From the translator`s (or project manager`s) point of view, “quality in service

provision” means, to all practical purposes, that the client provided a clear and
complete brief and a “clean” document for translation, was prepared to listen to his
or her points of view and proposals, afforded enough time to complete the job and
to check the translation, did not interfere unduly in the process, offered whatever
information, advice, help, confirmation and resources (s)he could reasonably be
expected to provide and paid a fair price when payment became due.

It also means, in a different but very important way, that the translator had the
required competences and skills, followed whatever guidelines and specifications
applied, put in the required effort to document the subject, finished on time, did all
quality checks, and charged the right price.

To ensure quality in commercial translation services, clear specifications,

constructive negotiation of price and time fences, certified quality of the material,
availability of all required resources, availability of all skills required, availability and
validity of material for re-use in the translation, adequacy of the process work flow,
and adequacy of the translation service provision model are essential. These
factors involve partners such as the work provider, project manager, translator,
quality controller, terminologist, and professional players in fields like infographics,
desktop publishing, and web mastering.

EN 15038 outlines the principles and tasks of quality assurance objectives, tools,
and procedures for translating services. It emphasizes the importance of
specifications, rules, style guides, and procedure-based standards. Good practices
reduce the risk of poor quality but do not guarantee quality due to accidents and
the high cost of translation. Quality assurance often comes second to economic
considerations, but a priori quality assurance requirements have significantly
improved translator competencies and translation quality.

The quality of translations is both extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic quality refers to
the translation's ability to meet the needs of the target audience, including public,
objectives, medium, and code. This includes economics, functionality, accessibility,
and efficiency. A quality translation must be adequate in terms of content and form
of content. A translator can choose between basic function (indexing purposes),
selective translation, abstracting or synthetic-synoptic translation, or full content.

A second choice is the variety of language used. The translator can use a fully
compliant variety or a standard, general variety, or a general variety due to
insufficient skills. The degree of finish or polish plays a significant role in the
translation's quality. A translation can be "as translated," "fair average quality," or
"top quality," depending on the translator's improvement on the original and
adaptation to the specific public and destination's context.

Quality grades in translation service provision can be described as rough-cut, fit-

for-delivery, and fit-for-broadcast translation. These grades are understandable to
all parties involved in translation transactions. To characterize the grades, four
domains are considered: linguistic-stylistic-rhetorical-communicative, factual-
technical-semantic-cultural, and functional-ergonomic. The fourth domain is
congruence of translated material with original, filtered through cultural gaps,
medium differences, and public and destination shifts. A sub-domain, type and
mode of translation, can be considered as an overall quality indicator, as if not
suited, quality is at risk. A "good translation" may not be the "right" one.

Quality grades in translation are a combination of elements from four domains:

linguistic-stylistic-rhetorical, factual-technical-semantic, and functional criteria.
Translational quality aims to avoid translation mistakes or errors. To discuss quality
grades, determine the domains and the required level of quality for each domain.
Consider three quality levels per domain: acceptable, good, and excellent. Lower
levels should be considered, such as grammar, punctuation, syntax, style, format,
register, coherence, cohesion, and fluency.

A quality grid or tree can be devised from the top down, superimposing levels of
quality in all domains. This model and procedures of quality assurance in
translation service transactions and the quality grid or quality tree form a basis for
quality control, assessment, and reviewing. The quality of translations is often a top
priority, but the answers to assessing translation quality are simple. In a
professional setting, the translator's performance is evaluated based on various
criteria, such as punctuality, proactivity, and compliance with style guidelines.
However, in training translators, the quality of the end product is not as clear-cut.

Trainees should be assessed similarly to professionals to clarify teaching

objectives and methods. A system using thresholds and tolerances can be
beneficial, as it allows for a clear view of product quality grades and levels. Quality
control, the final stage of the quality management system, can be used to identify
faults and deficiencies and amend procedures if necessary. Three key points to
consider are focusing on quality in the context of the translating profession, making
quality-efficiency-relevance in service provision and the quality of the end-product
interdependent, and building a model of quality in translation and translating.

