Browsing by Author "Van Rensburg, Alta"

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    Die impak van revisie op vertaalde eksamenvraestelle in 'n hoeronderwysomgewing
    (LitNet Akademies, 2012-08) Van Rensburg, Alta
    Die onakkurate vertaling van eksamenvraestelle in ’n hoëronderwysomgewing kan studentesukses benadeel, byvoorbeeld as die vertaling dubbelsinnig is of as onbekende terminologie gebruik word. Een van die metodes om vertalings van hoë gehalte te verseker, is om die konsepvertaling wat deur ’n eerste vertaler geskep is deur ’n tweede vertaler te laat nagaan. Hierdie prosedure word revisie genoem en die doel daarvan is om moontlike foute uit te skakel en die gehalte van die konsepvertaling te verbeter. Empiriese studies (Arthern 1983; Künzli 2006 en 2007) toon egter dat die tweede vertaler (reviseur) nie net soms van die eerste vertaler se foute oorsien nie, maar nuwe foute maak en selfs die gehalte van die vertaling kan verlaag. Die tweeledige doel van die loodsstudie wat in hierdie artikel beskryf word, is om te bepaal watter impak revisie op die gehalte van vertaalde eksamenvraestelle in ’n hoëronderwysomgewing het en om die kostedoeltreffendheid van revisie te bepaal. Twee konsepvertalings is deur vier reviseurs nagegaan met die opdrag om enige foute uit te skakel en die gehalte van die konsepvertalings te verbeter. Hierdie “verbeterde” weergawes en die konsepvertalings (sonder revisie) is aan drie evalueerders gestuur. Die evalueerders het die vertalings geëvalueer met behulp van ’n assesseringsinstrument (Colina 2009) wat op grond van die funksionalistiese vertaalbenadering (Nord 1997, 2002 en 2005) ontwikkel is. Die resultate toon dat revisie ’n groter impak op ’n swak konsepvertaling as op ’n goeie konsepvertaling het, maar dat ’n ervare reviseur nie noodwendig ’n beter vertaalproduk lewer as ’n onervare reviseur nie. Dit is ook duidelik dat revisie nie altyd kostedoeltreffend is nie, aangesien reviseurs tyd aan revisie afstaan, selfs al verbeter dit geensins die gehalte van die vertalings nie. Die artikel bevestig die behoefte aan duideliker riglyne vir revisie, asook verdere navorsing oor verskillende revisiemetodes.
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    Kernstappe vir kwaliteitbestuur in die vertaalbedryf en in akademiese vertaalkantore
    (University of Stellenbosch, Department of General Linguistics, 2017) Van Rensburg, Alta
    Taaldienste soos vertaling, redigering en tolking is van kardinale belang in ’n meertalige samelewing en aan ’n hoëronderriginstelling waar die taaldiversiteit van sy personeel en studente erken word. Die vertaling van eksamenvraestelle is ’n voorbeeld van hoërisikovertaling, aangesien ’n onakkurate vertaling studentesukses negatief kan beïnvloed. Foute wat in die vertaling van toetse begaan is (Drugan 2013; Van Dyk, Van Rensburg en Marais 2011) beklemtoon die noodsaaklikheid van kwaliteitbestuur in vertaling. Kwaliteit is egter ’n relatiewe begrip en word op verskillende maniere in die vertaalteorie en in die vertaalbedryf geïnterpreteer. In die vertaalteorie word kwaliteit hoofsaaklik gelykgestel met die assessering van die vertaalproduk, terwyl die fokus in die vertaalbedryf eerder op die produksieproses van die vertaling val om voldoende kwaliteit te verseker (Chesterman en Wagner 2002). Ek het vyf kwaliteitstandaarde vir die vertaalbedryf ontleed en die kernstappe in die kwaliteitbestuurproses in hierdie artikel beskryf. Daardie kwaliteitstandaarde is die Europese EN 15038 Translation services – Service requirements (2006), die Kanadese CAN/CGSB 131.10 Translation services (2008), die internasionale ISO/TS 11669 Translation projects – General guidance (2012), die Amerikaanse ASTM F2575 Standard guide for quality assurance in translation (2014), en die internasionale ISO 17100 Translation services – Requirements for translation services (2015). Verskille en ooreenkomste tussen die siening van kwaliteit in die vertaalbedryf en in die vertaalteorie word uitgewys. In hierdie artikel word die gevolgtrekking gemaak dat akademiese vertaalkantore as gevolg van groot finansiële druk nie al die kernstappe vir kwaliteitbestuur kan toepas nie: Hulle word genoop om die risiko’s en beskikbare hulpbronne teen mekaar op te weeg om die verlangde kwaliteit met slegs die nodige hulpbronne te lewer.
