Revisiting Aptitude Testing for Interpreting

Aptitude refers to “any characteristic of a person that forecasts his/her probability of success under a given treatment” (Cronbach and Snow 1977: 6). Aptitude for interpreting is defined as “an overall term encompassing abilities, skills and personal traits deemed necessary or reliable predictors of successful interpreter training (Russo 2011: 6). The previous special issue on aptitude for interpreting, co-edited by Miriam Shlesinger and Franz Pöchhacker, was published in Interpreting in 2011, following the international symposium titled “Aptitude Testing for Interpreting: towards Reliable Admission Testing” held in Antwerp, Belgium in 2008. The seven papers collected in the issue by a group of leading researchers and educators specializing in aptitude testing for interpreter training explored the validity and reliability of a great variety of testing batteries using different research methodologies, calling attention to this highly critical, yet under-researched topic. Ten years on, we feel the urgent need to revisit this topic to further stimulate the scholars across the world based on the following considerations. First, while the number of interpreter training institutions is increasing exponentially across the world (with the number reaching 300 in China alone), the quality of their graduates remains far from meeting the needs of the market. Aptitude testing, which serves as the “gatekeeper” for screening prospective qualified candidates, is playing an ever more important role in interpreter training. It remains not only “a practical necessity” but also “an ethical one” (ibid 2011:6). Solid research on aptitude testing with reliable empirical results is much needed. Second, the research in the previous issue was largely conducted in the Western context where trainees were heterogeneous and language combinations were morpho-syntactically similar. A special issue incorporating works involving languages in the Eastern countries with homogeneous groups and morpho-syntactically different languages could offer new insights to the current literature through a different lens. Third, despite the advances in the neighboring disciplines such as language testing and educational measurement, there exists a disconnect between interpreting scholars and testing specialists (Sawyer 2004; Setton and Dawrant 2016). Research further drawing on the insights from these disciplines could put research on aptitude testing for interpreting on a more scientific footing. Fourth, despite interpreting researchers’ repeated calls for more valid and reliable aptitude testing, as echoed in the previous issue, little seems to have improved in both theory and practice. The paucity of empirical research with conclusive findings still remains and aptitude testing for interpreting continues to be characterized by “a lack of systematic methods and assessment” (Liu 2015: 20), which hinders “reproducible, defensible and accountable decisions” (Setton and Dawrant 2016: 374). In this special issue we would like to once again bring to the fore the issues pertaining to aptitude testing for interpreting by bringing together interpreting researchers and educators around the world. We are particularly interested in research with empirical results that yields practical guidance for designing, administering and assessing aptitude testing for interpreting.