Published July 9, 2024
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New translation requirements cause trouble for test takers

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

When Sophie Farnell-Morisset signed up for her Certified Specialist of Spirits exam from the U.S.-based Society of Wine Educators (SWE) earlier this summer, she was served a blank page.

“I signed up for the exam that I paid for, booked a date and time and I got a message saying, ‘We can’t certify you.’ I thought there must be some mistake.”

She contacted the SWE and was told that due to new legal requirements, any standardized test administered in English in Quebec must also be available in French. Without a French translation, test-takers in Quebec, regardless of their own willingness to do the exam in English or another language (some SWE exams are available in Spanish), can’t take the test.

“I did some research and saw that people taking exams for various kinds of niche training have to go out of province to be certified because it’s not possible to take the exam while you are in Quebec,” said Farnell-Morisset, a co-founder of the Rendez-vous Scotch & Whisky de Québec tasting series. She said she is considering going to Ottawa or Vermont to take the exam, but is worried she may be turned away or have problems accessing the online test once she gets there. “That would also be going around the spirit of the law… and I’m very uncomfortable with that,” she said.

The SWE certification exams are administered by the U.S.-based global standardized testing conglomerate Pearson Vue, which also administers a wide range of other standardized tests around the world, notably in the fields of medical technology and IT. The Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT), required for admission to most medical schools in English-speaking North America, is also a Pearson test.

Farnell-Morisset emphasized that she was completing her certification as a passion project – not a job require- ment – and worried about the impact the restrictions might have on people in Quebec planning to attend medical school outside the province or pursue IT careers. Several Montreal-based aspiring medical students recently told CTV News that because the English-only MCAT can no longer be taken in Montreal, they may have to postpone their school plans because MCAT centres in Ontario and New England are full.

“Although the intentions of the law are good, it does have side effects,” she said. “Pearson is a big player in standardized testing, Quebec is a small market and they could just tell [Quebec] ‘We don’t need you.’ I’m worried [these requirements] will stop people from learning.”

No one from Pearson Vue or the SWE was available to comment at press time due to the July 4 holiday in the U.S.

“The Charter of the French Language provides that consumers of goods or services have the fundamental right to be informed and served in French. Businesses in Quebec must respect this right. This does not prevent educational activities from taking place only in a language other than French. However, businesses in Quebec must always be able to inform and serve their custom- ers in French,” the Ministry of the French Language told the QCT in a brief statement.

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