A Skill-based Approach for Assessing EFL Students’ Translation Performance

Subject Areas : All areas of language and translation

Alireza  Bonyadi ¹ (English Department, Urmia Branch, Islamic Azad University, Urmia, IranAssistant Professor of TESOL. Department of English Language, Urmia Branch, Islamic Azad University, Urmia, Iran)

Received: 2020-06-24 Accepted : 2020-06-24 Published : 2020-04-01

Keywords: rubric, Translation competence, Language Skills, Testing,

Abstract :

Testing the translation performance of EFL students has not been paid due attention compared with the bulk of the literature on testing other language skills, namely reading, writing, speaking, and listening. This has led some translation teachers to face serious problems in measuring their students’ translation performance. In most cases, they have to opt for the existing developed rubrics presumably considered suitable for their own classrooms. However, the procedures leading to these developed rubrics are not usually well elaborated on by the original rubric developers. Furthermore, the rubrics that have been developed for measuring this skill are in some cases so detailed that EFL instructors prefer to resort to their own general assessment. Thus, reviewing some of the suggested rubrics for assessing students’ translation quality, the present paper which focuses on the testing model proposed by Hughes aims at providing translation instructors with a handy and practical rubric based on the skills and sub-kills needed in any translation practice.

References:

Angelelli, C. V. & Holly, E. Jacobson (2009). Testing and assessment in translation and interpreting studies: A call for dialogue between research and practice. In E. J. Claudia V. Angelelli & Holly (Eds.), Testing and Assessment in Translation and Interpreting Studies (pp. 1-12). San Diego State University Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

Aubakirova, K. A. (2016). Nurturing and Testing Translation Competence for Text-Translating. International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 11(11), 4639-4649.

Beeby, A., Berenguer i Estellés, L., Ensinger, D., Fox, O., Martínez, N., Neunzig, W., . . . Vega, F. (2000). Acquiring translation competence: hypotheses and methodological problems of a research project. Investigating translation, 99-106.

Biggs, J., and C. Tang. (2007). Teaching for Quality Learning at University (3 ed.). Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Farahzad, F. (2012). Translation criticism: A three-dimensional model based on CDA. Translation Studies, 9(36), 27-44.

Khanmohammad, H., & Osanloo, M. (2009). Moving toward objective scoring: A rubric for translation assessment. Journal of English Language Studies, 1(1), 131-153.

Nord, C. (2005). Text analysis in translation: Theory, methodology, and didactic application of a model for translation-oriented text analysis (2 ed.). New York: Rodopi.

Orozco, M., & Hurtado Albir, A. (2002). Measuring translation competence acquisition. Meta: journal des traducteurs/Meta. Translators' Journal, 47(3), 375-402.

Quinlan, A. M. (2012). A complete guide to rubrics: Assessment made easy for teachers of K-college (2 ed.). Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Education.