Translation and Interpreting English

Course Details

KTO KARATAY UNIVERSITY
İktisadi, İdari ve Sosyal Bilimler Fakültesi
Programme of Translation and Interpreting English
Course Details

Course Code	Course Name	Year	Period	Semester	T+A+L	Credit	ECTS
04570413	Quality Standards in Translation	4	Autumn	7	3+0+0	5	5

Course Type	Zorunlu Seçmeli
Course Cycle	Bachelor's (First Cycle) (TQF-HE: Level 6 / QF-EHEA: Level 1 / EQF-LLL: Level 6)
Course Language	English
Methods and Techniques	-
Mode of Delivery	Face to Face
Prerequisites	-
Coordinator	-
Instructor(s)	Asst. Prof. Figen YILMAZ
Instructor Assistant(s)	-

Course Instructor(s)

Name and Surname	Room	E-Mail Address	Internal	Meeting Hours
Asst. Prof. Figen YILMAZ	C-	[email protected]

Course Content

ISO 17100, equivalence of meaning, appropriate vocabulary and expression, minor and major issues, consistency, degree of task completion, intelligibility, cultural differences, aesthetic aspects, adaptability to the end user, adequacy, acceptability, regulatory conventions, terminological accuracy, stylistic accuracy, completeness, text-oriented or goal-oriented, presence of non-linguistic elements, error analysis, post-editing, proofreading, project manager.

Objectives of the Course

To point out the need for quality translation and translators, to secure a grounding in ISO procedures, teach processes involved in ensuring quality of translation, get to know Translation Quality Assessment (TQA), be familiar with subjective and objective assessment, identify models for quality assessment, to prepare rubric to justify quality decisions, and to introduce International Standards Organization (ISO).

Contribution of the Course to Field Teaching

Basic Vocational Courses	X
Specialization / Field Courses
Support Courses
Transferable Skills Courses
Humanities, Communication and Management Skills Courses

Relationships between Course Learning Outcomes and Program Outcomes

Relationship Levels
Lowest	Low	Medium	High	Highest
1	2	3	4	5

#	Program Learning Outcomes	Level
P1	Makes written or oral translations from source language to target language in accordance with the purpose.	5
P3	Uses information technologies required by translation.	5
P4	Has a good command of the rules of use of the source and target languages to be used in translation.	5
P5	To be able to use analytical thinking skills and the necessary theoretical knowledge in translation criticism.	5
P9	Uses Quality Standards in Translation in his/her applications.	5

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon the successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
No	Learning Outcomes	Outcome Relationship	Measurement Method **
O1	Knows the past and current Translation Quality Standards.	P.9.1	1
O2	Understands the criteria required by the Quality Standards in Translation and the reasons for their use.	P.9.2	1
O3	Follows the criteria for drafting a translation text in accordance with the Translation Standards.	P.9.3	1
O4	Analyses the specific features of the translated text in line with the standards.	P.9.4	1
O5	Evaluates the conformity of the translated text to the standards.	P.9.5	1
O6	Creates a translation text in accordance with the standards.	P.9.6	1
** Written Exam: 1, Oral Exam: 2, Homework: 3, Lab./Exam: 4, Seminar/Presentation: 5, Term Paper: 6, Application: 7

