Pennsylvania Code › Title 204 - JUDICIAL SYSTEM GENERAL PROVISIONS › Part VII - ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF PENNSYLVANIA COURTS › Chapter 221 - COURT INTERPRETERS FOR PERSONS WITH LIMITED ENGLISH PROFICIENCY AND FOR PERSONS WHO ARE DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING › Subchapter 4 - DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES › Schedule C - Oral Proficiency Examination

Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 28, July 13, 2024
Content of the Full Oral Proficiency
					 Examination.
The full oral proficiency exam consists of three parts:
					 simultaneous interpretation, consecutive interpretation, and sight translation.
					 For languages in which there is only an abbreviated exam, one or more of these
					 segments has not yet been developed.
1.
Simultaneous
				  interpreting.
The interpreter listens through headphones to a recording
				  of a simulated attorney's opening or closing statement to a judge or jury, a
				  judge instructing a jury, or the crossexamination of a witness. The interpreter
				  interprets aloud what he or she hears over the headset. This mode of
				  interpreting simulates many situations interpreters encounter in courtrooms
				  while interpreting for defendants during procedural hearings and trials. The
				  statement is approximately 800 to 850 words in length, is recorded at an
				  approximate speed of 120 words per minute, and is about seven minutes
				  long.
2.
Consecutive
				  interpreting.
The interpreter interprets English language statements into
				  the foreign language and foreign language responses into English. In
				  consecutive interpreting the interpreter must wait until the speaker finishes
				  the utterance before beginning to deliver the interpretation. This is the
				  appropriate type of interpreting for non-English speaking witnesses, and other
				  question-and-answer situations involving limited English proficient persons.
				  The segments are pre-recorded and the interpreter may ask to have two of the
				  segments repeated.
3.
Sight
				  translation.
The interpreter is asked to interpret one document from
				  English into the foreign language and another from the foreign language into
				  English. Each document is approximately 225 words in length and the interpreter
				  is allowed six minutes to interpret each document.
Languages for which there are Full or Abbreviated
					 Oral Proficiency Examinations.
1.
Full examination:
Arabic ,
				  Cantonese, Filipino (Tagalog), French, Haitian Creole, Hmong, khmer, Korean,
				  Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese
2.
abbreviated examination:
				  bosnian/croatian/serbian and Turkish
Oral Proficiency Interview and Versant Spoken English
					 test for Languages in Which There is no Full or Abbreviated Oral Proficiency
					 Examination.
Oral proficiency interviews were developed by the American
					 Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) for evaluating the
					 language communication skills of speakers of foreign languages and are
					 administered by Language Testing International (LTI). There are over 50
					 languages available and the interpreter must perform at the superior level to
					 pass. The interpreter travels to a location with secure access to a phone line
					 and, after providing a valid picture ID and other verifying information, the
					 interpreter is placed in a room where the interview is administered over the
					 telephone. The results are reported to the interpreter certification Program
					 (ICP) and the interpreter.
Candidates must also pass the Versant Spoken English
					 language test. This test evaluates the spoken English skills of non-native
					 speakers. It is administered in the same manner as the oral proficiency
					 interview. Candidates must travel to a secure location where, after verifying
					 their identity, they take the test online on a computer. The 15-minute test is
					 automated and the candidate's responses are recorded in six areas: reading,
					 sentence construction, vocabulary, fluency, pronunciation, and overall
					 comprehension. The minimum passing score is 47.
Administration of Oral Proficiency
					 Examinations.
1.
Full oral
				  proficiency examination.
Interpreters in languages for which there is a
				  full oral proficiency exam will first be given the simultaneous part of the
				  examination. After passing the simultaneous part, they will sit for the
				  consecutive and sight portions at a subsequent date. The consecutive and the
				  sight portions of the examination must be completed within one year from the
				  date on which they took and passed the simultaneous portion. Interpreters will
				  be allowed to carry forward the score of any portions they have passed for a
				  maximum of two years. The same version of the examination can be taken a
				  maximum of two times and the examination cannot be repeated more than once in a
				  six-month period.
2.
Abbreviated oral proficiency examination.
Interpreters in languages
				  for which only an abbreviated examination exists will be given the simultaneous
				  portion first, if there is one. If no simultaneous part exists, they will take
				  whatever portions are available, either the consecutive part, the sight part,
				  or both. The scores of any portion passed can be carried forward for a maximum
				  of two years. The same version of the examination can be taken a maximum of two
				  times and the examination cannot be repeated more than once in a six-month
				  period.
Retaking Part of the Oral Proficiency
					 Examination.
Interpreters who fail the simultaneous part may retake the
					 examination . However, they must wait six months in order to practice and
					 develop their skills before attempting to retake the examination. If after
					 passing the simultaneous part the interpreter fails either the consecutive or
					 the sight portions, they must retake and pass whichever part they failed within
					 one year. This is because interpreters must pass all three parts of the oral
					 proficiency examination within one testing cycle, which consists of two years.
					 The testing cycle requirement is not triggered until the interpreter passes the
					 simultaneous portion.
Interpreters of languages for which there is only an
					 abbreviated oral proficiency examination must also complete the remaining parts
					 within one testing cycle after passing the simultaneous part, if there is one.
					 If no simultaneous part exists, the interpreter must take whatever parts are
					 available within one testing cycle. The testing cycle requirement is not
					 triggered until the interpreter passes at least one part of the available parts
					 of the oral proficiency examination that are available.
register of interpreters for the deaf (rid), the Texas
					 Board of Evaluation of Interpreters (BEI), or National Association for the Deaf
					 (NAD) Certificates for Legal Interpretation.
* Specialist Certificate-Legal (SC-L)
* Combined Certificate of Interpretation and
					 Transliteration (CI/CT)
* Comprehensive Skills Certificate (CSC)
* National Interpreter Certification (NIC)
* Certified Deaf Interpreter (CDI)
* Conditional Legal Interpreting Permit-Relay
					 (CLIP-R)
* Individual CI or CT
* NAD V Master
* NAD IV Advanced
* BEI Court Interpreter Certification
Interpreters with a Court Interpreter Certification from
					 BEI must comply with all qualifications and requirements for either hearing or
					 deaf candidates listed in BEI Handbook Section
					 4.2.1 (Qualifications and
					 Requirements for Court Interpreter Certification).
See
https://www.hhs.texas.gov/
.