Oral Performance Exam and Oral Proficiency Interview Information
Oral Performance Examinations
Candidates who have attended the two-day Florida Orientation Workshop and passed the written examination may take the one-hour oral performance examination testing their skill in sight translation, consecutive interpretation, and simultaneous interpretation.
Full oral examinations are currently available in Amharic, Arabic, Cantonese, Filipino (Tagalog), French, Haitian Creole, Hmong, Khmer, Korean, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese. Abbreviated oral examinations are offered in Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian and Turkish.
Oral Proficiency Interviews
Eligible candidates for languages in which no full oral performance examination, or only an abbreviated oral performance examination is available, may take a standardized language proficiency interview – with a Board-approved testing vendor – assessing functional speaking ability in both English and non-English languages. Such candidates must have attended the two-day Florida Orientation Workshop and passed the written examination to be eligible to take an oral proficiency interview. Please contact program staff at (850) 922-5107 or interpreters@flcourts.gov for registration and payment details.
July 2023 - June 2024 Event Calendar
LOCATION | EVENT DATES | REGISTRATION DEADLINES |
|---|---|---|
Tallahassee | Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday |
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Tampa | Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday |
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Tallahassee | Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday |
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West Palm Beach | Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday |
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Tallahassee | Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday | Tuesday, April 9, 2024 |
Miami | Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday | Tuesday, April 9, 2024 |
Important Notice
Travel expenses, lodging arrangements and meals are not provided by the program office. Guests/children are not allowed. We do not offer any financial assistance.
Information for Participants
- All scheduled dates are subject to change or cancellation. However, every effort will be made to adhere to the schedule as it appears.
- Interested participants (for both the oral performance examinations and oral proficiency interviews) are encouraged to enroll at the earliest possible opportunity since space is limited and exams often reach capacity prior to the scheduled registration deadline. Confirmation is issued on a first-received basis upon receipt of an applicant’s completed registration form and payment – and in accordance with Board Operating Procedures – and will be determined once registration closes.
- Shortly after we receive your registration and payment, an email acknowledgement will be sent to you. Once the registration deadline expires, a formal written notification will be emailed to confirmed candidates at the email address provided on your registration form.
- A registration form can be found online for the Oral Performance Examination. To register, complete the applicable form and mail it, together with the appropriate fee to the address below. Every effort will be made to register you for the date(s) you request; however, your requested date is not guaranteed.
- Make cashier’s check or money order payable in U.S. funds to: State of Florida. Personal checks or cash are NOT accepted. NOTE: All fees are non-refundable.
- All registration forms and fees MUST be received by close of business on the registration deadline date. Confirmation is subject to space availability. Postmarks are NOT accepted.
- Please mail a completed registration form, and cashier's check or money order to:
Court Interpreter Certification and Regulation Program
Office of the State Courts Administrator
Supreme Court Building
500 S. Duval Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1900
Oral Performance Exam Fee Schedule
- Florida Resident — $200.00
- Non-Florida Resident — $400.00
Event Registration Form
Oral Performance Exam Qualifications Checklist
- Sight translations: Can I read an English document and orally render it in my native language, smoothly and accurately, for up to approximately four minutes (up to 250 words)? Can I read a document written in my native language and orally render it in English, smoothly and accurately, for up to approximately four minutes (up to 250 words)?
- Consecutive interpreting: Am I able to accurately interpret in the consecutive mode for up to 22 minutes (with some questions and answers consisting of 35-50 words), without needing more than two repetitions and without leaving out portions of the utterances?
- Simultaneous interpreting: Am I able to accurately interpret simultaneously for up to seven minutes at a moderate rate of speech (120 to 150 words per minute)?
If you have NOT performed each of the above tasks, recorded yourself, and critiqued your performance, you are probably not ready to take the examination. Recording yourself is of paramount importance, since only then will you notice where your weaknesses and strengths are and enable yourself to focus on improving your weak areas.
Simply retaking the test if you fail the first time will not improve your chances for successfully passing the examination. Instead, an honest assessment of your own abilities and recognition of your own strengths and your own weaknesses is essential.
To believe that you will pass the test because you have interpreted in the courts for many years is probably erroneous. Instead, if you have failed the test despite the fact that you have interpreted in the courts, you may need to recognize and correct bad habits.
Practice, practice, practice…Good luck to you!
Oral Performance Examination - Study Materials
- Study Materials — Candidate Information for Oral Performance Examination
- English Legal Glossary
- National Center for State Courts - Court Interpreter Resources
Oral Performance Examinations—Board Operating Procedures
I. Oral Examination and Oral Proficiency Interview Cut Scores for Officially Designated Interpreters
A. Full Oral Exam Cut-Score (Certified): Voted and adopted by the board on April 4, 2012. The full oral performance examination comprises three distinct sections, designed to test candidates’ skill in the areas of sight translation, consecutive interpretation, and simultaneous interpretation. In order to achieve a passing score on the exam, candidates must earn the following minimum scores on each section:
- Sight Translation – English to Foreign Language: 65%
- Sight Translation – Foreign Language to English: 65%
- Overall Sight Translation Score: 70%
- Consecutive Interpretation: 70%
- SimultaneousInterpretation: 70%
B. Full Oral Exam Cut-Score (Provisionally Approved): Voted and adopted by the board on February 12, 2013. The board adopted cut scores proposed by the Rule Revision Workgroup, which requires candidates score a minimum of 60 percent on all three components of the full oral exam, and an overall 65 percent or greater.
