Translation Quality Assessment: An Evaluation-Centered Approach

Abstract

Translation Quality Assessment (TQA) or Translation Evaluation (TE) is a major and continuing concern within translation studies field. Despite recent attempts by various translation scholars to provide a more objective TQA model, there is still a lack of sufficient published models and general consensus on how to evaluate translation. Seeking a more objective model in TQA, this study aims to broaden the scope of application of Appraisal Theory (AT) and introduce it as a model for translation evaluation in Persian and to test out its efficiency and practicality as a model for translation evaluation. It indeed aims at evaluating translation from a new perspective, namely AT with particular focus on Attitude sub-system to understand how professional and trainee translators reconstruct the attitudinal markers available in Rouhani’s 2013 UNGA speech in their translations. The findings revealed that there were no systematic differences in the way Attitude is manifested in the professional translation of the speech. Multiple translations provided by trainee translators revealed the persistence of attitudinal values to a great extent in translation. Only four students showed a statistically significant difference. This study concludes with a tentative comparative model for TQA drawn by analogy to House’s (1997) model.