Pre-requisites and Application Procedures

In addition to meeting the requirements of the NUOL graduate school application, (see above--BA/BS degree, Statement of Purpose, Professional Resume) applicants must provide evidence of:

5 years interpreting experience;
Language and interpreting portfolio: See Portfolio description and requirements below.*
1-2 page proposal for a mentoring project that the applicant would like to implement during the fourth and final course of the program. Students accepted into the MMCP develop these projects during the first 3 courses, and implement them in the fourth, and final, quarter.
3 Letters of Recommendation (these must include one letter from a former or current mentor, one letter from an interpreting educator, and one additional letter)

It is recommended that students have some experience and knowledge about teaching interpreting, and diagnostic assessment and feedback about interpreting skills.

*Language and Interpreting Portfolio: This requirement is designed to draw upon your experience, expertise and perceptions. Thus there are relatively few specific guidelines for undertaking this project. The lack of guidelines is intentional and has two main objectives: to raise questions and issues for group discussion and to allow you to tap your own experience and creativity to generate a wide array of possibilities for your own portfolio. Please do not be disturbed by the lack of specificity; rather view the lack of specificity as an invitation to be creative and to take risks.

This portfolio requirement rests upon two basic assumptions.
Basic Assumption #1: The overall goal of a portfolio is to provide self-selected samples of an individual's work in various circumstances and under different conditions so that the body of work can be reviewed for various purposes. The portfolio should provide evidence of the breadth as well as the depth of an individual's work. In the case of this application portfolio, your work will be viewed with a focus on your ability to present language and interpreting examples that effectively demonstrate your skills, knowledge and experience in each area, and that demonstrate your ability to reflect on them as an experienced interpreter.
Basic Assumption #2: Before one can begin to assemble a portfolio it is necessary to come to terms with a definition of language and of interpretation. Only if there is relative clarity about how one defines interpretation is it possible to identify various components of a meaningful portfolio and to assess the quality and success of a portfolio. Thus for purposes of this activity, the following definitions of language and interpretation are being used: Language is the primary tool used by people for communication. Fluency in a language encompasses both interactional competence and a meta-knowledge about the language and its functions. Fluency in two languages is the minimum requirement for effective communication.

Interpretation is the competent and coherent use of one naturally evolved language to express the meanings and intentions conveyed in another naturally evolved language for the purpose of negotiating an opportunity for a successful communicative interaction in real time within a triad involving two principal individuals or groups who are incapable of using, or who prefer not to use, the language of the other individual or group.

Given the overall goal of this portfolio and these definitions of language and interpretation, the portfolio that you will assemble for your application (and that will be used during the first 2 courses for reflection and discussion) has two (2) major components: a language-specific component and an interpretation-specific component. If accepted into the MMCP, you will develop a third component that is mentoring-specific.

General Requirements for the Portfolio submission:

The Portfolio (Language and Interpreting) has 2 major components (language and interpreting) with 7 video components (4 language components and 3 interpreting components) plus a written (or signed) justification for each component. Each component should be no less than 5 minutes long and no more than 10 minutes long. The evidence that you submit must be able to be duplicated electronically. All portfolio evidence must be submitted on DVD.
The evidence must be able to be shared with reviewers and with students in the MMCP if you are accepted.
The contexts within which the evidence was collected must be made clear.
All spoken English submissions must be accompanied by written English transcriptions so that they are accessible to any Deaf person (ASL/English users) who would need to know the original English that is in the spoken text.

A. Language-specific portfolio component: This component of your portfolio demonstrates your overall competence in using each of the languages that you normally work with when interpreting. Your goal for this component is to assemble evidence of your overall linguistic competence in each of the two languages. This includes adequate written justification about why you believe each of your portfolio submissions meet the criteria and an overall discussion of your goals for the portfolio. These written sections are essential to your application review.

Content of Submissions:

A discussion of your overall goals for the language portfolio
For each language with which you work, you must submit sufficient evidence to demonstrate your competence in using the language in informal situations.
For each language with which you work, you must submit sufficient evidence to demonstrate your competence in using the language in formal situations.
For each sample, you must submit a written justification of why you believe this meets the expectations of the portfolio and discuss how it fits into your overall goals for the portfolio.

B. Interpretation-specific portfolio component:
This component of your portfolio demonstrates your overall competence in executing the cognitive and linguistic processes involved in interpretation as well as your competence in ethical decision-making in the context of an interpreting assignment. Your goal for this component is to assemble evidence of aspects of your interpretation work and evidence of ethical decision-making. This includes adequate written justification about why you believe each of your portfolio submissions meet the criteria and an overall discussion of your goals for the portfolio. These written sections are essential to the application review process.
Content of Submissions:

A discussion of your overall goals for the interpreting portfolio
For each language with which you work, you must submit sufficient evidence to demonstrate your competence in using the language to interpret in informal situations. (e.g. ASL <--> English spoken/written/signed)
For each language with which you work, you must submit sufficient evidence to demonstrate your competence in using the language to interpret in formal situations. (e.g. ASL‡English, English ‡ASL)
For each sample, you must submit a written justification of why you believe this meets the expectations of the portfolio and discuss how it fits into your overall goals for the portfolio.

NOTE: These will not be returned to you. You will need to have a copy of your portfolio as well. If any problems arise in the mailing or submission of any section, you will be asked to resubmit. DO NOT send your original without keeping a copy for yourself.

Please feel free to be creative (add a website, for example). BUT - the content of the portfolio MUST BE submitted separately (a website by itself is not acceptable).