Understanding Quality Assurance in Translation

What is QA in Translation?

Understanding Quality Assurance (QA) in Translation

• QA is commonly referred to as Quality Assurance, focusing on how to ensure quality within the translation process.

• Some people view QA as a specific inspection process at the end of translation, checking for various types of errors.

• Errors inspected can include syntactical deviations (e.g., missing periods, extra spaces) and semantic issues (e.g., omissions or changes in meaning).

• Large-scale QA often utilizes software to identify terminological inconsistencies and other errors, which translators must then manually review.

• The speaker criticizes mechanical QA processes for being imprecise and leading to numerous false positives.

Challenges with Syntactical and Linguistic Quality Assessment (LQA)

• Terminology inconsistencies complicate the manual review process, making it tedious for translators to address each flagged issue.

• LQA involves deeper linguistic assessments but may overlook broader contextual relevance, focusing too much on technicalities like punctuation.

• The speaker argues that minor technical issues may not significantly impact overall text resonance with the audience.

The Evolving Concept of Quality

Shifting Perspectives on Quality in Translation

• A significant question arises regarding what constitutes quality today, especially with machine translation involved.

• There’s a common assumption that machine-translated content results in lower quality; however, statistics suggest otherwise when good practices are applied.

• Historically, quality was viewed through a technical lens—focusing on accuracy and completeness—but this perspective is evolving rapidly.

Engagement vs. Technical Accuracy

• Current views suggest that engagement metrics are becoming more critical than mere technical correctness; high bounce rates indicate poor quality regardless of writing precision.

Understanding Quality in Language and Communication

The Role of Goals in Defining Quality

• The definition of quality can vary based on the intended outcome; for instance, a dissertation may need to be free of grammatical errors if its purpose is academic rigor, but it might prioritize impressing evaluators if that is the goal.

• Many perceive Quality Assurance (QA) as strictly technical, focusing solely on language correctness. However, language should be viewed as a tool for accomplishing tasks rather than merely a means of expression.

Language as a Tool for Action

• Language serves practical purposes; for example, the term "hammer" exists not because it was arbitrarily named but because it fulfills the function of driving nails. This illustrates that language's effectiveness is tied to its utility.

• Evaluating quality involves assessing how well language achieves specific goals—whether it's engaging an audience, selling a product, or influencing opinions. Understanding these objectives is crucial for measuring effectiveness in communication.

Challenges Faced by Linguistic Purists