Evaluation in the Acquisition of Translation Competence (EACT)

The objective of the EACT project is to establish evaluation procedures for different levels of acquisition of Translation Competence (TC). The project focuses on direct translation from German, French and English (an L2 in Spanish translator training centres) and translation between two L1s. The target languages are Spanish, Catalan, Basque and Galician.

The EACT project continues the work undertaken in the “Establishing Competence Levels in the Acquisition of Translation Competence in Written Translation” project (NACT) by the PACTE group. This project has allowed us to establish performance levels in the acquisition of TC, proposing a three-level scale (A, B and C), with sub-levels, and to propose descriptors for each level for six competences.

The EACT project focuses on the A1, A2, B1 and y B2 levels (introduction to translation, introduction to the fields of specialised translation), which were the levels described in the NACT project.

The EACT project essentially involves the use of qualitative methods, as well as descriptive quantitative methods. The project will last four years involving five Spanish translator training centres which represent different geographical and linguistic contexts: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Universidad de Granada, Universitat Jaume I, Universidad de País Vasco y Universidade de Vigo. The University of Westminster (UK) is also participating.

Two empirical studies will be undertaken in which trainees and trainers of the five Spanish centres will participate:

  1. The first study will entail a questionnaire to be completed by translator trainers in the different levels and language combinations.
  2. The second study will evaluate the proposal of evaluation procedures developed from the first study through data which will be collected from translator trainees and groups of trainers.

 

The results of these studies will allow us to establish standardised evaluation procedures for different levels of TC and will also allow us to validate the precision of the scales and the appropriateness of the descriptors established in the NACT project.