Oral examination: Oral Proficiency Interview

The Court Interpreter Program adopted a new policy that requires all interpreter candidates to take an Oral Proficiency Interview regardless of their credentialing track. The CIP offers two credentialing tracks depending on the availability of an oral certification exam.

  1. Certified Track: Interpreters in the Certified Track are those language professionals who interpret in a language that has an oral certification exam: Amharic, Arabic, Bosnian-Serbian-Croatian, Chinese Cantonese, Chinese Mandarin, Filipino (Tagalog), French, Haitian Creole, Hmong, Khmer, Korean, Polish, Portuguese Russian, Spanish, Turkish, and Vietnamese.
  2. Authorized Track: Interpreters in the Authorized Track work in languages without an oral certification exam.

Currently, the Court Interpreter Program uses two companies to administer Oral Proficiency Interviews.

OPIs are available to Wisconsin interpreter candidates in the following languages:

  • Afrikaans
  • Albanian
  • Amharic
  • Arabic
  • Armenian (Eastern)
  • Azerbaijani
  • Bambara
  • Bangla (Bengali)
  • Bosnian
  • Bulgarian
  • Burmese
  • Cambodian
  • Cape Verdean (Balavento)
  • Cape Verdean (Sotavento)
  • Chinese Mandarin
  • Chinese Cantonese
  • Chuukese
  • Croatian
  • Czech
  • Danish
  • Dari
  • Dutch
  • English
  • Fante (Akan)
  • Farsi
  • Finnish
  • French
  • French Canadian
  • Fulani (Puula language from Senegal)
  • Ga
  • Georgian
  • German
  • Greek
  • Gujarati
  • Haitian Creole
  • Hausa
  • Hebrew
  • Hindi
  • Hmong
  • Hungarian
  • Igbo
  • Ilocano
  • Indonesian
  • Italian
  • Jamaican creole English (Patois)
  • Japanese
  • Kannada
  • Karenni
  • Kazakh
  • Kinyarwanda
  • Korean
  • Kurdish Kurmanji
  • Kurdish Sorani
  • Lao
  • Latvian
  • Lithuanian
  • Macedonian
  • Malay
  • Malayalam
  • Marathi
  • Mongolian
  • Navajo
  • Nepali
  • Norwegian
  • Oromo
  • Pashto
  • Polish
  • Portuguese
  • Portuguese
  • Punjabi (Eastern)
  • Punjabi (Western)
  • Romanian
  • Russian
  • Samoan
  • Serbian
  • Serbo-Croatian
  • Sinhala
  • Slovak
  • Slovenian
  • Somali
  • Spanish
  • Swahili
  • Swedish
  • Tagalog
  • Taiwanese
  • Tajik
  • Tamil (India)
  • Telugu
  • Thai
  • Tibetan
  • Tigrinya
  • Turkish
  • Turkmen
  • Twi (Akan)
  • Ukrainian
  • Urdu
  • Uzbek
  • Vietnamese
  • Wolof
  • Yoruba

Oral Proficiency Interview

An Oral Proficiency Interview, or OPI, is a phone or web-based 20-30 minute conversation between a trained evaluator and the candidate. It is a valid and reliable test that measures how well a person speaks a language. The procedure is standardized in order to assess global speaking ability, measuring language production holistically by determining patterns of strengths and weaknesses. Through a series of personalized questions a sample of speech is elicited and rated against the proficiency levels described in their grading scales. The primary goal of the OPI is the efficient elicitation of a ratable sample. To be ratable, a speech sample must clearly demonstrate the highest sustained level of performance of the speaker (known as the "floor") and the level at which the speaker can no longer sustain the performance (known as the "ceiling"), over a variety of topics. The OPI resembles a conversation, but in fact, the tester respects a strict elicitation protocol and structures the interview in a specific way.

Oral Proficiency Interview Format

The four mandatory phases of the OPI are the:

  1. Warm up
  2. Level checks
  3. Probes
  4. Wind down

OPI Rating Methodology

The OPI assesses language proficiency in terms of the ability to use the language effectively and appropriately in real-life situations. It does not address when, where, why, or the way in which a speaker has acquired their language. The OPI is not an achievement test assessing a speaker's acquisition of specific aspects of course and curriculum content, nor is it tied to any specific method of instruction. The OPI does not compare one individual's performance to others, but each individual performance to the assessment criteria.

Oral Proficiency Interview Evaluators

OPI Testers are highly specialized language professionals who have completed a rigorous training process that concludes with a tester's demonstrated ability to consistently elicit ratable speech samples and consistently rate samples with a high degree of reliability.

OPI Results Timeframe

Results are usually available within 10 business days.

OPI Eligibility

Candidates who have completed orientation, and have passed the multiple-choice test at 80% are eligible to take an OPI in English and the non-English language. An English OPI may be waived based on the candidate’s ability to demonstrate that English is their dominant language.

OPI Required Grade

The Court Interpreter Program requires candidates to score at an Advanced High or higher in the ACTFL scale (LTI) or eight (8) or higher in the ALTA scale.

Academic (ACTFL) Scale ALTA Scale
Distinguished 12+
11,12
Superior 9,10
Advanced High 8

Candidates who achieve the required grade will become eligible to take the oral certification exam. Candidates who speak a language without a certification exam will achieve “Authorized” status on the roster for court interpreters.

OPI Fee

Oral Proficiency Interviews are $165. To pay for the OPI, click on this link: https://www.wicourts.gov/services/payment/paymentcip.htm. The Court Interpreter Program has the discretion to waive this fee.

OPI Registration

You may sign up for an OPI by contacting the Court Interpreter Program via email: interpreter.info@wicourts.gov.

Open testing periods are offered throughout the year depending upon availability of the program manager and the evaluators. Be prepared to provide your first and second choice for a preferred test date and three-hour block of time. ALTA tests have a web-based on-demand option in certain languages that is available immediately. You should contact our office at least four weeks before the date you wish to be tested to schedule your OPI.

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