An Investigation into Translation Quality Assessment and Translation Pedagogy in Iranian Universities

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• R Rezvani
• M Ahmadiyan

Abstract

Over the years, Translation Quality Assessment (TQA) has, no doubt, received increasing attention among researchers and practitioners in higher education. Accordingly, this growing attention is expected to be reflected in TQA approaches and translation pedagogy in educational settings. The main aim of the current study, which is a qualitative content analysis one, is to report on a survey of Translation Quality Assessment Literacy (TASL) and the ways TQA is practiced in higher education in Iran. The sample of the study included 30 senior B.A. students and 15 university instructors of English Translation, who were randomly selected from 10 Iranian universities. A comprehensive interactional semi-structured interview, aiming to explore TQA approaches, level and quality of interviewees’ assessment literacy, and current limitations and deficiencies of the approaches, was the instrument of the study. The results of the study underscored the necessity of more principled approaches and profound assessment literacy in TQA and, more importantly, its effective practice in higher education settings.

Keywords

• Quality Assessment
• Translation Quality Assessment
• Assessment Literacy
• Translation in Educational Settings

20.1001.1.20086369.1390.2.7.7.5

---

References

Bradley, J. (1993). Methodological issues and practices in qualitative

research. Library Quarterly, 63(4), 431-449.

 Darwish, A. (1995). A model for designing decision-based translation tests.

Retrieved March 21, 2011, from http://www.at-turjuman.com

 Darwish, A. (2001). Transmetrics: A formative approach to translator

competence assessment and translation quality evaluation for the New

Millennium. Retrieved March 21, 2011, from http://www.atturjuman.com

 

 Gallini, J. K. & Quilter, S. M. (2000). Teachers' assessment literacy

and attitudes. The Teacher Educator, 36 (2), 115-131.

Glaser, B.G., & Strauss, A.L. (1967). The Discovery of Grounded Theory:

Strategies for Qualitative Research. New York: Aldine.

 Halliday, M.A.K. (2001). Towards a theory of Good translation. In Steiner, E

& Yallop, C. (Ed.), Exploring Translation and Multilingual Text Production:

Beyond Content, 13-18. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

 Holms, J. (1972). The name and nature of Translation Studies. In Venuti, L.

(Eds.), The translation studies reader, (pp. 180-192). London and New York:

Rutledge

 House, J. (2001). Translation quality assessment: Linguistic description

versus social evaluation. Meta, 46 (2), 243-257.

 Miremadi, A. (1991). Theories of translation and interpretation. Samt,

Tehran, Iran.

 Munday, J. (2004). Introducing translation studies; Theories and

applications. London and New York: Rutledge

 Newmark, P. (1982). Approaches to translation. Oxford: Pergamon.

 Newmark, P. (1988). A textbook of translation. New York: Prentice Hall.

 Nida, E. (1964). Towards a science of translating. Leiden: Brill.

 Rezvani, R. (2010). Modeling test-taking strategies and their relationship to

translation test performance; a Structure Equation Modeling (SEM) approach

(unpublished doctoral dissertation), Shiraz University, Shiraz.

 Rezvani, R. Riazi, A. M., & Sahragard, R. (2011). Translation quality

assessment: Assessing concept or construct. Translation Studies, 2 (3), 27-43.

 Schaffner, C. (1997). From ‘Good’ to ‘functionally appropriate’: Assessing

translation quality. Current Issues in Language and Society, 4 (1), 1-3. 

 Quilter, S. M. (1999). Assessment literacy for teachers: Making a case for the

study of test validity. The Teacher Educator, 34 (4), 235-243.

 Weber, R.P. (1990). Basic Content Analysis. Newbury Park, CA: Sage

Publications.

 William, M. (2009). Translation quality assessment, Mutatis Mutandis. 2(3),

3-23.