The development of the Quality of Translation and Linguistic Equivalence Checklist

Abstract

The International Test Commission (ITC) established guidelines for test adaptations. The ITC encourages the adaptation of locally developed measures with proven validity. A good quality translation process ensures that the same meaning is conveyed from the source to the target language. Through test adaptation, researchers focus on cultural differences between the source and the target language to maintain linguistic equivalence. Research involving adaptation has systematically failed to report on the rigour of the translation process and to make translation part of the empirical process. The ITC guidelines are generally referred to; however, the assessment of the quality of translations and the process of establishing linguistic equivalence remain an important research focus. This study reports on the development of the Quality of Translation and Linguistic Equivalence Checklist (QTLC). The construction of the QTLC was based on ITC guidelines. The QTLC consists of two sections, translation and linguistic equivalence, and produced section scores with accompanying quality descriptions. The draft instrument was presented to three independent reviewers. Once feedback was incorporated, the QTLC was piloted in an ongoing study on the translation of the E3SR. Two reviewers applied the checklist, and inter-rater reliability was established. The Kappa statistic (0.78) tested significant at a 0.00 alpha level, indicating substantial agreement between the raters on the quality of the translation process and equivalence. Four items were identified as functioning differently and were subsequently revised. The QTLC appears to be a robust checklist assessing the quality of translations and the process of establishing linguistic equivalence.

Keywords

• adaptation
• linguistic equivalence
• inter-rater reliability
• translation
• qtlc