WHAT IT TAKES TO DO IT RIGHT AN INTEGRATIVE EMT-BASED MODEL FOR
LEGAL TRANSLATION COMPETENCE Federica SCARPA Daniele ORLANDO
Antwerp, 16 October 2014
Slide 2
Directive 2010/64/EU Article 3 5. Member States shall ensure
that [] suspected or accused persons have [] the possibility to
complain that the quality of the translation is not sufficient to
safeguard the fairness of the proceedings. Quality of Legal
Translation What it takes to do it right: an integrative EMT-based
model for legal translation competence Federica SCARPA and Daniele
ORLANDO Article 5 Quality of the interpretation and translation 1.
Member States shall take concrete measures to ensure that the
interpretation and translation provided meets the quality required
under Article 2(8) and Article 3(9). translator training concrete
measures
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Modeling legal translation competence writing skills
specialisations in a legal field knowledge of reference resources
information brokering skills legal terminology legal translation
theory think as or collaborate with lawyers sound legal background
scope and extent of expertise ? Sofer (2006) Obenaus (1995)
Trosborg (1997) arevi (1997) e.g. arevi (1994); Wills (1996); Cao
(2007); Gouadec (2007); Prieto Ramos (2011) What it takes to do it
right: an integrative EMT-based model for legal translation
competence Federica SCARPA and Daniele ORLANDO
Slide 4
Modeling legal translation competence language proficiency
transfer skills code of conduct continuous professional development
knowledge of legal systems good professional practice Aequitas
(98/GR/13) specialised language competency transfer skills code of
conduct information retrieval knowledge of legal systems good
professional practice + Aequalitas (2001/GRP/015) + Building Mutual
Trust (JLS/2007/219) competences training What it takes to do it
right: an integrative EMT-based model for legal translation
competence Federica SCARPA and Daniele ORLANDO + Reflection Forum
on Multilingualism and Interpreter Training (2009)
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Modeling legal translation competence strategic or
methodological competence communicative and textual competence
instrumental competence + scope of specialisation comparative legal
linguistics documentation professional practice thematic and
cultural competence interpersonal and professional management
competence Prieto Ramos (2011) An Integrative Process-Oriented
Approach What it takes to do it right: an integrative EMT-based
model for legal translation competence Federica SCARPA and Daniele
ORLANDO
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Modeling legal translation competence Piecychna (2011)
Hermeneutical model of legal translation competence understand a
given text and be able to position it within the particular
situational context with reference to the source and target legal
systems interpret texts arevi (1997) While it is essential for
legal translators to be familiar with the methods of interpretation
used by judges [], they themselves should refrain from interpreting
the text in the legal sense. What it takes to do it right: an
integrative EMT-based model for legal translation competence
Federica SCARPA and Daniele ORLANDO
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QUALETRA (JUST/2011/JPEN/AG/2975) EUROPEAN MASTER'S IN
TRANSLATION FRAMEWORK (2007) Competence: the combination of
aptitudes, knowledge, behaviour and know-how necessary to carry out
a given task under given conditions RATIONALE: QUALETRA model of
legal translation competence professional aspects + recognition by
responsive authority the minimum requirement to which other
specific competences may be added What it takes to do it right: an
integrative EMT-based model for legal translation competence
Federica SCARPA and Daniele ORLANDO
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e.g. how to understand presuppositions or allusions e.g. how to
summarise texts QUALETRA model of legal translation competence e.g.
how to search terminology databases and familiarity with a series
of databases knowledge about a specialist field of knowledge e.g.
how to use a particular translation tool e.g. how to market
services, negotiate with a client, manage time and budget, handle
invoicing EMT Expert Group 2009 What it takes to do it right: an
integrative EMT-based model for legal translation competence
Federica SCARPA and Daniele ORLANDO
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- Mastering legal language, including specific writing
conventions at the levels of e.g. grammar, syntax, phraseology,
terminology, punctuation, abbreviations - Recognising stylistic
inconsistencies between legal documents and within the same
document - Being familiar with the main domains and sub-domains of
law - Knowing different procedures in the legal systems involved
(e.g. levels of jurisdiction, legal structures, institutions,
settings) - Having a general awareness of current legal issues and
their development in the relevant countries - Knowing the EU
directives relating to legal translation - Mastering legal concepts
and terms in the translation at hand - Being aware of asymmetries
between legal concepts in different legal systems and being able to
address them - Knowing how to effectively and rapidly integrate all
available tools in a legal translation (e.g. European Arrest
Warrant, judgments) - Identifying specific legal sources (e.g.
