What is it about?
This article looks at the cognitive and behavioral skills that predict individuals likely to succeed in a career in interpreting.
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Why is it important?
Training in the interpreting field is a huge commitment that requires long term development of language proficiency and mastery of one of the most challenging cognitive skills known, negotiating understanding between two languages and two cultures. Many people fascinated with signed languages often pursue this career only to find that for a variety of reasons (social anxiety, aspects of cognitive processing, etc. it is an uphill struggle. While the decision to pursue or not to pursue should remain in the hands of the interpreters themselves and not be a filtering mechanism for acceptance into a training program, knowledge of ones aptitude for this particular set of tasks could allow an individual eager to work with signed language to consider other venues, ones with direct services as opposed to interpreting, that could be a better match.
Perspectives
I personally do not believe in using aptitude testing as a filtering device or a way to screen students out of a program. I do feel that having the broadest and deepest perspective on the specific cognitive, psychological, and social demands that interpreting entails can be of great help as an individual chooses this career. Early awareness of the kinds of aptitude needed to become an interpreter helps in making this choice and if the individual perceives a mismatch can help that person move toward a career in working with Deaf individuals that will be most satisfying for them. This article and many like it each contribute only a tiny piece of the picture regarding interpreter aptitude and should not be taken as final assessments, but together overtime then can offer prospective candidates for interpreting an informed choice.
Judy Kegl
University of Southern Maine
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Domain-general cognitive abilities and simultaneous interpreting skill, Interpreting International Journal of Research and Practice in Interpreting, April 2011, John Benjamins,
DOI: 10.1075/intp.13.1.08mac.
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