Quality Assurance

The Need for Quality Assurance

This section answers the following question: What is quality assurance for?

Quality assurance is a vital part of the translation process. A high quality translation uses many people to ensure that the translation is clearly communicating the message that it should communicate. There are several important factors that are addressed in quality assurance.

Quality assurance is the process used to ensure an accurate translation. The translator may not have understood fully the passage in the source text, and therefore may not have communicated it clearly in his translation. Using tools such as commentaries and other translations can be helpful in confirming that the meaning is accurately understood and conveyed.

Quality assurance is the process used to ensure a clear and natural translation. The translator may have worded something in a way that is unclear, ungrammatical, or awkward. Having othersread a translation to check for flow will provide insight for correcting such problems.

Quality assurance helps to ensure that a text has consistent punctuation, spelling, and formatting. Often the translation is into a previously unwritten language, so people will have to work together to agree on standards for these things.

As soon as a translator has created a draft, he will check it himself. Then other translators will do some other checks and recommend improvements. After this, it is recommended that the community and church leadership review the translation and provide feedback to the translators so that the translation can be refined or revised as needed.

Quality assurance may seem tedious, but it is well worth the time and effort. And if everyone in the translation team, church, and community understands that every person is a part of the quality assurance process from the start, this will encourage people to read the translation and contribute to its improvement.


The Need for Establishing Standards

This section answers the following question: Why do we need to establish standards for our translation?

People want their Bible translation to be high quality. However, they may have different ideas about what makes a good translation. If people do not agree on what makes a good translation, they can waste a lot of time and effort criticizing a translation or trying to change it to what each person thinks it should be. Because of this, it is important for the translators, the community, and the church leadership to have a rubric by which they can evaluate the work. Creating a rubric helps to establish standards by which to judge translation quality and ensures that all members of a team are striving for the same kind of translation

A rubric is a list of characteristics that people use to evaluate how good something is. It is essentially a standard by which to judge something. In the case of Bible translation, the translators work together to produce a list of characteristics that a good Bible translation must have. They use that list as they produce their translation and as they assess its quality. If they find that any part of the translation lacks a particular characteristic, they adjust the translation so that it will have that characteristic.

The community and the church leadership use this same rubric as they review the translation. If they find that any part of the translation lacks a particular characteristic, they tell the translators. The translators then determine whether or not the translation actually lacks that characteristic and they decide whether or not they need to make any changes to the translation. This process is called refinement.

If after using a translation from a completed project, people are not satisfied with the translation, they may decide to revise the translation, particularly if they want to use a different rubric. As a community of believers grows, it is not uncommon for the community to have more than one translation, each translation based on its own rubric.


Designing a Rubric for Bible Translation Quality

This section answers the following question: How do we design a rubric for the quality of our translation?

It is important for a language community to design its own rubric. When a language community establishes its own standards, it fosters ownership of a project.

During the first few days of a MAST workshop, the facilitator guides a translation team through the process of developing a rubric for assessing the quality of their translation. Below are the steps used to create a rubric to guide quality assurance throughout the project.

  1. The translation team will choose a leader/representative of their language group to manage the rubric building process. If this leader/representative does not speak a language that the facilitator understands, the team will choose someone to translate the rubric for the facilitator.

  2. The individuals on the team will independently answer the following questions:

    • What is a good translation?
    • What are at least ten qualities of a good translation?
  3. The translation team will then work together to make one list that includes all the items from each individual’s list. The leader/representative will combine the qualities that are the same and develop one master list of around 10 qualities.

  4. If the facilitator or anyone else at the event is familiar with Bible translation rubrics, he may review the team's rubric. If he sees that something important is missing in their rubric, he may ask questions of the group to help them to recognize other qualities that would be beneficial for their translation to have.

    If there is no one at the event who is familiar with Bible translation rubrics, the team can compare their rubric with sample rubrics. Some examples can be found at v-raft.com. The following are questions that may help them decide whether or not to make any changes to their rubric:

    • Are there qualities in any of those rubrics that you would like to add to your own?
    • Are there any qualities in your own that you now think may not be very important?
  5. The team will have a discussion and agree on the qualities to include in their rubric. There should be about 10 qualities.

  6. The team will verbally define each of the qualities established in the rubric and then record the definitions. Each definition should be clear enough that anyone from that language group could use the rubric and understand the qualities the team wants their translation to have.

