patrizia collesi - istat/dcde q 2008 – parallel session “ cross-national comparability” some...
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Patrizia Collesi - Istat/DCDEQ 2008 – Parallel session “Cross-national Comparability”
Some proposals for better translations having in mind users’ needs
Proposing editorial catalogue and presenting editorial products in English
Rome, July 11 2008
Content OverviewEuropean Conference on
Quality in Official Statistics 2008
Rome, July 11 2008
Bilingual catalogue
Technical communication and the users
The methods/working flow in translations
Quality in translation/meeting users’ needs: Usability
Purpose of the text
Engineering better technical texts
Rome, July 11 2008
Peer Review from Eurostat, October 23-25 2006
Improvement action 15.2 for the Dissemination Directorate: Introduction of Catalogue in English on all publications
“The objective is to give the opportunity to users to have an overview in English of all publications”
Time constraint: 2008
Working Group to set out methods and translations
The catalogue as it is now
The catalogue in an ideal world
Bilingual catalogueEuropean Conference on
Quality in Official Statistics 2008
Rome, July 11 2008
Catalogue content
Search by key words
For each publication the following information is given:
Descriptive metadata
Content presentation (usually the back cover)
Title, Series
Prices
ISBN
How to order (Order form)
Bilingual catalogueEuropean Conference on
Quality in Official Statistics 2008
Rome, July 11 2008
Addressing the user
Need to understand readers’ cognitive strenghts and weaknesses
Usability: true mark of technical texts
What do we mean by usability in technical texts:
Ability to help users achieve specific goals
Technical communication and the users/1European Conference on
Quality in Official Statistics 2008
Rome, July 11 2008
Who is the user?
General characteristics:
Educational attainment
Technical/statistical competence
Time to devote for reading
Culture-dependant characteristics:
Expert in the field
Internal/external user, member of a similar institution
Formal level of comunication
Technical communication and the users/2European Conference on
Quality in Official Statistics 2008
Rome, July 11 2008
A compromise of the previous characteristics with the intended user in mind, considering:
General characteristics:
Education
Technical/statistical competence
Time to devote for reading
Expert in the field
Formal/informal level of comunication: matching with the addresse’s rules
Technical communication and the users/3European Conference on
Quality in Official Statistics 2008
Rome, July 11 2008
Multilingual working flow:
Text arrives, it is revised and checked
Request of terminological support to the experts:
Keywords
Official documents and references in the foreign language
Link to relevant websites
Other relevant reference sources
Text is:
Translated
Checked Revised
Recorded
Technical communication: translation processEuropean Conference on
Quality in Official Statistics 2008
Rome, July 11 2008
Two different concepts of quality:
1. A good product
No mistakes giving rise to wrong functioning
Matching customers’ satisfaction
2. A better product
Developed as to fully match customers’ needs and their satisfaction
Quality in translation/meeting users’ needs: usability/1European Conference on
Quality in Official Statistics 2008
Rome, July 11 2008
The two concepts give rise to two different situations, translation in the first case (and in the second as well) …
Is an answer to the user who needs information
Economic (no time-consuming)
From the producer’s point of view
Prevent unsatisfaction
Which, in the real world means… a solution/translation fits all
No politics of revising translations
Translating in a protected market, as it happens for laws and official documents
Quality in translation/meeting users’ needs: usability/2European Conference on
Quality in Official Statistics 2008
Rome, July 11 2008
…the second is an evolution of the first upon time…dynamic …improving bilingual presentation is a means to
Increase customers’ satisfaction Needs research (in translation studies and technical
communication) and checks
Consider the users’ point of view
Satisfy unexpressed needs
Analysis to have users’ feedback on translation
Increase possibilities of finding data
New spurs for an enhanced translations’ quality
New possibilities of translations/new parts to be translated to meet…
Quality in translation/meeting users’ needs: usability/3European Conference on
Quality in Official Statistics 2008
Rome, July 11 2008
The situation as it actually is
But in the real world the final user can only judge:
The smoothness of the text
Readability (not knowing from which situation it comes from)
The layout quality of the text