Language variety in texts:

dialect, sociolect, code-switchingThis chapter and Chapter 10 discuss the concept of

language variety and translation. The text is from Luis Martín-Santos's Tiempo de
silencio, a monologue in which Cartucho, a resident of Madrid, describes a knife-
fight he has had with 'el Guapo' over a girl. The text highlights features such as
sociolect markers, colloquialisms, grammar and vocabulary, and slangy tone. It is
an excellent example of one of the most difficult aspects of textual meaning, which
is the appreciation of characteristics in the way the message is expressed that
voluntarily or involuntarily reveal information about the speaker, writer, or
protagonist in a work of fiction. These stylistically conveyed meanings are
connotations, which share the character of meanings'read between the lines' on
the basis of widespread associations.

Sorting out significant information carried by stylistic features can be a challenging

practical problem. Two essential questions arise: what are the objective textual
characteristics from which stylistic information about the speaker or writer can be
inferred? The answer is the way the message is expressed as compared with other
possible ways it might have been expressed, which is the basic carrier of
information about the person to whom that formulation is attributed. In fiction, this
attribution is often a double one: the author of the fictional work and the fictional
protagonist whose 'voice' the author is evoking in the text.
Dialectal usage in a text is a way to convey information about a speaker's
association with a specific region. This information can be inferred from the
proportion of dialectal features in a speaker's speech, such as their nativeness,
regional affiliation, or code-switching. Translators face four main problems when
handling dialectal usage. The first problem is recognizing the peculiarities from
which dialectal affiliation can be inferred in a text. The second problem is deciding
how important dialectal features are to the overall effect of a text.

Translators can render a text into a bland, standard version of the target language
(TL) with no noticeable dialectal traces, which may be appropriate if the dialectal
style is incidental. However, if the dialectal nature of the text cannot be regarded as
incidental, the translator must find means to indicate that the text contains dialectal
features. This can create difficult practical problems, such as producing a text that
is only mildly dialectal and comprehensible to any TL speaker. The best alternative
depends on factors such as the nature and purpose of the text, the intended
audience, and the requirements of the person or organization paying for the
translation.

Stereotypical assumptions about dialects in Standard Turkish (ST) dialects can

help in choosing a TT dialect. In some cases, a TL dialect with similar popular
connotations may be appropriate. Geographical considerations can also influence
the choice of TL dialect. Familiarity with the chosen TL dialect is crucial for avoiding
cultural transplantation, which can lead to incongruity in the TT. To avoid this, it is
best to use TL features that are recognizable without being clearly recognizable as
belonging to a specific dialect. However, with direct speech in a ST, translating
dialogue into neutral English and adding phrases like "she said, in a broad
Andalusian accent" can be safer.

Modern sociolinguistics distinguishes between regional dialects and class dialects,

known as sociolects. These are language varieties typical of the broad groupings
that constitute the class structure of a given society. British culture has major
sociolects such as lower class, urban working class, white collar, and public school.
These designations are relatively vague due to their intended use as broad,
sociologically convenient labels and the lack of rigid class structure in British
society. However, sociolectal labels can be useful in more rigidly stratified
societies, where a strict division into formally recognized "castes" is more
rigorously applicable.

Mixed regional and sociolectal language varieties, such as "Norwich urban working
class" and "Edinburgh "Morningside" urban middle class," are generally more
meaningful labels for recognizable language variants than purely sociological ones.
In Spanish, regional variations tend to cut across the social scale, with each
regional dialect having sociolectally higher and lower forms. However, regional
dialects are stigmatized, and variations within the range of 'upper-class' and 'upper-
middle-class' sociolects are limited. Latin-American varieties of Spanish have a
prestige that is not matched by non-British varieties of English, often perceived as
sub-standard. Despite these reservations, sociolectal features can convey
important information about a speaker or writer, and translators cannot ignore them
if they are obtrusive in the standard.

Literary texts often contain sociolectal features that require translator attention.
However, the presence of marked sociolectal features in a translated text does not
necessarily mean that the translated text should be as heavily sociolectally
marked. Factors such as the textual role of the sociolect and the intended purpose
of the text may influence the choice of sociolect. Translators must consider the
socio-cultural plausibility of the translated text and be familiar with the features of
the chosen TL sociolect(s) to accurately and convincingly use the sociolect.

Code-switching is a strategic technique used by speakers and writers to adapt their

speech style to changing social circumstances and impose a certain definition on
the situation. It is essential for translators to convey the effects of code-switching in
the text, as it is a social interactional function. However, it is not possible to explain
code-switching without reproducing it in the text. In a play or film, it is more
effective to reproduce ST code-switching by code-switching in the text, as it
demands a translator's mastery of the text and the use of different dialectal
varieties.