Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment® (EIPA) Rating System

The evaluation team uses an EIPA rating form to evaluate the interpreter’s abilities. The samples are rated in the following domains:

  1. Grammatical skills: Use of prosody (or intonation), grammar, and space.
  2. Sign-to-voice interpreting skills: Ability to understand and convey child/teen sign language
  3. Vocabulary: Ability to use a wide range of vocabulary, accurate use of fingerspelling and numbers
  4. Overall abilities: Ability to represent a sense of the entire message, use appropriate discourse structures, and represent who is speaking

Evaluators use a Likert Scale to assess specific skills. Scores for each skill range from 0 (no skills demonstrated) to 5 (advanced native-like skills). The scores from all three evaluators are averaged for each skill area, each domain, as well as the overall test score. An individual’s EIPA score is the summary total score. For example, an interpreter could report her/his score as EIPA Secondary PSE 4.2, which represents the grade level, the language modality, and the total summary EIPA score.

See also https://www.classroominterpreting.org/EIPA/performance/rating.asp

EIPA Rating Form

The following are domains of skills and specific skills evaluated by the EIPA.

I. Interpreter Product: Spoken English to Sign

Prosodic Information
A Stress/emphasis for important words or phrases 0 1 2 3 4 5
B Affect/emotions (interpreter appropriately uses face and body) 0 1 2 3 4 5
C Register 0 1 2 3 4 5
D Sentence boundaries (not run-on sentences) 0 1 2 3 4 5

Non-manual information
E Sentence types/clausal boundaries indicated 0 1 2 3 4 5
F Production and us of non-manual adverbial/adjectival markers 0 1 2 3 4 5

Use of signing space
G Use of verb directionality/pronominal system 0 1 2 3 4 5
H Comparison/contrast, sequence and cause/effect 0 1 2 3 4 5
I Location/relationship using ASL classifier system 0 1 2 3 4 5

Interpreter performance
J Follows grammar of ASL or PSE (if appropriate) 0 1 2 3 4 5
K Use of English morphological markers (if appropriate) 0 1 2 3 4 5
L Clearly mouths speaker’s English (if appropriate) 0 1 2 3 4 5

II. Interpreter Product (i.e., fluency/pacing, clarity of speech, volume of speech): Sign to Spoken English

Can read and convey signer’s:
A Signs 0 1 2 3 4 5
B Fingerspelling and numbers 0 1 2 3 4 5
C Register 0 1 2 3 4 5
D Non-manual behaviors and ASL morphology 0 1 2 3 4 5

Vocal/Intonational features
E Speech production (rate, rhythm, fluency, volume) 0 1 2 3 4 5
F Sentence/clausal boundaries indicated (not run-on speech) 0 1 2 3 4 5
G Sentence types 0 1 2 3 4 5
H Emphasize important words, phrases, affect/emotions 0 1 2 3 4 5

Word choice
I Correct English word selection 0 1 2 3 4 5

Interpreter performance
J Adds no extraneous words/sounds to message 0 1 2 3 4 5

III. Vocabulary

Signs
A Amount of sign vocabulary 0 1 2 3 4 5
B Signs made correctly 0 1 2 3 4 5
C Fluency (rhythm and rate) 0 1 2 3 4 5
D Vocabulary consistent with the sign language or system 0 1 2 3 4 5
E Key vocabulary represented 0 1 2 3 4 5

Fingerspelling
F Production of fingerspelling 0 1 2 3 4 5
G Spelled correctly 0 1 2 3 4 5
H Appropriate use of fingerspelling 0 1 2 3 4 5
I Production of numbers 0 1 2 3 4 5

IV. Overall Factors

Message processing
A Appropriate eye contact/movement 0 1 2 3 4 5
B Developed a sense of the whole message (Spoken English > Sign) 0 1 2 3 4 5
C Developed a sense of the whole message (Sign > Spoken English) 0 1 2 3 4 5
D Demonstrated process lag time appropriately (Spoken English > Sign) 0 1 2 3 4 5
E Demonstrated process lag time appropriately (Sign > Spoken English) 0 1 2 3 4 5

Message Clarity
F Follow principles of discourse mapping 0 1 2 3 4 5

Environment
G Indicates who is speaking 0 1 2 3 4 5

Descriptions of each EIPA Level

Level 1: Beginner
An individual at this level is not recommended for classroom interpreting.
  • Demonstrates very limited sign vocabulary with frequent errors in production.
  • At times, production may be incomprehensible.
  • Grammatical structure tends to be nonexistent.
  • Individual is only able to communicate very simple ideas and demonstrates great difficulty comprehending signed communication.
  • Sign production lacks prosody and use of space for the vast majority of the interpreted message.
Level 2: Advanced Beginner
An individual at this level is not recommended for classroom interpreting.
  • Demonstrates only basic sign vocabulary and these limitations interfere with communication.
  • Lack of fluency and sign production errors are typical and often interfere with communication.
  • The interpreter often hesitates in signing, as if searching for vocabulary.
  • Frequent errors in grammar are apparent, although basic signed sentences appear intact.
  • More complex grammatical structures are typically difficult.
  • Individual is able to read signs at the word level and simple sentence level but complete or complex sentences often require repetitions and repairs.
  • Some use of prosody and space, but use is inconsistent and often incorrect.
Level 3: Intermediate
An interpreter at this level needs continued supervision and should be required to participate in continuing education in interpreting.
  • Demonstrates knowledge of basic vocabulary, but will lack vocabulary for more technical, complex, or academic topics.
  • Individual is able to sign in a fairly fluent manner using some consistent prosody, but pacing is still slow with infrequent pauses for vocabulary or complex structures.
  • Sign production may show some errors but generally will not interfere with communication.
  • Grammatical production may still be incorrect, especially for complex structures, but is in general intact for routine and simple language.
  • Comprehends signed messages but may need repetition and assistance.
  • Voiced translation often lacks depth and subtleties of the original message.
  • An individual at this level would be able to communicate very basic classroom content, but may incorrectly interpret complex information resulting in a message that is not always clear.
Level 4: Advanced Intermediate
An individual at this level would be able to convey much of the classroom content but may have difficulty with complex topics or rapid turn taking.
  • Demonstrates broad use of vocabulary with sign production that is generally correct.
  • Demonstrates good strategies for conveying information when a specific sign is not in her/his vocabulary.
  • Grammatical constructions are generally clear and consistent, but complex information may still pose occasional problems.
  • May still have difficulty with the use of facial expression in complex sentences and adverbial nonmanual markers.
  • Fluency may deteriorate when rate or complexity of communication increases.
  • Uses space consistently most of the time, but complex constructions or extended use of discourse cohesion may still pose problems.
  • Comprehension of most signed messages at a normal rate is good, but translation may lack some complexity of the original message.
Level 5: Advanced
An individual at this level is capable of clearly and accurately conveying the majority of interactions within the classroom (Schick et al., 2005, p. 15–16).
  • Demonstrates broad and fluent use of vocabulary, with a broad range of strategies for communicating new words and concepts.
  • Sign production errors are minimal and never interfere with comprehension.
  • Prosody is correct for grammatical, nonmanual markers, and affective purposes.
  • Complex grammatical constructions are typically not a problem.
  • Fluency may deteriorate when rate or complexity of communication increases.
  • Comprehension of sign messages is very good, communicating all details of the original message.

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Doug Stringham, Utah Valley University. APA citation form: Stringham, D. (). Educational Interpreter Proficiency Assessement (EIPA) rating form. ; from https://www.classroominterpreting.org/EIPA/performance/EIPARatingForm.pdf

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