dictionaries, term bases, glossaries, corpora, experts) and
evaluating their reliability - Being able to differentiate between
legal sources with reference to national, international and EU
systems and jurisdictions - Extracting relevant information
(documentary, terminological, phraseological) from parallel and
comparable documents - Extracting terminology from relevant
documents - Consulting legal experts so as to better understand and
foresee how legal documents may be interpreted by the parties
involved or the competent court or both QUALETRA model of legal
translation competence INTERPERSONAL dimension - Being aware of the
professional role of the legal translator - Being aware of the
relevant national and international professional associations for
legal translators - Being aware of the need to be briefed and
obtain access to relevant documentation - Being aware of personal
safety and documentary security issues resulting from provision of
translation services - Being aware of the legal obligations and
responsibilities resulting from provision of translation services,
with special reference to issues of confidentiality - Being aware
of the need to comply with professional ethics PRODUCTION dimension
- Mastering translation of legal documents - Delivering a
translation appropriate to the specific context and by reference to
source and target legal systems - Identifying translation problems
due to differences between the relevant legal systems and finding
appropriate solutions - Identifying and dealing appropriately with
errors of factual content in the source text - Mastering sight
translation SOCIOLINGUISTIC dimension - Knowing how to recognise
function and meaning in varieties of legal language usage (e.g.
levels of jurisdiction; international, EU and national law and
proceedings) - Mastering the rules for interaction between the
specific parties involved, such as legal professionals and clients
TEXTUAL dimension - Mastering the genre conventions and rhetorical
standards of different types of legal document (e.g. doctrine,
normative texts, forms, certificates, contracts, wills, insurance
policies, patents, trust documents, affidavits, directives, power
of attorney) - Relating a given legal text to its specific legal
context (e.g. stage of proceedings in source and target legal
systems, level of jurisdiction) - Analysing the overall structure
of legal documents (e.g. EAW template, judgments) and recognising
potential inconsistencies - Identifying the essential information
in and purpose of legal documents - Identifying and transferring
intentional and unintentional ambiguities in legal documents -
Preserving the intertextual nature of a legal document (e.g.
references to acts, laws, directives) What it takes to do it right:
an integrative EMT-based model for legal translation competence
Federica SCARPA and Daniele ORLANDO
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GROUP 1GROUP 2GROUP 3 Higher education institution (BA Level)
93 Higher education institution (MA Level) 18133 Training institute
31 Professional association 1 Language Service Provider 2 Private
or public company 1 Other 12 Type of trainees QUALETRA: WS3 Survey
(2014) What it takes to do it right: an integrative EMT-based model
for legal translation competence Federica SCARPA and Daniele
ORLANDO 59 respondents in 19 nations (EU+
Morocco/Russia/Serbia/Turkey)
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Type of respondents OPTIMALE Survey (2013) What it takes to do
it right: an integrative EMT-based model for legal translation
competence Federica SCARPA and Daniele ORLANDO 684 respondents (EU
/ non-EU countries)
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Type of respondents UK-wide Survey (Chodkiewicz 2012) What it
takes to do it right: an integrative EMT-based model for legal
translation competence Federica SCARPA and Daniele ORLANDO 55
respondents: 33 professional translators + 22 students enrolled in
various MA translation programmes (mostly at University of
Surrey)
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INTERPERSONAL dimension - Being aware of the social role of the
translator - Knowing how to follow market requirements and job
profiles (knowing how to remain aware of developments in demand) -
Knowing how to organise approaches to clients/potential clients
(marketing) - Knowing how to negotiate with the client (to define
