Abstract

VAN RENSBURG, Alta. Key quality management steps in the translation industry and academic translation offices. SPiL plus (Online) [online]. 2017, vol.53, pp.195-214. ISSN 2224-3380.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5842/53-0-745.

Language services such as translation, editing and interpreting are crucial in a multilingual society and at a higher education institution that acknowledges its staff and students' language diversity. The translation of examination papers is an example of high-stakes translation, as an inaccurate translation may negatively affect student success. Errors made in the translation of test papers (Drugan 2013; Van Dyk, Van Rensburg and Marais 2011) point to the necessity of quality management of translations. Yet quality is a relative concept with varied interpretations in translation theory and the translation industry. In translation theory, quality is primarily equated with the assessment of the translated product, whereas the translation industry places more emphasis on the process of producing the translation in order to ensure sufficient quality (Chesterman and Wagner 2002). This contribution describes the key steps in the quality management process based on my analysis of the five quality standards for the translation industry. Those quality standards are the European EN 15038 Translation services - Service requirements (2006), the Canadian CAN/CGSB 131.10 Translation services (2008), the international ISO/TS 11669 Translation projects - General guidance (2012), the American ASTM F2575 Standard guide for quality assurance in translation (2014), and the international ISO 17100 Translation services - Requirements for translation services (2015). Similarities and dissimilarities between the interpretation of quality in the translation industry and translation theory are identified. The article concludes that, due to substantial financial pressure, academic translation offices are unable to implement all the key quality management steps: Instead, they are compelled to weigh up the risks and available resources in order to deliver the desired quality with the minimum resources required.

Keywords : functionalist translation approaches; higher education; production process; quality assurance; quality standards.

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