Transcript Accreditation, Certification, Testing

Accreditation,
Certification, Testing
Assessing Quality in LIT Services
Dr. Cynthia Giambruno
University of Alicante (Spain)
Terminology
• Accreditation:
Recognition of the expertise and integrity of an agency,
firm, or group to train, evaluate and qualify individuals in a
specific field or profession.
• Certification:
Formal procedure by which an accredited or authorized
person or agency assesses and verifies (and attests in
writing by issuing a certificate) the attributes,
characteristics, quality, qualification, or status of individuals,
in accordance with established requirements or standards.
• Testing:
Procedures by which an individual can be evaluated to
ascertain levels of proficiency and performance that meet
certification criteria.
Legal Foundations
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
• Convention for the Protection of Human
Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1950)
• International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (1966)
• Charter of Fundamental Rights of the
European Union (2000)
Legal Foundations: EU
EU DG JLS: Justice, Freedom and Security
”The development of the European Union as an area
of justice for all, based on mutual recognition and
mutual trust, ensuring legal certainty for citizens,
consumers and businesses in claiming their rights
within, and across, national borders”
“Increasing mutual trust is a precondition for the
mutual recognition between EU countries of each
other’s judicial decisions. To increase this trust,
common minimum standards must be set as regards
the right to a fair trial and the rights of crime victims.”
http://ec.europa.eu/justice/criminal/index_en.htm
EU Directive 2010/64/EU
on the Right to Interpretation and Translation in
Criminal Proceedings.
• Article 2(8): Interpretation provided under this Article shall
be of a quality sufficient to safeguard the fairness of the
proceedings, in particular by ensuring that suspected or
accused persons have knowledge of the case against
them and are able to exercise their right of defence.
• Article 3(9): Translation provided under this Article shall be
of a quality sufficient to safeguard the fairness of the
proceedings …
• Article 5: Member States shall take concrete measures to
ensure that the interpretation and translation provided
meets the quality required under Article 2(8) and 3(9).
Legal Foundations: Spain
• Constitución de España de 1978
• Artículo 24.1
Todas las personas tienen derecho a obtener la tutela efectiva
de los jueces y tribunales en el ejercicio de sus derechos e
intereses legítimos, sin que, en ningún caso, pueda producirse
indefensión.
• Artículo 24.2
Asimismo, todos tienen derecho al Juez ordinario
predeterminado por la ley, a la defensa y la asistencia de
letrado, a ser informados de la acusación formulada contra ellos,
a un proceso público sin delaciones indebidas y con todas las
garantías, a utilizar los medios de prueba pertinentes para
su defensa, a no declara contra sí mismos, a no confesarse
culpables y a la presunción de inocencia.
Ley de Enjuiciamiento Criminal
Artículo 441
(1882, actualizado 2011)
• 441: El intérprete será elegido entre los que tengan
títulos de tales, si los hubiere en el pueblo. En su
defecto, será nombrado un maestro del
correspondiente idioma, y si tampoco le hubiere,
cualquier persona que lo sepa.
• Si ni aun de esta manera pudiera obtenerse la
traducción … se redactará el pliego de preguntas … y
se remitirá a la Oficina de Interpretación de Lenguas del
Ministerio de Estado, para que, con preferencia a todo
otro trabajo, sean traducidas al idioma que habla el
testigo.
Accreditation & Certification Authorities
• Ministries (Justice, Foreign Affairs, Interior)
• Governmental or quasi-governmental agencies
• Professional associations
• Private agencies
• University or training institution
• Judges or judicial authorities
Certification: Considerations
• Language Pair
o “major” v “minor” (languages of lesser diffusion)
• Translation v Interpretation
o Combined or separate
• Candidate prerequisites
o Training
o Experience
o Citizenship, national status, work status
• Full Certification v. Otherwise Qualified
• Mutual Recognition
Test development: exam scope
• Linguistic
o Source and target languages
o Specialized vocabulary and terms of art
o Register, regionalisms, etc.
• Knowledge of the legal system
o Host and home systems
o Structure and procedures
o Rights and guarantees
• Ethics and good practice
o Codes and established guidelines
o Interaction with the Court, judicial officials and “users”
o Protocol, responsibilities, professional liability
• Performance areas
o Interpretation performance fields
o Translation performance fields (directionality)
Certification: exam development
• Test Format
o
o
o
o
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Initial screening instrument
Q/A or performance-based
Taped or simulated
Number of items
Full certification v otherwise qualified
• Domain identification
• Item/exercise development guidelines
• Psychometric standards
o Reliability
o Validity
o Anchoring
• Evaluation criteria
o quality parameters
o quantification of performance parameters
o holistic v item analysis approaches
Test Administration
•
maintaining test security and candidate confidentiality
•
identifying and qualifying test developers, administrators and raters
•
ensuring intra- and inter-rater reliability
•
evaluating cost-effectiveness of test administration options
•
identifying test sites and establishing test administration criteria
•
achieving consistency in testing venues and administration
procedures across time and space
•
defining equipment needs
•
setting an application process and providing appropriate pre-test
information to exam candidates
•
determining grievance procedures and performance reviews
•
maintaining and disseminating candidate scores and qualifications
Certification goals
•
Provide means by which to separate the clearly unqualified from
those with an appropriate level of competence
•
Avoid the use of ad-hoc interpreters who are often friends, family
members or staff members with no training or understanding of the
role of a legal interpreter
•
Provide standardization to build mutual trust
•
Identify problem areas or issues in need of attention
•
Provide needs analysis data for forward planning
•
Guarantee a sense of legal certainty to anyone involved in a legal
procedure, either as the accused party or victim, when issues of
language and communication arise.
Thank you.