TICQ | TRA&CO Center

Translation and Interpreting Competence Questionnaire

Various empirical research fields look at professionals and students in the fields of translation and interpreting as key populations to test highly diverse hypotheses. However, measures of translation and interpreting competence in relevant experiments are either absent or based on non-validated ad hoc instruments. As is the case with other subject-level factors in the study of bilinguals, such a scenario casts doubts on available findings and hinders comparability across studies. To address this problem, we introduce and validate the Translation and Interpreting Competence Questionnaire (TICQ), an online, customizable, multilingual tool to collect quantitative and qualitative data on numerous aspects of translation and interpreting skills.

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The TICQ consists of three parts. Section A addresses the participant’s language acquisition history and bi- (or multi-) lingual competence, in addition to basic demographical data. Section B taps into translation competence and Section C focuses on interpreting competence. These sections cover self-perceptions of both domains, aspects of professional practice and knowledge, and procedural habits related to translation and interpreting activities. Studies focused on (written) translation would use only Sections A and B, while those targeting interpreting skills would use only Sections A and C.

There are three ways to use the instrument. First, researchers can download the relevant version of the TICQ as a LimeSurvey archive and run it locally (see below). The local copy can be customized to specific research needs, for which LimeSurvey offers a range of options (https://www.limesurvey.org). Alternatively, researchers can access the TICQ online via the links below. The researcher can then send an e-mail to mschaeffer@uni-mainz.de and receive a file with the responses in the requested format. Finally, for researchers who prefer using a traditional paper-and-pen data collection method, the TICQ is also available in PDF format.

Screenshot from the TICQ, as implemented in LimeSurvey. The image shows the first questions from modules B1 and B2 (belonging to Section B, devoted to translation competence). In these items, participants must choose their status, indicate their translation skills on numerical scales, and state how many hours per week they translate.

Flowchart of the steps for using the TICQ. Utilization of the instrument involves four main steps, namely: selection of administration method, selection of section and/or modules, data collection, and data analysis (blue boxes). The first three steps involve different options and possibilities, some of which depend on whether the TICQ is being used online (violet boxes), locally (pink boxes) or in pen-and-paper format (yellow boxes).

For a full description of the instrument see the published paper.