be spoken fluently, but not passive languages. Active and passive languages, however, need to be understood perfectly. Most international organizations

Aptitude to Interpreting: Preliminary Results of a Testing Methodology Based on Paraphrase

“…aspirations and for the Interpreting Schools to optimise their human and financial resources have spurred many efforts to devise and implement selection practices (Gerver et al 1984, Gran and Dodds 1989, Lambert 1992, Arjona-Tseng 1994, Moser-Mercer 1994. Intuition and experience amongst professionals and/or trainers indicate that basic pre-requisites of a good professional interpreter are: profound knowledge of active and passive languages and cultures, ability to grasp the original meaning quickly and to convey the essential meaning of what is being said, ability to project information with confidence, coupled with good voice, wide general knowledge and interests and, finally, ability to work as a member of the team (Gerver et al 1984, Lambert 1992.…”

“…Intuition and experience amongst professionals and/or trainers indicate that basic pre-requisites of a good professional interpreter are: profound knowledge of active and passive languages and cultures, ability to grasp the original meaning quickly and to convey the essential meaning of what is being said, ability to project information with confidence, coupled with good voice, wide general knowledge and interests and, finally, ability to work as a member of the team (Gerver et al 1984, Lambert 1992. The purpose of our research is to investigate the second pre-requisite, i.e., the cognitive-linguistic component.…”

“…The purpose of our research is to investigate the second pre-requisite, i.e., the cognitive-linguistic component. In order to do so rather than concentrate on separate task components through separate tests as authoritatively done by previous researchers, especially by Gerver et al (1984), we followed an ecological approach and chose a task as close as possible to actual simultaneous interpreting which involves connected discourse processing.…”

Aptitude testing over the years

“…Notwithstanding their diversity, some general trends can be detected and will be tackled in greater detail in the relevant sections of the present paper. Some authors with an interpreting background collaborated with scholars from other disciplines, such as psychology, to develop multi-component testing batteries which they described in detail (Gerver et al 1984). Others drew inspiration from different disciplines to suggest tests based on those findings: the test based on research into foreign language acquisition suggested by Carroll (1978), the shadowing 4 test described by Lambert (1992a) and the test on personality traits described by Schweda Nicholson (2005).…”

Om simultantolkning

“…Ud fra et stort antal artikler skrevet af professionelle tolke og tolkelaerere finder Gerver (1984) frem til 5 vaesentlige forudsaetninger for at kunne udføre et tilfredsstillende arbejde som simultantolk: 1) Dybtgående aktivt og passivt kendskab til sprog og kultur. 2) Evne til hurtigt at opfatte og omsaette det vaesentlige i et budskab.…”