deadlines, tariffs/invoicing, working conditions, access to
information, contract, rights, responsibilities, translation
specifications, tender specifications, etc.) - Knowing how to
clarify the requirements, objectives and purposes of the client,
recipients of the translation and other stakeholders - Knowing how
to plan and manage one's time, stress, work, budget and ongoing
training (upgrading various competences) - Knowing how to specify
and calculate the services offered and their added value - Knowing
how to comply with instructions, deadlines, commitments,
interpersonal competences, team organisation - Knowing the
standards applicable to the provision of a translation service -
Knowing how to comply with professional ethics - Knowing how to
work under pressure and with other experts, with a project head
(capabilities for making contacts, for cooperation and
collaboration), including in a multilingual situation - Knowing how
to work in a team, including a virtual team - Knowing how to
self-evaluate (questioning one's habits; being open to innovations;
being concerned with quality; being ready to adapt to new
situations/conditions) and take responsibility. PRODUCTION
dimension - Knowing how to create and offer a translation
appropriate to the client's request, i.e. to the aim/skopos and to
the translation situation - Knowing how to define stages and
strategies for the translation of a document - Knowing how to
define and evaluate translation problems and find appropriate
solutions - Knowing how to justify one's translation choices and
decisions - Mastering the appropriate metalanguage (to talk about
one's work, strategies and decisions) - Knowing how to proofread
and revise a translation (mastering techniques and strategies for
proofreading and revision) - Knowing how to establish and monitor
quality standards INTERPERSONAL dimension - Being aware of the
professional role of the legal translator - Being aware of the
relevant national and international professional associations for
legal translators - Being aware of the need to be briefed and
obtain access to relevant documentation - Being aware of personal
safety and documentary security issues resulting from provision of
translation services - Being aware of the legal obligations and
responsibilities resulting from provision of translation services,
with special reference to issues of confidentiality - Being aware
of the need to comply with professional ethics PRODUCTION dimension
- Mastering translation of legal documents - Delivering a
translation appropriate to the specific context and by reference to
source and target legal systems - Identifying translation problems
due to differences between the relevant legal systems and finding
appropriate solutions - Identifying and dealing appropriately with
errors of factual content in the source text - Mastering sight
translation QUALETRA model of legal translation competence
TRANSLATION SERVICE PROVISION COMPETENCE
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TRANSLATION SERVICE PROVISION COMPETENCE OPTIMALE Survey (2013)
What it takes to do it right: an integrative EMT-based model for
legal translation competence Federica SCARPA and Daniele ORLANDO
Does not feature it was assumed that any employer seeking to employ
a translator or his/her services, would require the translator to
possess the primary skills of his/her profession (OPTIMALE 2011: 2)
Essential/Important Ability to produce 100% quality98% Ability to
translate quickly though quality not 100% 32% Ability to identify
client requirements94% Awareness of professional ethics and
standards 86% Experience in the field of professional translation
88% Good knowledge of the language industry and professions
55%
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TRANSLATION SERVICE PROVISION COMPETENCE UK-wide Survey
(Chodkiewicz 2012) What it takes to do it right: an integrative
EMT-based model for legal translation competence Federica SCARPA
and Daniele ORLANDO Rated relatively low both by professional
translators and students. Exception of some of its components that
were deemed to be highly important: Delivering a translation
appropriate to the clients request; Planning and managing your
time, stress, work, budget and ongoing training, and meeting
deadlines; Evaluating the quality of your work and accepting
responsibility.