  7. The team will create a list of things the translation needs in order for it to have each of those characteristics.

  8. The team will make each item in this list into a question with a yes or no response.

  9. The team should make sure that the rubric is clear enough that if a person who speaks the language were to later check a translated chapter, they could pick up that chapter, take the rubric and the source text, and determine whether the standards established in the rubric were met.

  10. Finally, now is a good time for the team to discuss the following:

    • After the translation project is completed, how would you answer someone who asks, "Is this translation of good quality?" They should realize that if all of these standards established in the rubric are met, then the translation they have been working on will be a good quality translation.
  11. When possible, the team will translate the rubric into English and share it at v-raft.com.

Example of Creating a Rubric

Below you will see an example of how a rubric was created by following steps 2-8 above. (Steps involving individual work or discussion are not shown.)

Step 3: The group's combined list of characteristics

  • Accurate
  • Community Oriented
  • Clear
  • Grammatically consistent
  • Natural
  • Faithful to Original Languages
  • Authoritative
  • Historical
  • Equal
  • Acceptable
  • Trustworthy
  • Has Appropriate Familial Terms for God the Father and his Son
  • Culturally Relevant
  • Uses traditional words rather than the ones kids use
  • Theologically accurate
  • Uses a certain name for God
  • Is easy for non-believers to understand
  • Is easy for children to understand
  • Does not create too many new words
  • Does not use too many words from the gateway language
  • Can be used by pastors to build up the church

Steps 3 - 5: Condense the characteristics and settle on around 10 characteristics.

  • Accurate
  • Style
  • Clear
  • Natural
  • Faithful
  • Authoritative
  • Historical

Notice that in condensing the qualities, some of the items on the list are combined so there are no longer 10 separate qualities. Also after discussion, the team decided not to include some qualities, because they pertained to community acceptance and not the quality of the translation itself or because they were qualities for a type of Bible the team did not want to produce.

Step 6: Define the characteristics

  • Accurate - The translation says the same thing as the source text.
  • Style - The translation uses the same style as the source text.
  • Clear - People can understand what the translation says.
  • Natural - The translation sounds like the way we speak.
  • Faithful - The translation does not unnecessarily favor one opinion over another.
  • Authoritative - The translation can be recognized to be from God.
  • Historical - The translation does not make people think it is about people in my culture.

Step 7: List what the translation needs in order for it to have each of the characteristics.

Accurate

  1. Key words are translated accurately.
  2. Nothing is added or missing from the text.
  3. The text reflects the author's intended meaning.

Style

  1. The text uses the same style of writing as the source text. For example, poems in the source text are poems in the translated text. Accounts of historical events are translated as historical events.
  2. In prophecy, images are not explained for the reader unless the original author explained it.

Clear

  1. The text is understood by a wide range of audiences.
  2. The text uses common language.
  3. The text uses proper language structures (word order, tenses, sentence structure).
  4. The punctuation is correct.

Natural

  1. The text sounds like how we speak. It uses common language .
  2. The text sounds beautiful.
  3. The text is efficient and effective in its communication.

Faithful

  1. The text does not favor a particular denomination’s understanding of scripture.
  2. The text does not favor one person’s or one group of people’s opinion over another.
  3. The text does not promote false doctrine.
  4. The text uses proper familial terms for God the Father and his Son.

Authoritative

  1. The translation is based on a good source text.
  2. The text does not use language that people think is beneath God.
  3. The text does not use language that is too informal.

Historical

  1. The translation does not appear to take place in my community.
  2. The names of people and places are not replaced with names of people and places in my community.
  3. The translation describes historical events the way the source text describes them.

Step 8. Make each item in this list into a question with a yes or no response.

Accurate

  1. Are the key words translated accurately?
  2. Is nothing added or missing from the text?
  3. Does the text reflect the author's intended meaning?

Style

  1. Does the text use the same style of writing as the source text?
  2. In prophecy, does the text avoid explaining images for the reader unless the original author explained it?

Clear

  1. Can a wide range of audiences understand the text?
  2. Does the text use common language?
  3. Does the text use proper language structures (word order, tenses, sentence structure)?
  4. Is the punctuation correct?

Natural

  1. Does the text sound the same way people speak when using common language?
  2. Does the text sound beautiful?
  3. Is the text efficient and effective in its communication?

Faithful

  1. Does the text avoid favoring a particular denomination’s understanding of scripture?
  2. Does the text avoid favoring one person’s or one group of people’s opinion over another?
  3. Does the text avoid promoting false doctrine?
  4. Does the text use proper familial terms for God the Father and his Son?

