Mapping out the Terminology for Judging Quality in Various Translation Practices: A Key Disciplinary Desideratum

Translation quality is a central issue in the translation profession as well as translation education and training and is one of the utmost controversial topics in translation studies today. The terms and concepts used in discussing the process of judging translation quality in its various practices and contexts are rather confused by scholars and practitioners in the field. Perhaps, the prime example of such confusion is the interchangeable use of the terms, “evaluation” and “assessment.” Acknowledging the complexity and importance of defining these notions, a shared emphasis is found in the literature on defining and assessing quality in the context of specific situations. In fact, the lack of a universal, unified specialized terminology for judging translations is urging the need to standardize assessment terminology in order to reach a common understanding of quality standards demanded in both academic and professional settings. In order to differentiate among various practices, translation terminology is gradually being evolved. To date, efforts have been made to clarify this terminology and to identify and define different types of translation quality assessment procedures. Through a systematic review of the literature at hand, the present paper is an attempt to map out the terminology for judging quality in various translation practices as a key disciplinary desideratum.

Keywords:

translation criticism , translation evaluation , Translation Management Quality Control , Translation Quality , Translation Quality Assessment (TQA)