The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
Issue link: https://thelinguist.uberflip.com/i/135206
FEATURES Ann Carlisle: Director of Examinations Finding a solution Ann Carlisle looks at how IoLET is helping the Metropolitan Police to meet its responsibilities he Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) was looking to test a particular group of officers and staff, at a specific level, in a clearly-defined specialist context. The Certificate in Bilingual Skills (CBS), which was first offered in 1986 with a focus on language for use in the public services, was judged to be an appropriate style of examination. An adaptation of this Level 3 (equivalent to A-level) qualification, to suit the needs of the police service, necessitated a study of the operational situations in which officers or staff might be called upon to use their language skills at this level. It was then important to understand and identify the skill types that would be used most frequently. It quickly became apparent that the qualification would principally need to assess the oral skills of candidates and their understanding of short written texts. An officer might accompany an investigating officer on a visit to the home of a missing person where the family's first language is not English; or be handed a leaflet in English and asked to explain what the leaflet says in another language. The result was a new qualification: the IoLET Level 3 Certificate in Bilingual Skills – Police (QCF). This new and T Vol/52 No/3 2013 separate qualification, which brought together the three oral skills units of the original CBS examination – namely the role-play and two sight translations – was submitted to and approved by Ofqual in June 2011. More than 40 language combinations are offered across the IoLET's examinations, so matching the requirements of the MPS and finding examiners in the relevant languages was not too much of a challenge. As far as the examination itself was concerned, two major changes were made to the original CBS. Firstly, the language direction of the roleplay was reversed, so that it followed the same sequencing as a normal police deployment – ie, an officer (the candidate) is briefed by their commanding officer in English (English examiner), they carry out their deployment (collection of six pieces of information) in the other language and report back in English. Secondly, the number of units was reduced from five to three (the oral units only). The examination was first offered in 2011, when 81 officers and staff sat the CBS – Police. Almost all were full entries but the unitisation of qualifications by Ofqual meant that those sitting only two units (some police officers and staff did not possess the necessary Ann Carlisle is a career linguist with a background in the training and assessment of specialist language skills for specific purposes. A languages graduate with an MA in Applied Linguistics, Ann worked for five years on technical English programmes in Germany for Siemens. She returned to the UK to manage London Metropolitan University's commercial language service and, in 2004, moved to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office as Director of Language Training, delivering worldwide language programmes for diplomats. In 2008, she launched an independent language consultancy focusing on corporate and government language development and accreditation strategies. She became Director of Examinations for IoLET in March. reading skills in languages using other scripts) were able to gain accreditation for the individual units in which they were successful. The examination was delivered on MPS premises at two locations, in Hendon and Earls Court. A second session was held in March 2012, when 113 officers/staff took the examination. To date, 194 officers have received accreditation for their language skills, and a further 182 took the examination this year in March, relocating to the University of Greenwich so that the increasing numbers of candidates could be accommodated. The volume of candidates from the MPS means that the qualification now attracts funding from the Skills Funding Agency for adult learning. IoLET hopes to be able to make the qualification and examination available to other police forces and related organisations to help strengthen the skills base of those working for the police and other public services. JUNE/JULY The Linguist 9