Unlike professionals in law and medicine, language interpreters and service providers are not bound by nationwide standards specifying minimum qualification requirements. In view of the growing number of participants and ongoing consolidation in the language industry, it is vital that guidelines protecting consumers from poor quality service be established.

To this end, a national Subcommittee on Language Interpreting (F15.34) was formed within the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) in August 1997. Subcommittee F15.34 has met quarterly since then and is also actively seeking new members. The subcommittee unites representatives of users of interpretation services, federal and state government agencies, international organizations, professional associations of interpreters, interpreter training institutes, commercial interpretation providers, medical and social service agencies and other interested parties. It has defined as its aim the identification of necessary specifications for quality control of interpretation services, including technological requirements, interpreter qualifications, training and testing.

Subcommittee F15.34 was convened by Richard Brecht (National Foreign Language Center in Washington, DC), and Jon Strolle (Associate Provost at the Monterey Institute of International Studies - MIIS). To promote the professionalization of the language industry in the United States, they wished to build on the success of the ASTM Standard Guide for Use-Oriented Foreign Language Instruction, approved in March 1995 and published in May of that year. Jon Strolle, who chairs F15.34, stresses the importance of the ASTM process for the language service professions:

“A guide to standards for interpreters will be the second major building-block in developing recognized measures for language services in the United States. The communications explosion of the nineties has at last raised the profile of languages other than English sufficiently in this country to make thoughtful and consensus-built guidelines an ordinary requirement for business and education. The ASTM process for interpreters is making use of the experience of the Use-Oriented Language Committee that published its results in 1995. Well under way now, a final draft version of the guide should be ready for voting by ASTM members in late 1999.”

In recognition of these facts, AT&T Language Line and Berlitz Interpretation Services have played a key role in helping to fund the project.

ASTM is a private-sector, not-for-profit organization established in 1898 to develop standards and related information for materials, products, systems and services. It is the starting point for conveying US standards via the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for the worldwide ISO process. ASTM standards are developed and used voluntarily; they only become mandatory when cited in a contractual agreement or referenced and mandated by a government body.

In ASTM, the term “standard” is used as an adjective to mean that a protocol has been followed, resulting in the development of a document that has been agreed on by representative experts in a particular area of specialization, in this case language interpretation. In this sense, Subcommittee F15.34 is a neutral forum that follows the consensus system outlined in the regulations governing ASTM technical committees. As part of an open process, all parties with an interest in the activity at hand, in this case language interpretation, have the same opportunity to participate and represent their views. Due process is achieved through ASTM’s detailed balloting and review process.

A concern often raised is that standards restrict innovation and flexibility in a given industry. ASTM finds that, more often, the opposite is true. Guidelines for language interpretation are being set to aid in ensuring an acceptable minimum level of service quality. Standards may also be exceeded to produce results of even higher quality. Such guidelines are sorely needed in the area of court and community interpreting, as Holly Mikkelson, Associate Professor and Head of the International Interpretation Resource Center at MIIS, comments:

“The effort to set standards for the interpreting profession is a welcome development for community interpreters and those who work with them. Nationally recognized standards will guide users of interpreter services such as hospitals, courts, social service agencies, and school districts in the screening and hiring of interpreters and the administration of language services. Until now, the lack of standards has resulted in inadequate training, low pay and poor working conditions for interpreters, and deficient services for non-English-speaking clients.”

Although the conference interpretation market is better established in business terms, all participants still stand to gain from voluntary standards, as is shown by the active participation of the North Ame-rican Region of the International Association of Conference Interpreters (AIIC). Diane de Terra, Dean of the Graduate School of Translation and Interpretation at MIIS, also sees an impact on interpreter training and the role of technology:

“These standards in the field of interpretation are designed to protect the profession, to define the status of the interpreter and to provide end-users with one common understanding of the requirements of the profession. Educators of interpreters will also benefit from the definition provided for the profession. Additionally, these guidelines envisage the integration of technology and interpretation with a view to establishing optimum conditions for interpreters, service providers and end-users.”

Not a document intended to regulate the market, the ASTM standard, in its ultimate form, will be a process-based guide describing the multifaceted aspects of interpretation assignments. Through this empowering tool, all participants—end-users, service providers and interpreters—will eventually have a set of guidelines in hand aiding them in achieving the outcome they desire: quality services resulting in successful communication across languages and cultures in the wide variety of settings where interpretation is performed. Newcomers to the language industry should find the final document particularly useful. Long-standing participants will have an authoritative, recognized document to which they can refer their clients.

Subcommittee F15.34 sees its work as part of the international movement to establish standards in the language industry, as reflected in the adoption of German standard DIN 2345 on translation early in 1998. Similarly, an ASTM subcommittee on translation was founded in June of this year in Washington, DC, through the initiative of the National Foreign Language Center and the American Translators Association.

If you wish to become involved in the work of Subcommittee F15.34 or would like additional information, please contact the author, who is F15.34’s staff coordinator. The next meeting will be held on September 18-19 in Washington, DC, and will begin with a roundtable discussion on the needs of end-users of interpretation services. To register, or for additional information on ASTM, please contact Ms. Kathie Morgan, ASTM, via mail at 100 Barr Harbor Drive, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959, via fax to 610-834-7019, or via e-mail to kmorgan@astm.org.

David Sawyer, Assistant Professor
The Monterey Institute of International Studies
425 van Buren Street
Monterey, CA 93950
USA
Tel +1-408-647-3549
Fax +1-408-647-3560
E-mail: dsawyer@miis.edu