Translation quality assessment : an application of a rhetorical model

Translation quality assessment is a fast growing sub-field ofTranslation Studies. It focuses on the inter-relationships between thetext translated from (ST) and the text translated into (TT). Theseinter-relationships involve the lexis, grammar, syntax, and semanticsof both texts. Unlike sentences in isolation, texts are context-bound.Distinctions between text and sentence are made. Text-boundtranslation can only be conducted and assessed within the domain oftext-linguistics.Assessment of translation quality should be based on a definable,applicable, and testable model which, in turn, should be based on asound, comprehensive theory of translation. Current models fortranslation emphasite one aspect against other aspects. For instance,the grammatical model focuses on the linguistic aspect of translation.The cultural model, on the other hand, highlights the communicativeaspect whereas the interpretive model concentrates on the pragmaticaspect of translation. Such artificial compartmentalization is aliento the nature of translation. As a process translation, in fact,involves the integrated synthesis of the above aspects.This theris presents a model for translation quality assessmentbased on a sound theory of translation which comprehends thephilosophical (pragmatic), communicative (cross-cultural), and semiotic(linguistic) aspects of langauge. Since translation is a semantic entity, our model - which we label 'rhetorical' - focuses on theconcept of 'meaning shifts' according to which the meaning of a text isclassifiable into obligatory, extended, and accessory meanings. Thisdoes not suggest that the semantic structures of a text exist in astate of utter un-relatedness. On the contrary, they survive in theform of inter-related layers within the macro-structure of the text.The relative dominance of any of the three meaning categoriesdetermines the type of text.According to this model, texts are broadly classified intoliterary, non-literary, and hybrid texts. In a literary text, extendedand accessory meanings abound leaving a tiny room for obligatorymeaning. In non-literary texts, on the other hand, extended andaccessory meanings recede to the background leaving the obligatorymeaning in the foreground. In hybrid or fuzzy texts, semanticstructures are disproportionately distributed with no dominance of anyspecific category. The topic and scope of a hybrid text determine thevolume of extended and accessory meaning in relation to obligatorymeaning.The model is not intended for translation quality assessment only.It has pedagogical implications as well. Translation students andtrainees can implement this model in textual analysis before theyembark on the process of translation. Phonological, grammatical,syntactic, semantic, and lexical correspondences between SL and TL texts are identified before assessment of translation quality isestablished