Overview
Professionally-trained court interpreters have an individual responsibility to know and uphold their ethical standards of practice on the job. The Code of Professional Conduct for Court Interpreters of the Trial Court (Code of Conduct) Section 4.00 of the Standards and Procedures of the Office of Language Access (Standards & Procedures) governs the role of Massachusetts court interpreters. After a revised Code of Conduct was released in November 2009, the OLA offered its Mandatory Ethics Training in 2010 to help its interpreters apply the currently approved standards of practice. This ethics training includes a written exam and a 3-hour workshop on the Code of Conduct.
By offering this comprehensive training on the revised Code of Conduct, OLA hopes to achieve 3 things:
- That interpreters carefully review and understand the code’s contents
- That they gain insights into applying its standards effectively, and
- That OLA and its interpreters work together in supporting the standards of practice.
This OLA mandatory training is open only to active OLA screened and certified court interpreters.
Purpose of Ethics Exam
The Ethics Exam is made up of multiple-choice questions that reference each section of the Code of Conduct, and which the code provides concrete responses for. This preliminary, detailed review of the contents of the Code of Conduct will prepare interpreters for the interactive analysis and discussion of ethically-challenging scenarios at the Workshop later on.
Submitting the completed Ethics Exam: Mandatory requirement
All currently active OLA screened and certified interpreters must complete the Ethics Exam before attending the Ethics Workshop. The Ethics Exam is based directly on the Code of Conduct. All questions have a specific response available on the Code of Conduct, and you should answer the questions accordingly. See Instructions for Completing the Ethics Exam for more information. Interpreters can either download or print out the Answer Sheet to mark their responses to the exam questions.
Additional Resources
Exam evaluation
OLA will correct all the Answer Sheets and return them to interpreters on the day they attend their Ethics Workshop, where there will be a general run-through of the exam. Results will be confidential.
By reviewing interpreters' responses to the exam, OLA will find out which areas to focus on in terms of ethics training and continuing education. Although there won’t be an actual grade assigned to exams, OLA encourages its interpreters to ask questions as they become evident from correcting their Answer Sheets. The Ethics Exam should serve as a guideline for continued self-study and review of the Code of Conduct for OLA interpreters.
The completed Answer Sheet must be submitted to OLA Program Manager for Interpreter Training, Narda Campusano-Horton, by fax, mail, or email:
Email: narda.campusano-horton@jud.state.ma.us (Please write "Answer Sheet" in the Subject Line)
Fax: (617) 367-9293
Mail:
Office of Language Access
Attention: Program Manager for Interpreter Training Narda Campusano-Horton
2 Center Plaza, 9th Floor
Boston, MA 02108