Training interpreters, like training in all professions, entails teaching the skills and the know-how essential to acquiring professional expertise. AIIC members have been closely involved in designing, administering and teaching interpreter training programmes from the very beginnings of modern conference interpretation. Drawing on this collective experience, which is now part of our professional heritage, the AIIC Training Committee (TC) has established the series of best practice criteria below.
- Programmes at graduate level are more appropriate to train conference interpreters for entry into the profession. Before being admitted to a Conference Interpreting programme, applicants should be expected to have an undergraduate university degree (three years of higher education) or equivalent. Students with this profile are more apt to have the maturity, language ability and general knowledge required to successfully complete their training.
- Undergraduate programmes in Interpreting which offer courses in e.g. advanced language, contrastive analysis, linguistics, area studies and an introduction to translation and interpretation can provide an excellent basis for the kind of general education required by an interpreter; some graduates of these programmes may be encouraged to explore the option of continuing their graduate level education and training to become professional conference interpreters.
- Although no aptitude test has yet been demonstrated to be completely predictive of success, a well-designed diagnostic test (which may consist of a written and an oral portion) can assess linguistic competence, general knowledge, maturity, basic code-switching ability, resourcefulness, ability to cope with stress, etc. and shed some light on the level of preparedness of a candidate wishing to enter a postgraduate interpreter training programme. Ideally, such a diagnostic test should be administered before an applicant is admitted to a programme. It should be assessed by a panel of professional conference interpreters (who are also teachers) who may then offer the candidates feedback on their ability to perform the designated tasks and their readiness to begin training.
- In order to develop proficiency in their non-native working languages, aspiring interpreters require a broad and sustained exposure to these languages in their cultural context. Applicants should be encouraged to spend considerable time living and working or studying in a country where their non-native languages are spoken before they consider entering a professional training programme.
- The school and teaching faculty should do their best to inform candidates before and during their studies about relevant potential employment opportunities. Faculty may also wish to advise candidates which languages may enhance their chances of becoming a conference interpreter, indicating clearly that their advice is based on predictions and that adding another working language is a longer term goal. Applicants also need to be told if they would benefit from enhancing their native language(s) to a level acceptable for admission into a training programme.
- Schools should ensure that their curricula are easily accessible (i.e. clearly visible on their website or readily available in printed form) so that prospective students can take them into consideration as they make their educational and career choices.
- The curriculum must include instruction in both consecutive and simultaneous interpretation.
- The language combinations offered as part of the regular curriculum should reflect market requirements. Any arrangements to accommodate unusual language combinations which are not part of the regular curriculum should be explained carefully to applicants before they enter the programme.
- Courses should be designed and interpretation classes taught by practising conference interpreters whose language combinations are recognised by AIIC or by an international organisation. Professional interpreters who serve as teaching faculty provide the essential interface between the classroom and the profession. They can inform newly qualified interpreters who have been their students about the markets and potential employers, and mentor them as they start their careers.
- Teachers of interpretation should ideally have had some teacher training specifically related to interpretation. Interpreter training has become systematic and structured: it builds on principles and methods drawn from interpreting studies research to prepare the next generation of interpreters.
- All programmes should be delivered by a combination of native speakers of the students' A and B/C (native and non-native) languages. The faculty should include native speakers for all the courses offered.
- The curriculum should include a theory component and a course which addresses professional practice and ethics. These courses should be delivered by practising conference interpreters.
- Final examinations should be conducted in an open and transparent fashion. Candidates must be required to pass both consecutive and simultaneous interpretation tests in order to obtain a degree in Conference Interpretation and should understand the assessment criteria. No final diploma should be awarded until the candidate's competence in both consecutive and simultaneous interpreting in all working languages had been assessed and judged acceptable and consistent with professional entry requirements.
- Final examination juries should be composed of instructors who have taught the courses which comprise the academic programme, as well as external examiners who are also practising conference interpreters. The latter may also be invited to contribute their assessment of each examinee's performance. Representatives from international organisations should also be invited to attend final exams as observers.
- Any Degree or Diploma awarded should state the graduate's language combination, clearly indicating active and passive languages.
