PROOFREADING IN A GOVERNMENT ENVIRONMENT AND WORKING AS A PROOFREADERZHEN GUAN28 MAY 2016

‘SCANDALS IN TRANSLATION QUALITY ASSESSMENT’ • ‘The age-old issue of irrelevant translation theory is a three-fold problem. Firstly, as is

popularly known, there is not even a universally accepted definition of what a translator is or what translation is. Secondly, there is no standardized translation quality assessment (STQA), which means no consistency in TQA. Thirdly, instead of improving the testability of new theories, translation scholars have been digging academic holes—deeper and wider with each passing year—for themselves.’

• ‘Much debate on translating quality has taken place, but the new millennium has witnessed neither a breakthrough in TQA, nor agreement on the criteria of a good or successful translation.’

- Harry Huang, Scandals in Translation Quality Assessment, LACUS Forum XXXIII 2007

CONTENT FOR TODAY• Definition – proofreading and editing• Proofreading tools• Proofreading and editing in a full

translation cycle• Confusion• Editing in the public sector

• What mistakes are to be picked up?• Evaluation – evaluation models• What an editor should avoid• Suggestions• Resources • Further readings

DEFINITION – PROOFREADING “This is a process whereby the text is being scanned for grammar, syntax and spelling errors. This process typically involves much the same correction as a secondary school teacher would perform on a written test.”- ViktoriaG, the difference between editing and proofreading,

http://www.proz.com/translation-articles/articles/543/1/The-difference-between-editing-and-proofreading

PROOFREADING TOOLS北京黑马飞腾科技有限公司（Beijing Blackhorse)

Grammarly Ginger

Chinese English EnglishNo free services Free to integrate

with your browserFree

$1000 (￥6980) for one user

$139.95/yr to have it on your desktop

http://www.bjhm.com.cn/

www.grammarly.com http://www.gingersoftware.com/

DEFINITION – EDITINGThis process concentrates less on the form. Editing involves evaluating to make sure that translation meets a set of criteria. Editing also requires solid translation capabilities to discover a better solution to replace the existing one.

PROOFREADING AND EDITING IN A TRANSLATION CYCLE

Proofreading

Reviewing/editing

Quality Assurance Translation - Geoffrey Samuelsson-Brown, Managing Translation Services 2006

PROOFREADING AND EDITING IN A TRANSLATION CYCLE

QUALITY SYSTEM

PROOFREADING/EDITING

PROOFREADING AND EDITING IN A TRANSLATION CYCLE - Geoffrey Samuelsson-Brown, Managing Translation Services 2006

WHY ARE WE CONFUSED?

Translation Proofreading Editing$0.20/word $0.05/word (25% of translation) $0.10/word (50% of translation)

EDITING IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

OUTSOURCE MODELFreelancersVendors

Translation Agencies Clients

GOVERNMENT IN-HOUSE MODEL

EDITING IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

DIBPOnshore

OffshoreR

Offshore S

Offshore T TIQIn-country

OfficeAgency BCC

Corporate Services

Korean/Chinese/(Vietnamese)

BM Agency

EDITING IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR

GovernmentOrganisation

CALD OfficerAgency

WHAT DO WE NEED TO CHANGE?- THE ABSOLUTELY NON-NEGOTIABLES

TRANSLATION EVALUATION MODELS• Localisation Industry Standards Association (LISA) Quality Assurance (QA)• SAE J2450 • The Quality Assessment Tool (QAT)• Translation Automation User Society (TAUS) Dynamic Quality Evaluation

Model

- Roberto Martinez Mateo, Miscelanea: A Journal of English and American Studies 2014

TAUS DYNAMIC QUALITY EVALUATION MODEL • Register with TAUS to become a free or paid user. • Check industry’s productivity and efficiency benchmark for your language pair(s).• Integrate your CAT tool with TAUS (by an API key) to run reports on productivity and

efficiency.• UtiliseTAUS quality evaluation tool to upload translation samples to assign to

your reviewer(s).

TAUS DYNAMIC QUALITY EVALUATION MODEL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yaPhNLEQ1o

TAUS DYNAMIC QUALITY EVALUATION MODEL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK7cx9K510w

FROM THE REVIEWER’S END - Receiving a request from a Project Manager/client via TAUS

TAUS QUALITY EVALUATION MODEL

FROM THE REVIEWER’S END- Reviewing and evaluating process with embedded criteria (TAUS benchmarks)

FROM THE REVIEWER’S END- Completing a task and sending it to the Project Manager/Client

FROM THE PROJECT MANAGER/CLIENT’S END- Receiving notification of completion from the reviewer

FROM THE PROJECT MANAGER/CLIENT’S END- Checking reports: fluency report, adequacy report and typology report

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR EDITING• The initiator: the company or individual： the company or individual who needs

the translation.• The commissioner• The ST producer• The TT producer• The TT user: the person who uses the TT, for example as teaching material or

sales literature.• The TT receiver: the final recipient of the TT, for example the students in a TT

user’s class or clients reading the translated sales literature.

WHAT AN EDITOR SHOULD NOT DO?• Correct for the sake of correcting.• Be subjective – “ I never translate it that way”.• Make inappropriate comments.• Overpower the translator.

- Martin Boyd, A Crash Course in Proofreading Translationshttp://dialogos.ca/2014/05/crash-course-proofreading-translations/

SUGGESTIONS• A checklist• A scoring system• Make a wise decision when resources are limited• A general understanding of translation theory

A CHECKLIST TO REFER TO AT ALL TIMES

- Geoffrey Samuelsson-Brown, Managing Translation Services 2006

SCORING SYSTEM- Fernando Prieto Ramos, International Journal for the Semiotics of Law

TO USE A EDITOR OR NOT?• “Four eyes are normally more effective than two if they are all qualified professionals

with the right expertise and working in optimal conditions. When this is not the case, a single qualified legal translator might produce a better translation than a combination of translator and reviser.”

• – Fernando Prieto Ramos, International Journal for the Semiotics of Law

TRANSLATION THEORY• Functional theories of translation • Discourse and register analysis approaches • System theories- Jeremy Munday, Introducing Translation Studies

RESOURCES• Publishing Training Centre: offering Basic

Proofreading, Basic Editing and Grammar at Work

http://www.publishingtrainingcentre.co.uk/• Society for editors and proofreadershttp://www.sfep.org.uk/resources/guides/• Society of Writers, Editors and Translators

(SWET)http://www.swet.jp/

RESOURCES• TAUS – Review: offering Post

editing Course, Quality Management Course

https://www.taus.net/think-tank/taus-review

• China’s editing and proofreading nets: punctuation, common mistakes, etc.

http://www.chinabianjiao.com/• Chinese Editing net: issues when

converting between simplified Chinese and traditional Chinese.

http://www.bianjiao.net/

FURTHER READINGS• Fernando Prieto Ramos, Quality Assurance in Legal Translation: Evaluating Process,

Competence and Product in the Pursuit of Adequacy, International Journal for the Semiotics of Law 2015

• Minako O’Hagan, Carmen Mangiron, Game Localization: Translating for the Global Digital Entertainment Industry 2013

• Geoffrey Samuelsson-Brown, Managing Translation Services 2006• Roberto Martinez Mateo, A Deeper into Metrics for Translation Quality Assessment: A

Case Study, Miscelanea: A Journal of English and American Studies 2014

FURTHER READINGS• Harry Huang, Scandals in Translation Quality Assessment, LACUS Forum XXXIII 2007• Jeremy Munday, Introduction Translation Studies 2008