Assessing Quality of Pedagogical Translations: Dominant Evaluative Methods in the Final Tests of Undergraduate Translation Courses

Translation evaluation is an activity of vital concern in the context of translator education. However, it is one that is, despite being a common practice, under-researched and under-discussed. The leading purposes were to determine the dominant methods for translation evaluation of undergraduate students in the final tests of translation courses at Iranian universities and to identify its major characteristics. To meet the objectives, in a 30-minute semi-structured interview, 10 experienced university translation instructors responded to 10 questions on how they develop their translation tests, how they guarantee the quality of their tests, and most importantly, how they evaluate and score their students’ performance. The results confirmed that the dominant method which is commonly and currently practiced is the purely essay-type format except at Payam-e-Noor University where multiple-choice items are always present as well. The findings also showed how much discrepancy exists among the Iranian translation teachers (as developers of final translation tests), who are least informed about the current translation evaluation methods. It was also revealed that the criteria they use for developing such tests and scoring student translations are not theory-driven but are highly subjective, mainly based on their personal experience and intuition. Hence, the quality and accountability of such tests are under serious question.