Achieving professional quality in translation

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Achieving professional quality in translation

• Dr Joanna Drugan
• Centre for Translation Studies
• University of Leeds, UK
• www.leeds.ac.uk/cts

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Talk map

• Overview/background
• Translation studies/theoretical approaches to
  translation quality
• Translation quality management in the industry
• Why it matters
• Recent developments
• Two sample models
• Benefits and drawbacks
• Questions, discussion, feedback

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1. Background

• Recently completed research project
• How the industry measures and improves
  translation quality
• Quality metrics
• Use of electronic tools to check quality
• Workflow and translation processes
• Range of locales, types of LSP, language pairs,
  domains

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Quality in professional translation

• Work in progress
• Continuum, 2012
• Feedback, please
• Title?
• What aspects would you like to read more about?

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Unprofessional translation

• Think of your favourite poor translation
• Consider why its bad
• e.g. poor ST comprehension? Proofreading failure?
• Examples
• www.engrish.com
• Mister Bleachs CV
• DVX email/scone

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Unprofessional translation

• Keep your example in mind as we run through TQ
  approaches and two extreme models
• Would your unprofessional translation have been
  identified for quality control (QC) or prevented
  by either approach?

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2. TS/theoretical approaches to TQ

• Focus on text
• ST/TT comparison
• TT revision and editing
• Human-centred and labour-intensive
• Product rather than processes

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2. TS/theoretical approaches to TQ

• Where processes are examined, its to establish
  or hypothesise about how specific translation
  choices were made, rather than describing or
  suggesting stages in a business/production model

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TS/theoretical approaches vs. the real world

• Familiar (sterile?) theory/practice debate
  (Chesterman and Wagner 2002, Lefevere 1996,
  Newmark 1981)
• Different approaches to TQ in particular
• Quah (2006 26-28) Particularly on the issue of
  quality, linguists, translation theorists and
  translators are asking different questions

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Different approaches to TQ

• Linguist
• Why is this translation as it is? (descriptive,
  explanatory)
• Theorist
• What constitutes a good translation?
• Translator
• Can theory help me make this translation better?
  How can I justify my translation to the client?

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Different approaches to TQ

• Different questions
• Different (meta-)language to discuss the same
  issues
• Contrast two leading sources

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Translation Quality Assessment Linguistic
Description versus Social Evaluation

• As an evaluator of TQ one will always be
  forced to flexibly move from a macro-analytical
  focus to a micro-analytical one, from
  considerations of ideology, function, genre,
  register, to the communicative value of
  individual linguistic items. In taking such a
  multi-perspectival viewpoint, a responsible
  translation critic will arrive at a position
  where he or she can give a probabilistic
  reconstruction of the translators choices, and
  with the support of the translators own voice,
  be able to throw some light on his or her
  decision processes in as objective a manner as
  possible

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(Cont.)

• That this is an extremely complex undertaking
  which, in the end, yields but approximative
  outcomes, should not detract us from its
  usefulness. It is the task of the translation
  critic to work out, as far as possible, for each
  individual case, exactly where and with what
  types of consequences and (possibly) for which
  reasons (parts of) translated texts are what they
  are in relation to their primary texts. Such a
  modest goal might guard the translation evaluator
  against making both prescriptive, apodictic and
  global judgments (of the good vs bad type)
  that are not intersubjectively verifiable. House
  (2001 255)

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A Model for Assessing Translation Quality

• More pithily
• An adequate translation text (TT) is a
  semantically and pragmatically equivalent one
  House (1977 103)
• Compare Houses aims and acknowledgement of
  limitations/objections with Mossop (2001 150)
  then Kingscott and Samuelsson-Brown

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Contrast with industry approach

• Clients may require a formal, objective
  assessment system in order to justify, for
  example, removing a given person from a roster of
  qualified freelances. Objective usually means
  quantified, that is, the assessment will take the
  form of a number obtained by counting
  errors.Ratings should also be objective in the
  sense that if two assessors examine the same
  text, they should both arrive at the same general
  assessment.

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Contrast with industry approach

• A poor-quality translation, provided it does not
  positively mislead, which is ready for a
  businessman on Tuesday before he catches his
  plane to Tokyo, is far preferable than the
  accurate natural idiom translation which is not
  ready till Friday of the same week in fact, in
  such circumstances, the latter translation is
  worthless. Here, then, is the first point to
  be established, and one difficult for established
  translators to grasp Quality is relative.
  Kingscott (1996 138)

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Contrast with industry approach

• Trying to qualify what is meant by quality in
  translations is, and will continue to be, a
  divisive issue because of the intangible nature
  of the service. The only true benchmark if you
  are translating for a living is whether you
  provide what your client wants. Samuelsson-Brown
  (1996 134)

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Contrast with industry approach

• Is it good enough?
• Can certain quality levels be guaranteed/relied
  upon?
• Can we maintain quality and do it faster?
• Can we maintain quality and do it for less?