C. Abbreviated Oral Exam Cut-Score (Certified): Voted and adopted by the board on February 12, 2013.
The board voted that candidates must demonstrate functional speaking ability by passing an English and non-English language oral proficiency interview, as a prerequisite to taking an abbreviated oral examination. Note: The abbreviated oral exam consists of a simultaneous component. Candidates must score a minimum 70 percent to qualify for Certification.
D. Language Skilled Cut-Score: Voted and adopted by the board on April 4, 2012.
To qualify for the Language Skilled designation, candidates must pass an approved oral proficiency interview in English and the non-English language as an assessment of functional speaking ability.
E. Oral Proficiency Interview Cut-Score: Voted and adopted by the board on September 16, 2014.
Candidates are required to score at the Superior level on oral proficiency interviews offered through Language Testing International (LTI); candidates must score at a Level 12 rating score for oral proficiency interviews offered through ALTA Language Services.
F. Candidates must attain minimum cut scores on all three components of the oral performance examination in a single test administration. Voted and adopted by the board on March 14, 2015.
II. Oral Examination and Oral Proficiency Interview Cut Scores for Registered Interpreters
Rule Requirement. Effective October 1, 2015, under rule 14.200, court interpreters shall, prior to providing interpreter services, become registered with the Office of the State Courts Administrator. Board operating procedures governing oral examination threshold scores are outlined below.
A. In accordance with rule 14.200(i), registration may be revoked by the board for any person who fails to attain minimum scores, in accordance with standards prescribed by the board and published in board operating procedures, on the sight translation, simultaneous interpretation, and consecutive interpretation components during a single test administration as specified under rule 14.200(b)(7)(i) or (b)(7)(iii), or who fails to demonstrate satisfactory functional speaking ability as prescribed by the board during an oral proficiency interview under rule 14.200(b)(7)(ii). As adopted by the board on March 26, 2015, for maintenance of registered status:
- for those languages in which a full oral performance examination is available, candidates must attain a minimum 55 percent score on all exam components during a single test administration, with an overall score of 60 percent.
- in the event only an abbreviated oral performance examination is available, as a prerequisite to taking the abbreviated exam, candidates must first demonstrate functional speaking ability by attaining a minimum score of Advanced High or 11 on the oral proficiency interviews in both English and a non-English language, and must subsequently achieve a minimum score of 55 on the abbreviated exam; or
- for languages in which no full or abbreviated oral performance examination is available, candidates must attain a minimum score of Advanced High or 11 on the oral proficiency interviews in both English and a non-English language.
B. Without exception, this policy applies to every test administration under 14.200(b)(7)(i), b(7)(ii) and (b)(7)(iii)—to include a registered candidate’s initial test attempt and subsequent test attempts, per language, as applicable. (Adopted by the board on August 25, 2016.)
C. The board has instituted a time-limited policy not to exercise discretionary revocation for any currently registered interpreter that has tested [or will test in September 2016] and fails to achieve minimum registration threshold scores. (Adopted by the board on August 25, 2016.)
D. For tests administered subsequent to September 2016, the board will convene a meeting within 11 weeks of every regularly scheduled oral performance examination/oral proficiency administration to consider prospective administrative revocation for any person who fails to attain minimum board-prescribed threshold performance scores. (Adopted by the board on August 25, 2016.)
E. Minimum threshold score performance applies to oral testing measures taken out of state. As such, interpreters must notify program staff of (1) their intent to sit for an out-of-state oral examination no later than 30 days in advance of the examination date, or (2) no later than the date of registering for an out-of-oral examination—if there are less than 30 days remaining before the examination date. (Adopted by the board on August 25, 2016.)
F. Interpreters registering and appearing for oral testing who (1) either refuse to begin testing, or (2) terminate testing after examination has begun, who thereby effectively acquiesce in a lower score on one or more components of examination, will, without exception, be subject to discretionary revocation for failure to achieve minimum threshold scores under Rule 14.200(i). ( Adopted by the board on November 30, 2016.)
III. Oral Performance Examination Retest Policy
Board policy provides that no candidate may take the same test version more than once in a six-month period. There are no limitations to the number of retest attempts candidates may take in pursuit of official state-level designation and to meet maintenance of registration requirements, as applicable. (Adopted by the board on September 29, 2017).
The retest policy may be modified by the board on a case-by-case basis, if necessary, only in exceptional circumstances and with the pre-approval of the National Center for State Courts. (Adopted by the board on 04/01/2019).
CICB-BOP-007 | Amended: 04/01/2019