CT CT Exam Format & Certification Standards 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which organization administers the Certificate of Transliteration (CT) exam in the United States?
- American Translators Association (ATA)
- Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) (Correct answer)
- National Court Reporters Association (NCRA)
- American Sign Language Teachers Association (ASLTA)
Correct answer: Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID)
The Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) administers the CT exam and all associated interpreter/transliterator certifications in the US.
Question 2: The CT exam is typically composed of which two main components?
- Written knowledge test and performance test (Correct answer)
- Oral interview and portfolio review
- Vocabulary assessment and cultural knowledge test
- Transcription test and peer evaluation
Correct answer: Written knowledge test and performance test
The CT exam includes a written knowledge portion and a performance portion that evaluates live transliteration skill.
Question 3: What does the performance portion of the CT exam primarily evaluate?
- Grammar accuracy in written English
- Ability to accurately transliterate between spoken English and a manually coded English system (Correct answer)
- Fluency in American Sign Language grammar
- Speed of simultaneous written document translation
Correct answer: Ability to accurately transliterate between spoken English and a manually coded English system
The CT performance exam directly assesses a candidate's ability to transliterate between spoken/written English and a manually coded English (MCE) system.
Question 4: Which of the following best describes the minimum requirement to apply for the RID CT exam?
- A doctoral degree in linguistics
- Current RID membership (Correct answer)
- At least 10 years of professional experience
- Fluency in three or more foreign languages
Correct answer: Current RID membership
Applicants must hold current RID membership as a baseline eligibility requirement before registering for the CT exam.
Question 5: How long is RID CT certification valid before renewal is required?
- 1 year
- 3 years
- 5 years (Correct answer)
- 10 years
Correct answer: 5 years
RID certifications, including the CT, operate on a 5-year renewal cycle requiring completion of continuing education units (CEUs).
Question 6: The CT certification is historically significant primarily because it recognized which communication approach?
- Online captioning services
- Manually coded English systems as valid and certifiable communication tools (Correct answer)
- Machine translation technologies for the deaf community
- Written translation as equivalent to live interpreting
Correct answer: Manually coded English systems as valid and certifiable communication tools
The CT certification validated manually coded English (MCE) systems—such as Signed Exact English—as legitimate communication methods deserving professional recognition.
CT CT Exam Format & Certification Standards 1
Which organization administers the Certificate of Transliteration (CT) exam in the United States?