What Can Grades Teach us?

The grades of translation and interpreting students were used to address three questions: do the students who do well (or poorly) in introductory courses also do well (or poorly) in advanced courses? Will students who do well in translation also do well in interpreting? Which is a better predictor of performance, command of the source or the target language? We found a significant correlation between first and second year grades and between translation and interpreting grades. Performance in both source and target language enrichment courses correlated with grades in translation and interpreting. The findings relate to entrance exams, the use of grades as a measurement, and the idea of the student as being an integrated package rather than a collection of discrete skills.