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    Minimum vereistes vir professionele vertalers : vertaalvermoe volgens die teorie en in die praktyk
    (LitNet, 2014-08) Van Rensburg, Alta
    Een van die beste metodes om die gehalte van ’n vertaalproduk te verseker, is om ’n geskikte vertaler vir ’n spesifieke vertaalopdrag te vind. Die vertaalberoep is egter ongereguleerd, wat beteken dat minimum vereistes vir vertalers nie gestandaardiseer is nie. Kliënte weet dus nie watter kriteria om toe te pas wanneer hulle ’n vertaler moet kies nie. In hierdie artikel stel ek ondersoek in na die minimum vereistes wat in die vertaalteorie aan vertalers gestel word deur ’n bespreking van die drie mees onlangse vertaalvermoëmodelle, naamlik die PACTE-, TransComp- en EMT-model. Ek identifiseer die minimum vereistes wat in die vertaalpraktyk deur drie professionele vertaalorganisasies, naamlik die Suid-Afrikaanse Vertalersinstituut (SAVI), die American Translators Association (ATA) en die Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL) gestel word, en vergelyk die minimum vereistes wat in die drie kwaliteitstandaarde EN 15038, ASTM F2575 en ISO/TS 11669 gestel word. Vier van die vereistes wat in hierdie ondersoek geïdentifiseer is, is (i) aantal jaar ervaring as ’n voltydse taalpraktisyn, (ii) ’n kwalifikasie in vertaling, (iii) akkreditasie in vertaling by ’n professionele organisasie (soos SAVI), en (iv) die gebruik van ’n vertaalgeheueprogram. ’n Empiriese studie waarin 33 vertalers ’n geskiedenis-eksamenvraestel uit Engels in Afrikaans vertaal het, is by ’n hoëronderwysinstansie uitgevoer om te bepaal of daar ’n verband tussen hierdie vereistes en die gehalte van die vertaalprodukte is. Daar is ’n beduidende verband tussen die gehalte en slegs een vereiste gevind, naamlik die gebruik van ’n vertaalgeheueprogram. Die resultate toon egter ook dat voldoening aan net hierdie een vereiste nie noodwendig tot ’n vertaalproduk van hoë gehalte lei nie, maar dat die kliënt eerder ’n vertaler behoort te kies wat aan ’n kombinasie van hierdie vereistes voldoen en dan persoonlike verwysings kry met betrekking tot die gehalte van die vertaler se vorige vertalings in die spesifieke genre en taalkombinasie.
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    'n Nuwe vertaling van die Bybel in Afrikaans: ’n perspektief op die teorie en praktyk
    (Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2005-03) Van Rensburg, Alta; Van der Merwe, C. H. J.; Feinauer, A. E.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Ancient Studies.
    Mention is yet again made of a new translation of the Bible into Afrikaans. The question is: Which translation approach must be followed in order to ensure effective communication of this age-old message? In 2002 and 2003, a project was launched in Stellenbosch during which translation teams prepared four different draft translations of parts of the Bible from the original languages. A new translation model was used, namely Gutt's direct and indirect translation strategies, which were applied within Nord's functionalistic approach as framework. After the review of some of the most important Bible translations through the ages, main features of Nida's translation model are explained. It is indicated that the basis of his translation approach, the code model of communication, is regarded as insufficient for describing translation as a phenomenon. New developments in linguistics, namely Sperber and Wilson's exposition of Relevance Theory, and Translation Studies, namely Ernst-August Gutt's application of Relevance Theory to translation and Christiane Nord's version of the Skopos Theory, are discussed. The conclusion is made that these developments have been taken into account in the translation model of the Stellenbosch translation project and that the model is indeed theoretically well founded. Based on the annotations of the translation products, it was found that this abstract theoretical model can indeed be applied successfully in practice. The results of the empirical study indicate that the average reader does not always prefer the same type of translation on a specific kind of occasion, but has a need for an informal as well as a formal Bible translation. Following the findings of this study, proposals are made that can be applied during a possible new translation of the Bible into Afrikaans.
