For all the energy and attention they demand, educators are pushing to marginalize exams. These are not just dying out as an irrelevance; they are being killed off as an affront to human nature and dignity. Alberta is a leader in this, deciding this month, to give less weight to standardized exams and more to daily work. Ontario is following, with a pilot project for a new model of evaluation informed by the view high-stress exams give a false picture of a student's abilities. There is evidence the slow death of exams is not simply a sympathetic response to quivering students, but to a new science around cognition which suggests the traditional high-stress, all-or-nothing final exam may not be an accurate measure of learning. 

Stressful exams rob us of our limited ability to pay attention to what we need to. It is comparable to why driving and talking on a cellphone is bad. the worries associated with performance under pressure soak up the resources that we could be using to focus on a test, says Sian Beilock, a neuroscientist who heads the Human Performance Lab at the University of Chicago.

Performance under stress can be traumatic for many students. Ironically, those most likely to fail in demanding situations are those, who, in the absence of pressure, have the greatest capacity of success.

Interpreter Skills:

Active Listening

Ability to retain information in short-term memory

Ability to deliver prompt and effective interpretation in the first person

Superior command of a broad general vocabulary, including regionalisms, slang and idioms and basic terminology

Ability to contextualise non-verbal clues

Organization and use of note-taking

Good judgment

Ability to remain impartial

Discretion

Ability to process information quickly in one language and then communicate it in a different language

Ability to distance oneself emotionally

Ability to recognize one's own boundaries and limits

Assertiveness

Ability to work with little supervision

 

 

Client misconception: 'A translator works on his own and needs no support from the client

Reality: Dialogue between the translator via the service provider is essential because, even  though the translator should have experience in the client's subject area, there will be times when clarification on poorly written or ambiguous text will be necessary or advice on terminology will be sought.

 

Client misconception: A translated text of, say, 5000words can be produced overnight and costs no more than 50dollars.

Reality: A qualified translator is a highly skilled professional and is no less equal in stature to other professions that demand a similar  level of education and experience.

 

Client misconception: The client has already attempted a translation and then requests that we "just have a look at it and tidy it up"

Reality: We reject a request of this type; we inform the client that the result would be a poor compromise and would probably cost as much, if not more, to "tidy" up than it would to make a new translation.

 

Client misconception: If we have a computer, it can do the translation for you and your charges should be lower.

Reality: Translation tools such as CAT (computer-aided translation) needs the skills of an experienced  translator to interact  with the computer to produce a professional result. The client is paying for the translator's skills as a 'knowledge worker' and for the end result.

Would you, as the client, demand that a  lawyer charge less because he or she uses the same efficiency tools such as word processing software, data bases?

 

Client misconception: The client makes a bold statement, ' I only need a rough translation, you do  not need to spend too much time on it'

Reality: Professional translators do not produce 'rough translations'. Professional translators produce an accurate translation suitable for information and publication.