Testing And Assessment In Translation And Interpreting Studies

"Testing and Assessment in Translation and Interpreting Studies" examines issues of measurement that are essential to translation and interpreting. Conceptualizing testing both as a process and a product, the collection of papers explores these issues across languages and settings (including university classrooms, research projects, the private sector, and professional associations). The authors have approached their chapters from different perspectives using a variety of methods, some focusing on very specific variables, and others providing a much broader overview of the issues at hand. Chapters range from a discussion of the measurement of text cohesion in translation; the measurement of interactional competence in interpreting; the use of a particular scale to measure interpreters renditions to the application of a specific approach to grading or general program assessment (such as interpreter or translator certification at the national level or program admissions processes). These studies point to the need for greater integration of research and practice in the specific area of testing and assessment and are a welcome addition to the field."

This book highlights reliable, valid and practical testing and assessment of interpreting, presenting important developments in China, where testing and assessment have long been a major concern for interpreting educators and researchers, but have remained largely under-reported. The book not only offers theoretical insights into potential issues and problems undermining interpreting assessment, but also describes useful measurement models to address such concerns. Showcasing the latest Chinese research to create rubrics-referenced rating scales, enhance formative assessment practice, and explore (semi-)automated assessment, the book is a valuable resource for educators, trainers and researchers, enabling to gain a better understanding of interpreting testing and assessment as both a worthwhile endeavor and a promising research area.

This book is the first and only dictionary on education and assessment in the context of translator and interpreter training. It offers the reader in-depth and up-to-date knowledge regarding key issues of the education and assessment of translators and interpreters, including how best to train translators and interpreters and how best to assess their performance in pedagogical settings. It contains key terms defined and discussed with a broad focus, and arranged alphabetically. It will serve as a valuable resource for academic researchers, educators, and assessors in translation and interpreting studies, as well as practitioners and students of translation and interpreting studies.

The development of translation memories and machine translation have led to new quality assurance practices where translators have found themselves checking not only human translation but also machine translation outputs. As a result, the notions of revision and interpersonal competences have gained great importance with international projects recognizing them as high priorities. Quality Assurance and Assessment Practices in Translation and Interpreting is a critical scholarly resource that serves as a guide to overcoming the challenge of how translation and interpreting results should be observed, given feedback, and assessed. It also informs the design of new ways of evaluating students as well as suggesting criteria for professional quality control. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as quality management, translation tests, and competency-based assessments, this book is geared towards translators, interpreters, linguists, academicians, translation and interpreting researchers, and students seeking current research on the new ways of evaluating students as well as suggesting criteria for professional quality control in translation.

The book presents a range of theoretical and practical approaches to the teaching of the twin professions of interpreting and translating, covering a variety of language pairs. All aspects of the training process are addressed - from detailed word-level processing to student concerns with their careers, and from the setting of examinations to the standardisation of marking. The articles show very clearly the strengths and needs, the potential and vision of interpreter and translator training as it exists in countries around the world. The experience of the authors, who are all actively engaged in training interpreters and translators, demonstrates the innovative, practical and reflective approaches which are proving invaluable in the formation of the next generation of professional translators and interpreters. While many of them are being trained in universities, they are being prepared for a life in the real world of business and politics through the use of authentic texts and tools and up-to-date methodology.

The need for reliable and valid assessments of translator and interpreter (T&I) skills has been widely acknowledged inside and outside these professions and the (language) testing community. The focus of the volume is on assessment of T&I leading to authorization, accreditation, registration and certification in different countries of the world.

The author offers an overview of the Interpreting Studies literature on curriculum and assessment. A discussion of curriculum definitions, foundations, and guidelines suggests a framework based upon scientific and humanistic approaches – curriculum as process and as interaction. Language testing concepts are introduced and related to interpreting. By exploring means of integrating valid and reliable assessment into the curriculum, the author breaks new ground in this under-researched area.Case studies of degree examinations provide sample data on pass/fail rates, test criteria, and text selection. A curriculum model is outlined as a practical example of synthesis, flexibility, and streamlining. This volume will appeal to interpretation and translation instructors, program administrators, and language industry professionals seeking a discussion of the theoretical and practical aspects of curriculum and assessment theory. This book also presents a new area of application for curriculum and language testing specialists.

Quantitative Research Methods in Translation and Interpreting Studies encompasses all stages of the research process that include quantitative research methods, from conceptualization to reporting. In five parts, the authors cover: • sampling techniques, measurement, and survey design; • how to describe data; • how to analyze differences; • how to analyze relationships; • how to interpret results. Each part includes references to additional resources and extensive examples from published empirical work. A quick reference table for specific tests is also included in the appendix. This user-friendly guide is the essential primer on quantitative methods for all students and researchers in translation and interpreting studies. Accompanying materials are available online, including step-by-step walkthroughs of how analysis was conducted, and extra sample data sets for instruction and self study: https://www.routledge.com/9781138124967. Further resources for Translation and Interpreting Studies are available on the Routledge Translation Studies Portal: http://cw.routledge.com/textbooks/translationstudies.