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Industry focus

• Not just translation product/text (revision,
  editing)
• Not principally text?
• Because of different context and needs

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3. TQ in the industry why it matters

• Translators (and clients) want to understand how
  translation can be improved or certain quality
  levels guaranteed.
• Not in pursuit of some Holy Grail of perfect or
  best quality but fit for purpose, appropriate
  expenditure for this specific use of the text
• Why now? Havent they always wanted this?

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Recent developments

• Greater need for quality checks in todays
  translation context
• Globalisation, multivendor translation teams
• Increase in translation activity/international
  awareness of translation activity (Google
  Translate, Facebook)
• Increasingly technical domains for translation
• Increasing production of STs in EN by non- MT
  speakers

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Recent developments

• Tools its increasingly possible
• BlackJack, QA Distiller, OS tools
• SDL TRADOS QA Checker Ensure your work is
  virtually error free.
• Industry drive towards shared quality standards
• Obligation to measure and document quality
  processes

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Industry drive towards recognized quality
standards

• ISO 9002 (2003)
• ASTM WK2953 (New Consumer-Oriented Guide to
  Quality Assurance in Translation and
  Localization)
• LISA (various)
• National Standard of the Peoples Republic of
  China GB/T 19363. 1-2003 Specification for
  Translation Service
• EN 15038 (European Committee for Standards,
  released 06-2006)
• BS EN 150382006 Translation Services Service
  Requirements

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What does this mean for practising translators?

• ISO
• Demonstrate translation is fit for purpose
• ASTM
• Regulate consumer product

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What does this mean for practising translators?

• LISA
• Agree industry-wide standards and encourage TSPs
  to adopt these
• Development and adoption of standard exchange
  formats (e.g. TMX)
• International variation in scope, e.g. Chinese
  standard
• 4.2.2 Receptionists should be properly
  dressed and have good manners when dealing with
  the client

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CEN translation standards

• Define the requirements for the provision of
  quality translation services
• Documented quality management procedures
• Translators must have a formal recognized degree
  or 5 years experience
• draft All jobs must be revised by another
  translator
• Revisers competencies as for translators
  domain expertise

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Why focus on TQ now?

• Influence of other disciplines
• Approaches increasingly imported from management,
  software engineering and testing, marketing
• Translation as a business or service, managers
  and business theorists applying their theories
  and approaches to translation as they have in the
  past to the automotive industry or financial
  services
• Particularly Kaizen /TQM /Six Sigma

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Kaizen/ TQM/Six Sigma

• If you can(t) measure it, you can(t) manage it
• Count what is countable, measure what is
  measurable, and what is not measurable, make
  measurable.
• Attributed to Galileo (e.g. in Timothy L. J.
  Ferris (2004) , A new definition of measurement
  Measurement, Vol. 36 (1), 1019.), Lord Kelvin
  and countless others

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Kaizen

• Continuous improvement
• Toyota
• Quality as basis
• Management, manufacturing, engineering but
  extended to all aspects of life
• Eternal cycle of improvement standardisation,
  measurement, innovation/refinement, assessment
  then start again

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TQM

• Total Quality Management
• Statistician and management theorist, W. Edwards
  Deming
• Quality is fully satisfying agreed customer
  requirements
• Techniques for achieving efficiency, solving
  problems, imposing standardization and
  statistical control, and regulating design,
  housekeeping, and other aspects of business or
  production processes (Encyclopedia Britannica)

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Six Sigma

• Motorola, 1981
• Statistics and management methods applied to
  improving quality
• Improve quality by identifying and addressing
  defects and standardisation
• Quality experts throughout organisations (Black
  Belts etc)
• Defined steps and agreed targets

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Applicable to translation?

• Attempting to measure the unmeasurable?
• Compare with measurement in other fields that we
  might think unmeasurable
• Google call centre staff performance, the
  relative effectiveness of non-profit
  organisations, telecommunications planning,
  corruption, systems engineering, innovation,
  entrepreneurship
• Academic research in the humanities?...

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So how does the industry approach TQ?

• What can be measured and standardised?
• Much broader than revision and editing, though
  these are typically included
• Processes rather than/as well as product
• ISO is not concerned with the contents of the
  translation (Ørsted, 2001 444)

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So how does the industry approach TQ?

• QA/QC distinction
• When referring to quality, a distinction should
  be made between quality assurance (QA) and
  quality control (QC). Quality assurance is
  defined as the steps and processes used to ensure
  a final quality product, while quality control
  focuses on the quality of the products produced
  by the process. Esselink (2000 146)
• Industry focuses as much or more on QA than QC

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QA whats included?

• Recruitment/selection/ HR
• Testing
• Monitoring
• CPD
• Workflow

• Remuneration/rates
• KPIs
• Document/file control
• Hardware/software
• Style

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QA whats included?

• Checklists
• Features typically found in high-quality
  translations
• Standard quality checks
• Feedback cycle
• Solicit client feedback and act on it
• Provide translators with feedback on their work
  to encourage improvement

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QA whats included?

• More automation of quality checks
• Translation memory, L10N and terminology tools
• Checks for consistency
• Checks for compliance (with client TM,
  terminology)
• Formatting quality checks (tags)
• Cheaper and faster/instantaneous

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Theory in all this?

