Translation quality assessment (TQA)

Recently translation researchers have endeavored to adopt new directions in the current translation quality assessment (TQA) approaches. To this end, they made them more congruent with the desired requirements of a translator’s competence, especially considering the latest paradigm shifts, including ideological skewing and localization (Tiselius & Hild, 2017). Thus, such frameworks as Angelelli’s (2009) definition of translation competence (TC), as the study’s theoretical framework, need to be improved. An attempt was made in this study to design a rubric based on the proposed TQA model representing the TC construct with its comprehensive sub-components and finally, to test its applicability to the Persian translation of The Catcher in the Rye . The assessment procedure through which the obtained results were textually analyzed based on the proposed rubric specifically for each sub-component, revealed the inadequacy of the translation quality on the whole and the underlying implications of the rubric’s applicability to other translation products.                                                                                                                                                                   

Despite extensive scholarship on texts such as Munajat Sha’baniyah, a systematic translation into a widely spoken international language remains absent. This study seeks to provide an accurate translation of key phrases, particularly those that parallel expressions found in the Holy Qur’an. Employing a qualitative analytical-documentary approach, the research evaluates existing translations using Juliane House’s (1997) theoretical model for translation quality. The original Munajat Sha'baniyah is analyzed within House’s framework, alongside a potentially machine-generated translation, with particular attention to the dimensions of field, mode, and tenor. Based on this analysis, the researcher produces a new translation, informed by various Qur’anic renditions, which is subsequently assessed using the same criteria. The findings highlight significant discrepancies in field, mode, and tenor between the machine translation and the researcher’s version, emphasizing the limitations of current machine translation technologies in handling complex religious texts.