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How do you assess translation quality without looking at the language?
Thread poster: Phil Hand
Daryo
Daryo
United Kingdom
Local time: 04:31
Serbian to English
+ ...
squaring the circle Jan 2, 2016

Phil Hand wrote:
...
My big idea is that I could kill these two birds with one stone by putting in place non-linguistic standards or assessment criteria. What I mean is ways of looking at the target text in use, to see whether it's fit for purpose. ....


I must admit you have me seriously puzzled.

for years I was working [apparently] under the delusion that the purpose of a text (or a speech) is to be understood by the intended reader (or listener);

from the way you are presenting it, there are some [to me totally mysterious] "linguistic criteria" (i.e. related to the language used) that could allow for producing a useless translation?

I can not see what kind of "linguistic criteria" could be considered as "fulfilled" if the text is not "fit for purpose"?

If the purpose of language is to communicate with others, what kind of linguistic criteria would be acceptable it the end result IS NOT contributing to the communication with the reader?

What would you say of "culinary criteria" that allow for serving inedible food?

BTW no one has solved (nor will ever) the squaring of the circle - you need someone who understands BOTH languages and has the same command of the target language as the intended audience (no point asking the most native Joe Blogg to evaluate a text in some very specialised field) - no amount of even the most inventive logical contortions can bypass this.
 
Katalin Horváth McClure
Katalin Horváth McClure  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 23:31
Member (2002)
English to Hungarian
+ ...
It seems to be a cultural issue - no metrics can help it Jan 4, 2016

Phil Hand wrote:
At the moment, when a senior manager sends back their translation with a note saying, "I think this phrase should be 'talents cultivation'," they scuttle to comply. I'd like them to be in a position to say, actually, 'workforce development' is a much more standard phrase - and we know because our HR people found working with documents 20% easier when we write it like that.


I have a feeling that it would take much more than giving them statistics. It is not part of the culture to disagree with your boss, and for the boss, saving face is above everything else - isn't it?
 
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How do you assess translation quality without looking at the language?







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