Level 6 - Preparation for the Diploma in Public Service Interpreting (DPSI) Law Option

The course is suitable for people who are already qualified as Community Interpreters at Level 3 and who are looking to take the Institute of Linguists (IoL) Level 6 Diploma in Public Service Interpreting exam (Law option). The course will give you training and preparation in all the aspects you will need in order to confident of being successful in that exam.

The course may also be suitable for you if you have been working as an interpreter for some time and may not have had formal qualifications when you began doing this, or if you achieved qualifications some time ago and which are no longer current. If you have any questions about which level of Interpreting course is most suitable for you, please contact the department at interpreting@marywardcentre.ac.uk and we will be able to advise you.

Please note that this course is designed to prepare you to take the DPSI exam as an external candidate and you will not achieve that qualification simply by enrolling on the course we are offering here. However, the content of the course is indexed to all the assessment elements of the DPSI course to help to prepare you to be successful in taking the exam.

The course will provide some in-depth coverage of legal processes and terminology to prepare you to take the Law option of the DPSI exam. This will include guidance about the construction of a suitable glossary of legal terms , information about the different stages of legal proceedings and guidance about how to be able to conduct research so you can stay on top of changes in the field. As well as tutor input, this will be supported by visiting speakers who come to the course and by a visit to the Courts that will be organised as part of the course.

You will cover the differences between the Community Interpreting model of interpreting and the Linguistic model used in DPSI assessments. This will include review of a range of interpreting techniques, including consecutive and simultaneous (whispered) interpreting. You will also continue to develop your skills in managing an interpreting assignment in accordance with DPSI requirements.. You will have the opportunity to engage in some extended role-plays that are conducted to the same format as those used in DPSI assessments and will receive feedback from course tutors and language specialists on these.

You will also develop your skills in both Sight Translation and in writing the longer translations to and from your target language required by the DPSI assessment. You will be able to practice all forms of Translation and will again receive feedback on this from the course tutor and a language specialist.

By the end of the course, you should be able to:
- Explain the assessment requirements of the DPSI exam and know how to register for the exam
- Explain a range of legal processes and terminology relevant to interpreting assignments
- Use a glossary of legal terminology to inform interpreting, sight translation and text translation tasks in accordance with DPSI assessment requirements.
- Be able to perform consecutive and simultaneous (whispered) interpreting in situations of 30 minutes duration in accordance with the model used in DPSI assessments
-Be able to translate public service document of approximately 250 words to and from your target langauge with fluency and accuracy.

Class sessions will be very interactive and will involve lots of pair and group work as well as class discussion. There will be class sessions involving the input of visiting speakers with professional experience in both legal and policing contexts. There is a strong emphasis on developing your own performance through the use of both self assessment and the constructive engagement of your peers on the course. You will receive feedback from language specialists through video tutorials and one of these tutorial sessions will arise in response to your completion of a mock exam carried out to DPSI specifications.

Acceptance onto the course is via tutor approval only and you will need to complete the application process. You can find a copy of the application form linked to this section of the website or you can request one by contacting us at interpreting@marywardcentre.ac.uk

As outlined above, if you are planning to take the DPSI exam you will also need to register with the IoL as an external candidate and pay their examination registration fee. As the IoL cannot guarantee to be able to offer an examination each year for every community language, you are strongly advised to check with the IoL for the range of languages they expect to be able to offer for the June examination series before proceeding any further. Details of registration are available from the IoL website: www.ciol.org.uk

As the course does involve the use of role-plays conducted in your target language you should also be aware that for some sessions you may need to be prepared to attend with someone who speaks your target language, if there is not already someone who can act as a language partner for you in the class. We will only know the composition of the languages represented in the course once class sessions begin, so you do need to be aware that it is a possibility that for short parts of some sessions you may need to be able to arrange for a language partner to be present.

Taking the DPSI exams in June 2023. Successful completion of the DPSI Law option would mean that you are qualified to work as an interpreter in some legal contexts and gives you exemption from three of the five units of the Diploma in Police Interpreting (DPI) qualification. Completion of the remaining 2 units of the DPI would mean that you would be qualified to interpret across both sectors. On completion of the DPSI you will be able to apply for membership of both the National register of Public Service Interpreters and the Chartered Institute of Linguists, subject to their respective terms and conditions.