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TRANSLATION SERVICE PROVISION COMPETENCE QUALETRA: WS3 Survey
(2014) What it takes to do it right: an integrative EMT-based model
for legal translation competence Federica SCARPA and Daniele
ORLANDO Professional practices and ethics feature at all levels of
the programmes for linguists but are given a quite low rating by
language trainers of legal practitioners. Translation-oriented
sub-competences were deemed Important by linguists but not by legal
practitioners focus on effective communication in foreign languages
(rather than translation per se). Ability to translate into foreign
legal language Not important/Important Ability to translate from
foreign legal language Important /Essential
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- Knowing how to understand grammatical, lexical and idiomatic
structures as well as the graphic and typographic conventions of
language A and one's other working languages (B, C) - Knowing how
to use these same structures and conventions in A and B -
Developing sensitivity to changes in language and developments in
languages (useful for exercising creativity) - Mastering legal
language, including specific writing conventions at the levels of
e.g. grammar, syntax, phraseology, terminology, punctuation,
abbreviations. - Recognising stylistic inconsistencies between
legal documents and within the same document. QUALETRA model of
legal translation competence LANGUAGE COMPETENCE
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LANGUAGE COMPETENCE All 3 surveys What it takes to do it right:
an integrative EMT-based model for legal translation competence
Federica SCARPA and Daniele ORLANDO SurveyRating Chodkiewicz (2012)
Esp. knowing grammatical and lexical structures, and graphic
conventions in your working languages and being able to reproduce
them in another language Highest QUALETRA (2014) Trainers of LPs:
foreign-language competence more important than mother-tongue
competence Essential OPTIMALE (2013) high-level language competence
requirements [] were to be taken as a given which did not need to
be reasserted within the scope of this survey (whether such skills
are always available is another matter). Does not feature
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SOCIOLINGUISTIC dimension - Knowing how to recognise function
and meaning in language variations (social, geographical,
historical, stylistic) - Knowing how to identify the rules for
interaction relating to a specific community, including non-verbal
elements (useful knowledge for negotiation) - Knowing how to
produce a register appropriate to a given situation, for a
particular document (written) or speech (oral) TEXTUAL dimension -
Knowing how to understand and analyse the macrostructure of a
document and its overall coherence (including where it consists of
visual and sound elements) - Knowing how to grasp the
presuppositions, the implicit allusions, stereotypes and
intertextual nature of a document - Knowing how to describe and
evaluate one's problems with comprehension and define strategies
for resolving those problems - Knowing how to extract and summarise
the essential information in a document (ability to summarise) -
Knowing how to recognise and identify elements, values and
references proper to the cultures represented - Knowing how to
bring together and compare cultural elements and methods of
composition. - Knowing how to compose a document in accordance with
the conventions of the genre and rhetorical standards - Knowing how
to draft, rephrase, restructure, condense, and post-edit rapidly
and well (in languages A and B). SOCIOLINGUISTIC dimension -
Knowing how to recognise function and meaning in varieties of legal
language usage (e.g. levels of jurisdiction; international, EU and
national law and proceedings) - Mastering the rules for interaction
between the specific parties involved, such as legal professionals
and clients. TEXTUAL dimension - Mastering the genre conventions
and rhetorical standards of different types of legal document (e.g.
doctrine, normative texts, forms, certificates, contracts, wills,
insurance policies, patents, trust documents, affidavits,
directives, power of attorney). - Relating a given legal text to
its specific legal context (e.g. stage of proceedings in source and
target legal systems, level of jurisdiction). - Analysing the
overall structure of legal documents (e.g. EAW template, judgments)
and recognising potential inconsistencies. - Identifying the
essential information in and purpose of legal documents. -
Identifying and transferring intentional and unintentional
ambiguities in legal documents. - Preserving the intertextual
nature of a legal document (e.g. references to acts, laws,
directives). QUALETRA model of legal translation competence
INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE
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INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE All 3 surveys What it takes to do it
right: an integrative EMT-based model for legal translation
competence Federica SCARPA and Daniele ORLANDO SurveyRating
Chodkiewicz (2012 ) 2nd highest OPTIMALE (2013)Does not feature
QUALETRA: WS3 (2014) Ability to identify the level of formality of
the text and translate different registers Essential (by trainers
of linguists)
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- Knowing how to identify one's information and documentation
requirements - Developing strategies for documentary and
terminological research (including approaching experts) - Knowing