Quality in translation/meeting users’ needs: usability/4European Conference on
Quality in Official Statistics 2008
Rome, July 11 2008
Therefore translation quality is the result of the following aspects…
Quality in translation/meeting users’ needs: usability/5European Conference on
Quality in Official Statistics 2008
Planning translation quality Controlling quality Improving quality
Define quality goals Evaluate fieldwork for translators Demonstrate the need
Identify readers Devise the framework
Set up readers’ needs Compare work as it is accomplished with quality goals
Identify improvement actions
Devise texts’ features matching users’ needs Build planning groups
Devise process to reply such features Take actions to bridge the gaps Give resources, training and reasons to the groups to spot the causes and device solutions
Fix process controls and checks Set up checks to maintain what has been reached
Quality in translation/purpose of the text/1European Conference on
Quality in Official Statistics 2008
Rome, July 11 2008
Dominant features in translation/a
Possible situations of the original texts
Sacred text
Classical text
Renowned author’s text
Well written informative text (keep the content, rewrite the text)
Badly written informative text (rewrite with attention both to the form and the content)
In our case…
Information is the main component of the text
Translation may result in editing and rewriting
Quality in translation/purpose of the text/2European Conference on
Quality in Official Statistics 2008
Rome, July 11 2008
Dominant features in translation/b
Some examples of dominant features:
Readability
Impossibility to define the text as a translation
Terminological adherence
Conformity to the source culture
Conformity to the target culture
Conformity to the socio-professional target group
Engineering better technical texts/1European Conference on Quality in Official
Statistics 2008
Rome, July 11 2008
Guidelines for producing or revising texts: a proposal
Write simple sentences and use short and familiar words
Do not overload sentences with information
Several short sentences do not require re-reading
A long, complicated and ambiguous sentence does
Use active instead of passive verbs
Use parallel construction
Using similar structures to present similar information helps to reduce the amount of new information in a text and expedites the transmission of information
Engineering better technical texts/2European Conference on
Quality in Official Statistics 2008
Rome, July 11 2008
Guidelines for producing or revising texts: a proposal Use the information flow readers are accustomed to, in this case the
specific frame is the text type to which the text to translate belongs: Publication back cover and general reference metadata
Title/subtitle Price Codes
Customers use frames to decode stream of information: Reading information in a catalogue they expect a customary flow:
The book presents/The book contains Something new to keep the reader’s attention:
What’s new in this edition Then, from the general to details:
Name of the survey under examination Universe examined Main results Contents of the tables
Engineering better technical texts/3European Conference on
Quality in Official Statistics 2008
Rome, July 11 2008
Guidelines for producing or revising texts: a proposal
Use routine formulas in economics and statistics: They sound familiar They help to maintain consistency throughout translation
Check with other English language (preferably mother-tongue) catalogues:
They help to have a common framework for the catalogue To compare your solutions of presenting materials and text with a
sound benchmark To device better solutions
Engineering better technical texts/3European Conference on
Quality in Official Statistics 2008
Rome, July 11 2008
Engineering better technical texts/4European Conference on
Quality in Official Statistics 2008
Rome, July 11 2008
What our texts are intended for
A good advertisement
Achieving “a pre-determined purpose” Make our products better known Our data more consulted Our production more consulted
…by means of useful communication with our target audience
Texts in English confront us with the possibility to internationalise the promotion of our products, that is
Produce a a promotional message that will appeal to the widest target audience possible, irrespective of their cultural setting
Conclusions
Presenting products as a way of continuous confrontation with others
Plan new products/bilingual products
Present selected tables in English
Enhance your institutions’ visibility
Rome, July 11 2008
Proposing editorial catalogue and presenting editorial products in English
Thanks for you attention
For questions and bibliographical references, please write: [email protected]
Rome, July 11 2008