Translation Quality Assessment: Proposals for developing the Authorised Translator's Examination in Finland

The Finnish system for authorising translators to produce legally valid translations was refor­med in 2008, from a test measuring language skills into an examination containing translation assignments. The examination consists of two translation assignments and a test on the exami­nees’ knowledge of the authorised translator’s professional practices. In the assessment of the trans­lation products, a predefined, two-dimensional assessment system is used in which trans­lations are marked for both content and language quality. In this paper, we discuss the Finnish assessment system and compare it with the assessment systems used on examinations by the Ame­rican Translators’ Association (ATA), the Canadian Translators, Terminologists and In­ter­­preters Council (CTTIC), and the translation quality evaluation models SAE J2450 and MQM-DQF used within the translation industry. Drawing on a previous analysis of the use of the assessment system in the Finnish examinations and a pilot survey among the assessors in the Finnish system, we propose a new, simplified assessment model.