Are individual differences predictors of interpreter skills?

Contrary to the early days of interpreter training when the majority of students used to be bilinguals and training was directed at developing technical and task-specific skills, most students nowadays are monolinguals who are still in the process of acquiring the target language(s). As a consequence we notice that the number of students that consider themselves eligible for undertaking interpreting training has increased. This raises questions about aptitude and as to which linguistic skills and non-linguistic traits are a prerequisite for starting a Master course in interpreting. The central aim of this study is to investigate the ways in which the affective profiles of student translators and student interpreters differ. Insights into these profiles could prove to be a helpful instrument when it comes to predicting interpreting skills.Firstly, we set out to obtain information regarding their self-perceived communication competence, self-perception of language skills, anxiety levels and integrative motivation. For obtaining these data we used standardized questionnaires. The participants were 35 Dutch-speaking third bachelor students majoring in English.Secondly, we set out to relate their profiles to a sight interpreting performance. The students’ recorded L1 to L2 performance was rated by a ‘blind judge’ with over 20 years of experience as a professional interpreter and interpreter-trainer. He was asked to rate the students’ performances on an assessment sheet along two parameters: (1) the students’ global task fulfilment, (2) the students’ fluency in English. The choice for the retour is motivated by the need for a thorough command of the L2.In this contribution, the results of this pilot study will be presented and the possible ramifications for interpreter training and admission testing will be discussed