• House (1998/2005 197) Translation quality
  assessment presupposes a theory of translation.
• See in models suggested next - bringing theory
  (management as well as TS) and practice together.
  Theorise whats actually happening in real-world
  translation
• Skopos, fit-for-purpose translation evident in
  most business approaches

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Fit-for-purpose translation

• Tim Martin, European Commission
• Fit-for-purpose translation sounds like a
  business slogan or a DIY sales pitch
  (just-in-time, cheap-and-cheerful). But it
  is a conscious attempt to use translation and
  revision resources intelligently. It is not a
  second-class alternative.

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Industrial TQ models

• Range across industry from pharmaceutical to
  advertising texts to translation for information
• Not just text type
• Same ST, multiple approaches
• Dependent on purpose/client needs/deadline/cost
• Grouped into range of models
• Two extremes outlined here
• Other models (experience-dependent,
  sector-dependent, client-dependent)

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4. Two sample models

• Maximalist and minimalist
• Outline of key components, benefits and drawbacks

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Maximalist TQA

• Maximalist approach ESA (France), Kik As
  (Norway), Canon (UK)
• Recruitment engineer/linguists,
  banker/linguists
• Probation/CPD
• Testing/monitoring
• Hardware/software
• Confidentiality
• Contractual obligations
• Industrial prototypes/embedded translators
• Feedback cycle, ICR

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Maximalist TQA

• Maximalist approach translation product
• Everything is revised at least once
• Read-through (aloud) with colleague in same
  language pair (ESA)
• Read on paper by in-house colleagues (Kik As)
• Read on paper and localised versions of products
  tested by in-country specialists (Canon)

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Maximalist TQA

• Maximalist approach ESA, Kik As, Canon
• Advantages
• Thorough
• Sharing highly-technical domain expertise
• Peer support, staff development
• Variety in translators workload
• Development of house style
• Canon In-house technical and linguistic
  expertise used to make sure new translations meet
  local standards
• Complies with most exacting standards
• Disadvantages
• Overkill
• Costly (time, motivation)
• Anticipating clients preferences/revisers style
  (pollution)
• Repetitive
• Who decides in cases of disagreement?

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Minimalist TQA

• Minimalist approach freelance translators,
  thebigword(England), IBA (Wales), ProZ.com?
• Self-selection, linguistic skills or lowest
  bidder
• Learn on-the-job
• No/minimal requirements for testing/monitoring
  hardware/software
• Confidentiality/contract?
• Feedback typically absent or vague

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Minimalist TQA

• Minimalist approach translation product
• Revision by self-selected colleague or by
  translator, if at all
• Typically read through once on paper or screen
• Some automated QC checks spell check?
  (Peugeot/Philadelphia)

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Minimalist TQA

• Minimalist approach freelance translators,
  thebigword(England), IBA (Wales), ProZ.com?
• Advantages
• Cost, speed
• Translator autonomy, respect for professionals
• Variety in translator workload/workflow
• Disadvantages
• Temptation not to review rush jobs
• Relies on translators awareness of their own
  weak points
• Serious errors missed and perpetuated (IBA
  illustration)
• Isolation
• Who decides in cases of disagreement?
• Undercutting/competition among translators
• Unlikely to meet most agreed Standards

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Feedback/questions

• Your favourite poor translation which if
  either of the models would have picked it up?
• Why might average translation students thrive
  in the industry?
• How might this affect how you market your
  services/which employers you target?
• Title for book and which aspects youd like to
  know more about?

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References

• Esselink, B. (2000) A Practical Guide to
  Localization , Amsterdam/Philadelphia John
  Benjamins
• House, J. (2001) Translation Quality Assessment
  Linguistic Description versus Social Evaluation,
  Meta, XLVI, 2, 243-257
• House, J. (1998/2000) Quality of Translation in
  M. Baker (ed.), Routledge Encyclopedia of
  Translation Studies, 197-200, London/NY
  Routledge
• House, J. (1997) Translation Quality Assessment.
  A Model Revisited, Tübingen Narr
• House, J. (1977) A Model for Assessing
  Translation Quality, Meta, XXII, 2, 103-109

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References

• Kingscott, G. (1996) Providing quality and
  value in R. Owens (ed.) The Translators
  Handbook, London Aslib (137-146)
• Mossop, B. (2001) Revising and Editing for
  Translators, Manchester St. Jerome
• Quah, C. K. (2006) Translation and Technology,
  Basingstoke/NY Palgrave Macmillan
• Ørsted, J. (2001) Quality and Efficiency
  Incompatible Elements in Translation Practice?,
  Meta, XLVI, 2, 438-447

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References

• Sager, J.C. (1989) Quality and Standardsthe
  Evaluation of Translations, in C. Picken (ed.)
  The Translators Handbook, London Aslib (91102)
• Samuelsson-Brown, G. (1996) Working Procedures,
  Quality and Quality Assurance in R. Owens (ed.)
  The Translators Handbook, London Aslib (103-136)