Comparison with the Source Language Back-translation into the Source Language Comprehension Check Naturalness and Readability Testing Consistency Checks

lxxvii Ebah Suhaebah, SS. T Wisnu Sasangka and Syahidin Badru, 1996: 9 Translation Quality Assessment TQA Translation can be seen as a product of translation process. Within this process, there is a stage in which the translated text the product needs to be tested to measure its quality. This test is normally called as Translation Quality Assessment TQA. There are three types from which the process of translation is gained: accuracy, readability and acceptability; or Larson 1984 offers accurate, clear and natural. Test of accurateness is needed because, sometimes, when a translator works hard in getting the best product of translation, he usually does some additions or deletions. These may effect on making mistakes: adding things that are not really in the text or deleting things that are actually very important within the text. That is why a test on the translation product is needed. Another test that comes after accuracy is clarity test coming from clear, or, I prefer to use, readability test. Larson 1984 argues that this test is urgently important since “a translation may be accurate but still not communicate to the people who are use to it. The forms of the language used should be those which make the message of the source text as easy to understand as the source text itself was to understand” p. 531 At last, a translation product needs to be assessed in terms of naturalness or acceptability. This test purposes on making the text sounds do natural towards the target readers, so that the readers think that it is an original text from their language instead of the result of translation process. There are various ways for assessing text. Larson 1984 offers five ways to do this task:

1. Comparison with the Source Language

This test is achieved by comparing the target language text and the source language text. According to Larson 1984 it is done “to be sure that all the information is included- nothing omitted, nothing added and nothing different” p. 543.

2. Back-translation into the Source Language

Back-translation means translating again the translated text target language text into the previous source language. This test usually employs someone else, not the translator, to do the process. It has purpose on knowing what is being communicated to the other person. This test is important since “ it makes possible for the translator and consultant to make the careful comparison with lxxviii the source text, looking for differences in meaning and inadequate application of translation principles” Larson, 1984: 536

3. Comprehension Check

The purpose of this check is to see whether or not the translation is understood correctly by speakers of the language who have not seen the translation previously” Larson, 1984: 537. This test involves having people it can be the translator himself or another person retell the content of the translation and answer questions about what is translated. From the questions which are set and the answers which are gained, it can be seen whether or nor the translation is at level of complexity appropriate to the target reader.

4. Naturalness and Readability Testing

Naturalness test is a test which purposes to see if the effort of the translation sounds natural and the style is appropriate towards the target language reader. Readability test, as its name, is o see whether or not the translation is easily to be read by the target readers.

5. Consistency Checks

The last method offered by Larson is consistency checks. This test is obtained to see whether or not the translator using the same terms for the whole text, for example consistency in the spelling of the names of people and places, in capital, in punctuation and so on. Larson 1984 says “if the meaning is the same and there is nothing in the context to indicate that a different term should be used, the translator will want to use the same term in each occurrence” p. 546. This check may be done by the translator by the help of related books himself or other person consultant. Nida and Taber in House, 1977 offer some other methods on testing the product of translation. Those methods are:

1. The Cloze Technique