how to extract and process relevant information for a given task
(documentary, terminological, phraseological information) -
Developing criteria for evaluation vis--vis documents accessible on
the internet or any other medium, i.e. knowing how to evaluate the
reliability of documentary sources (critical mind) - Knowing how to
use tools and search engines effectively (e.g. terminology
software, electronic corpora, electronic dictionaries) - Mastering
the archiving of one's own documents - Identifying specific legal
sources (e.g. dictionaries, term bases, glossaries, corpora,
experts) and evaluating their reliability. - Being able to
differentiate between legal sources with reference to national,
international and EU systems and jurisdictions. - Extracting
relevant information (documentary, terminological, phraseological)
from parallel and comparable documents. - Extracting terminology
from relevant documents. - Consulting legal experts so as to better
understand and foresee how legal documents may be interpreted by
the parties involved or the competent court or both. QUALETRA model
of legal translation competence INFORMATION MINING COMPETENCE
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INFORMATION MINING COMPETENCE All 3 surveys What it takes to do
it right: an integrative EMT-based model for legal translation
competence Federica SCARPA and Daniele ORLANDO SurveyRating
Chodkiewicz (2012 )3rd highest OPTIMALE (2013) Ability to extract
and manage terminology one of the basic skills required of
applicants for positions in translation (69% Essential or
Important) QUALETRA: WS3 (2014) Ability to use information
retrieval and text data mining resources Ability to use terminology
memory systems (and translation memories) Essential (by trainers of
linguists) Important (lower end)
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- Knowing how to search for appropriate information to gain a
better grasp of the thematic aspects of a document (cf. Information
mining competence) - Learning to develop one's knowledge in
specialist fields and applications (mastering systems of concepts,
methods of reasoning, presentation, controlled language,
terminology, etc.) (learning to learn) - Developing a spirit of
curiosity, analysis and summary - Being familiar with the main
domains and sub-domains of law. - Knowing different procedures in
the legal systems involved (e.g. levels of jurisdiction, legal
structures, institutions, settings). - Having a general awareness
of current legal issues and their development in the relevant
countries. - Knowing the EU directives relating to legal
translation. - Mastering legal concepts and terms in the
translation at hand. - Being aware of asymmetries between legal
concepts in different legal systems and being able to address them.
QUALETRA model of legal translation competence THEMATIC
COMPETENCE
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THEMATIC COMPETENCE All 3 surveys What it takes to do it right:
an integrative EMT-based model for legal translation competence
Federica SCARPA and Daniele ORLANDO SurveyRating Chodkiewicz (2012
)4th highest OPTIMALE (2013) domain specialization priority status
(Essential or Important for almost 90%) Esp. technical and legal
translation QUALETRA: WS3 (2014) legal knowledge in relevant
language(s) Important (by trainers of linguists) Essential (by
trainers of legal practitioners)
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THEMATIC COMPETENCE QUALETRA: WS3 Survey (2014) What it takes
to do it right: an integrative EMT-based model for legal
translation competence Federica SCARPA and Daniele ORLANDO Specific
legal domains/sub- domains Rating (trainers of linguists and
lawyers) National legal system of the country of the programme 1st
Legal system of the country of the studied foreign language
2nd
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- Knowing how to use effectively and rapidly and to integrate a
range of software to assist in correction, translation,
terminology, layout, documentary research (for example text
processing, spell and grammar check, the internet, translation
memory, terminology database, voice recognition software) - Knowing
how to create and manage a database and files - Knowing how to
adapt to and familiarise oneself with new tools, particularly for
the translation of multimedia and audiovisual material - Knowing
how to prepare and produce a translation in different formats and
for different technical media - Knowing the possibilities and
limits of MT - Knowing how to effectively and rapidly integrate all
available tools in a legal translation (e.g. European Arrest
Warrant, judgments). QUALETRA model of legal translation competence
TECHNOLOGICAL COMPETENCE (mastery of tools)
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TECHNOLOGICAL COMPETENCE All 3 surveys What it takes to do it
right: an integrative EMT-based model for legal translation
competence Federica SCARPA and Daniele ORLANDO SurveyRating
OPTIMALE (2013): Standard tools and IT-related skills Use of speech
recognition applications Ability to pre-edit MT Ability to
post-edit MT Essential/Important 75% 10% 18% 28% Chodkiewicz (2012
)Least important QUALETRA: WS3 (2014) Ability to use translation
memories (and terminology memory systems) Important (lower
end)
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What it takes to do it right: an integrative EMT-based model
for legal translation competence Federica SCARPA and Daniele
ORLANDO THANK YOU! [email protected][email protected]