Weekly Detailed Course Contents

Week	Topics
1	Lecturer introduces himself and the course besides the assessment system. Rules of conducting class, level of participation by students during the delivery of the course, classroom procedures, etc. One midterm assignment and a final, to be calculated out of 40% and 60% respectively. Students get to see the material for each week so they can come ready to discuss and ask questions.
2	First task is to address the question of the nature of the translation. Namely, 1) nature of relationship between ST and TT, 2) relationship between features of the text and how they are perceived by author, translator and recipient, and 3) relationship of produced translation and similar text in target domain. Faithfulness to the original, retention of the original's special flavor (i.e. style), preservation of the spirit of ST have been used by many to determine the quality translation, which essentially judges a product in terms of original.
3	Response-oriented Approach to quality (e.g. Nida's dynamic Equivalence) foregrounds the criterion of receptor's response to the translation. Degree of quality is determined by the degree of similarity of response. Though it is not empirically tested, it remains one of the cornerstones of quality assessment.
4	Text-based Approach emphasizes, within the descriptive paradigm, how the translation is to be situated in the target language literature. Thus, translation belongs exclusively to the literary system of target lingua-culture.
5	Functionalist Approach, within the framework of Skopos (Reiss and Vermeer (1984), stresses the primacy of the purpose of text, according to which translation should done, especially regarding audience effect. So, target culture norms are heeded, which is the most important yardstick for assessing quality. However, adequacy and equivalence are not easily determined.
6	Linguistic Approach suggests Koller's (1992) five frames of reference for determining type of equivalence: denotative, connotative, text-normative, pragmatic and formal-aesthetic equivalence.
7	Criteria such as accuracy, smoothness, naturalness, easy flow, readability, absence of interference ensures quality. Nonetheless, institutions in different countries may rightly appropriate their own priorities for quality standards. Not only texts but also writers of texts, i.e. translators are evaluated and judged to secure the above constructs.
8	According to Rui Rother-Neves, the following scale ensures quality: Does the text read fluently? Is translation grammatically correct? Is the spelling correct? Are there unjustified inferences? Is the vocabulary adequate? Is vocabulary used consistently throughout text? Is translation performed according to assignment? Does layout correspond to accepted standards? Could this translation be used according to the style norms for this kind of text? Is the overall result satisfactory?
9	Julienne House (1997) offers a pragmatic approach to quality: Analysis of linguistic particularities of source and target languages, a comparison of two texts, assessment of relative match. To meet the equivalence, text should have a function that is equivalent to that of the original text, employing equivalent pragmatic means for achieving the function. The function is the norm against which translation is measured.
10	A good translation fulfills its intention: informative texts convey texts acceptably, vocative texts directs the audience to the desired outcome, expressive texts produce intended effect. It is paramount how translator handled issues of neologisms, cultural words, proper names, technical terms, untranslatable words and lexical gaps.
11	ISO International Standards Organization is introduced. ISO 15100 is applicable to translation quality. Requirements for translation services are delineated. A translation company has to meet the standard's provisions, explain methods of implementation, reveal size and complexity of the organization and document internal and sound operations. Capabilities and resources to be expended upon translation work to deliver a translation service that meet the client's specifications and other nominated specifications. Processes in the production and delivery of translation needs to be clearly explained for the granting of ISO quality.
12	Some theorists claim the following parameters secure quality: ACCURACY, COMPLIANCE, CONSISTENCY, UNDERSTANDIBILITY and INTERPRETATION. Given the parameters, a rubric can devise to offer numerical values such: Minimal = 1 / Deficient = 2 / Acceptable=3 / Strong=4 / standard=5. Figures for each parameter is calculated and a total of 20-25 will be considered a quality translation.
13	The degree to which the textual profile and function of the translation match the profile and function of the original is the degree to which the translation is adequate in translation.
14	The output emerged as part of lecturing and in-group discussions on translation criticism well as exams types and their repercussions are discussed. Determination of quality standards largely rests on the shoulders of educational but more importantly state institutions. Development of scales, rubrics, quantitative measurements are vital for the evaluation of quality standards of a piece of translation as well as translator competencies.

Textbook or Material

Resources	Reiss, Katharina (2000) Translation Criticism: The Potential and Limitations. London: Routledge.
	Reiss, Katharina (2000) Translation Criticism: The Potential and Limitations. London: Routledge.
	Reiss, Katharina (2000) Translation Criticism: The Potential and Limitations. London: Routledge.
	Reiss, Katharina (2000) Translation Criticism: The Potential and Limitations. London: Routledge.

Evaluation Method and Passing Criteria

In-Term Studies	Quantity	Percentage
Course Specific Internship (If Any)	-	-
Homework	-	-
Presentation	-	-
Projects	-	-
Midterms	1	40 (%)
Final Exam	1	60 (%)
Total		100 (%)

ECTS / Working Load Table

	Quantity	Duration	Total Work Load
Course Week Number and Time	14	3	42
Out-of-Class Study Time (Pre-study, Library, Reinforcement)	0	0	0
Midterms	0	0	0
Quiz	0	0	0
Homework	0	0	0
Practice	0	0	0
Laboratory	0	0	0
Project	0	0	0
Workshop	0	0	0
Presentation/Seminar Preparation	0	0	0
Fieldwork	0	0	0
Final Exam	0	0	0
Other	0	0	0
Total Work Load:			42
Total Work Load / 30			1,40
Course ECTS Credits:			1

Course - Learning Outcomes Matrix

Relationship Levels
Lowest	Low	Medium	High	Highest
1	2	3	4	5

#	Learning Outcomes	P9
O1	Knows the past and current Translation Quality Standards.	5
O2	Understands the criteria required by the Quality Standards in Translation and the reasons for their use.	5
O3	Follows the criteria for drafting a translation text in accordance with the Translation Standards.	5
O4	Analyses the specific features of the translated text in line with the standards.	5
O5	Evaluates the conformity of the translated text to the standards.	5
O6	Creates a translation text in accordance with the standards.	5