The Quality of Translation

E. The Quality of Translation

A translator is demanded to produce a good quality translation. The translator

has to ensure that the result has fulfilled the requirements of qualified translation. The translation is good or not cannot be subjectively judged. There are certain criteria to assess the quality of translation including accuracy, acceptability, and readability.

The concept of accuracy, acceptability, and readability is determined by the receptor language with its own assessment.

1. Accuracy

Accuracy has relation to the expression of the SL message or content to the TL. Dealing accuracy, Shuttleworth and Cowie (1997: 3) state that: Accuracy is a term used in translation evaluation to refer the extent to which

a translation matches its original. While it is usually refers to preservation of the information content of ST to TT, with an accurate translation being generally literal rather than free, its actual meaning in the content of a given translation must depend on the type of equivalence.

The quotation above points out on the preservation of information content of ST in TT. Larson (1998: 529 – 530) says that ―sometimes in restructuring the translator is working hard at getting across the meaning and in so doing adds information whi ch was not really in the source text.‖

In proper names translation, the level of accuracy will decrease when the translator give such additional information or omit/ delete some information of SL. The process of adding or omitting information of SL has a possible risk in reducing the accuracy level of translation.

The translation of proper name is accurate if the message is accurately delivered, such as using the correct equivalence word in TL, referring to the correct reference, and the translation is match for the context situation so that it is not ambiguous. On the contrary, the translation of proper name is inaccurate if the message is not delivered. It may be caused by the translation is incorrect, or the message is omitted or ambiguous.

2. Acceptability

Acceptability relates to the naturalness of the translation. A translator should

be able to produce translation which is natural according to the target language system and culture. Toury (in Shuttleworth and Cowie, 1997: 2) states that the acceptable tra nslation is the one fulfilling the requirements of ―reading as an original‖ written in the target language and sounds natural for the target reader rather than that be able to produce translation which is natural according to the target language system and culture. Toury (in Shuttleworth and Cowie, 1997: 2) states that the acceptable tra nslation is the one fulfilling the requirements of ―reading as an original‖ written in the target language and sounds natural for the target reader rather than that

From statement above, we found that in proper names translation, acceptability will be fulfilled when the translator can find the equivalence words/ terms in TL for every single proper name in SL in order to make the translation natural. When the readers feel that the translation does not like translation works, it means the acceptability of the book is fulfilled. The translation of proper name sounds natural, such as the use of the common cultural terms, or common words in TL, etc.

From the information above, it can be stated that accuracy is concerned on SL dealing with the transferring of message or idea of the text followed by the rules and its norms. In fact, the translators usually hold on to the TL in order to convey the idea of text in SL flexibly and understandably by the reader because it is not about transferring words or finding the equivalence words (Suryawinata, 2003: 61 in Sumardiono, 2009). Meanwhile, acceptability includes grammatical, cultural matters, and norms setting out the audiences of TL. It can be said that translation always trade-offs between two such principal accounts: accuracy and acceptability (Sumardiono, 2009). Both of them will give the impact in readability.

3. Readability

Readability deals with the readability level of the translation. Readability influences the readers‘ understanding of the message. A translation will be easier to Readability deals with the readability level of the translation. Readability influences the readers‘ understanding of the message. A translation will be easier to