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    Omission and other sins : tracking the quality of online machine translation output over four years
    (University of Stellenbosch, Department of General Linguistics, 2016) Lotz, Susan; Van Rensburg, Alta
    Online machine translation (MT) has empowered ordinary language users to have texts translated all by themselves. But are these users aware of the pitfalls? This article draws on a longitudinal study that explored the quality of output by online MT application Google Translate in the language combination Afrikaans–English. We investigated the distribution of errors in two sets of translations (slide-show text and news report text) that we had Google Translate produce annually over a period of four years, 2010–2013. Omission, Mistranslation, Non-translation and Grammar were error categories that scored high in the analyses. In addition, we found that although the quality of the translations seemed to improve up to 2012, the pattern of improvement levelled off, with some of the 2013 output containing more errors than that of the previous year. We believe users should be made aware of the risks they unknowingly take when using online MT.
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    Revisie : een aspek van kwaliteitbestuur in ’n akademiese vertaalkantoor
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-12) Van Rensburg, Alta; Feinauer, A. E.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of General Linguistics.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study takes a closer look at and discusses revision as one of the aspects of quality management in the context of academic translation offices at higher education institutions. Key quality management steps were identified from an analysis of five quality standards for the translation industry. The extent to which revision, being one of these key steps, is applied in practice is discussed based on a survey of ten translation offices. Although quality standards such as ISO 17100 (2015) require revision of all translated documents, empirical studies have shown that even seasoned translators and revisers both overlook errors and add new ones. Therefore, it is vital to establish the effectiveness of revision as a measure of quality control. This study accomplishes that by examining (i) the impact of revision on translation quality, (ii) the impact of the reviser’s profile on revision quality, and (iii) the impact of revision procedure on revision quality. The theoretical basis comprises literature on revision, translation quality underlying revision, and functionalist translation approaches where the focus on the aim and broad production process of a translation corresponds with the quality management approach prescribed by translation industry standards. A mixed-method approach was followed by including both qualitative and quantitative data in the empirical study. Thirty revisers revised an examination paper that had been translated from English into Afrikaans. This was done based on a revision brief, the source text, the translation brief and revision principles. The revisers completed two questionnaires that collected data on their respective profiles and revision procedures. The quality of the draft Afrikaans translation (prior to revision) and the translation products (Afrikaans target texts following revision) was rated by five assessors to determine the impact of revision on the quality of the translation product. This assessment was done based on the rating tool proposed by Colina (2009), which was slightly modified for purposes of this empirical study. Three linguists determined the quality of the revision product using two assessment tools, namely descriptive categories and a formula that quantified the quality of the revision product. It was found that revision indeed had a positive impact on translation quality and may therefore be used as a quality control measure in academic translation offices. There seemed to be little correlation between the reviser’s profile and revision quality, while revision procedure had a much greater impact on revision quality. The study also showed that the revisers had overlooked multiple errors. Therefore, it is recommended that revisers be specifically trained in revision, and that revision should constitute only one aspect of a translation office’s quality management regime.
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    Translation technology explored : has a three-year maturation period done Google Translate any good?
    (Stellenbosch University, Department of Linguistics, 2014) Lotz, Susan; Van Rensburg, Alta
    Language users in multilingual environments who are trying to make sense of the linguistic challenges they face may well regard the advent of online machine translation (MT) applications as a welcome intervention. Such applications have made it possible for virtually anyone to try their hand at translation – with minimum effort, at that. However, the usefulness of the output of these translation applications varies. The empirical research described in this article is a continuation of an investigation into the usefulness of MT in a higher education context. In 2010, Afrikaans and English translations generated by Google Translate and two human translators, based on the same set of source texts, were evaluated by a panel of raters by means of a holistic assessment tool. In 2011 and 2012, the same set of source texts was translated again with Google Translate, and those translations have since been evaluated in exactly the same manner. The results show that the quality of Google Translate’s output has improved over the three years. Subsequently, an error analysis was performed on the translation set of one text type by means of a second assessment tool. Despite an overall improvement in quality, we found that the 2012 translation contained unexpected new errors. In addition, the error analysis showed that mistranslation posed the largest risk when using this MT application. Users of MT should, therefore, understand the risks of their choice and that some text types and contexts are better suited to MT than others. Armed with this knowledge, translators and multilingual communities can make informed decisions regarding MT and translation technology in general.