Authoritative

  1. Is the translation based on a good source text?
  2. Does the text avoid using language that people think is beneath God?
  3. Does the text avoid using language that is too informal?

Historical

  1. Does the translation avoid appearing to take place in my community?
  2. Does the translation avoid replacing names of people and places with names of people and places in my community?
  3. Does the translation describe historical events the way the source text describes them?

The questions are designed as yes/no questions. If the answer is “no” to any portion of the scripture (that is, any word, phrase, sentence, paragraph, chapter, or book), then that portion needs to be reviewed and edited.


The Church's Authority to Assess Quality

This section answers the following question: Why do we say that the the church has the authority to assess the quality of their Bible translation?

The church in each people group has the authority to decide what is and what is not a good quality translation of the Bible in their language. This is because they know their language and culture best and they are the ones who will be using this translation. Their authority is independent of their current ability, experience, or access to resources that facilitate the production of high quality Bible translations. Their authority does not change. However, their capacity for producing high quality translations can improve with time.

While the church in a language group has the authority to assure the quality of their own Bible translation, they can increase their capacity to do this by using the tools and resources available on bibleineverylanguage.org. Translation quality is something that can always be improved; this idea is true even if a translation is of high quality. The collection of resources on bibleineverylanguage.org is constantly growing to meet the needs of the churches as their desire for more in-depth resources increases.


Checking a Translation

This section answers the following question: How do the translators check the translation?

The translators will check the translation during MAST steps 5-8. They should check their translation often (usually as soon as a whole chapter is drafted) so that they can correct mistakes as early as possible in the translation process. Sometimes a step will have to be repeated before moving on to the next step.

Steps for translation checking:

  1. Once a portion has been drafted, the translator of that section will perform a self-edit, using the source text and other available tools to check the draft. For more information about how to do this, see Self-Edit (MAST Step 5).
  2. When the translator has completed the self-edit, another translator on the team will perform a peer-edit, carefully comparing the translated text to the source text and using any other available tools to confirm the accuracy and meaningfulness of the translation. He may also provide feedback and comments on spelling, naturalness and flow. The person conducting the peer-edit does not have authority to make changes; his role is to provide feedback and suggestions to the translator of the draft who then makes changes as he deems necessary. For more information on how to conduct a peer-edit, see Peer-Edit (MAST Step 6).
  3. Then the keywords of the passage are systematically checked against the list of key words in the available tool designed specifically to support this checking step. Alternatively, the translation team can create their own list of key words--abstract spiritual terms, historical and geographical terms and names--and carefully compare their drafted text to that list. This step is typically done by the translator of that passage and at least one other translator. For more information, see Key Word Check (MAST Step 7).
  4. Each verse is carefully checked comparing the drafted text to the original source text, looking for any missing portions or added material. This check is typically done with the translator of the passage and at least one other translator--preferably a different translator than the one who assisted in the keyword check. For more information, see Verse-by-verse Check (MAST Step 8) .

When the team has completed these steps, has incorporated the edits into the translated portion, and is collectively satisfied with the product, they then affirm the following:

  • that the translation is accurate
  • that the translation is in line with the statement of faith
  • that they followed the MAST process, including each checking step
  • that they used the available resources to check and refine their work.

Then they are welcome to upload the translation to the Wycliffe Associates content server where the work can be seen on bibleineverylanguage.org. This enables the broadest reach of the content as an active project, with an open invitation to others in the language community (implied or direct) to help improve the translation.


Self-Edit

This section answers the following question: How do I check my first draft?

How to do a Self-edit (MAST Step 5)

  • If you have followed the first four steps of the MAST process, then you made your first draft of a passage by consuming the source text, verbalizing what you consumed, breaking it down into workable chunks, and then writing it down while you were not looking at the source text (see: First Draft). After you have translated a passage in this way, do a self-edit by looking again at the source text and comparing it to your translation. Make sure that your draft includes all the parts of the message of the source text and does not leave out anything. If some part of the message is missing, put it in your translation at the point where it fits best in your language. Also make sure you haven't added any extra information.
  • If possible, compare your translation with other translations of the same Bible passage. If one of those makes you think of a better way to say something, then translate it that way. If one of them helps you to understand something better than you did before, then change your translation so that it communicates the meaning better.
  • If possible, use the Translation Notes and Translation Questions as well as other tools available in BTT Writer and Bibleineverylanguage.org to check your work.
  • After these steps, read your translation out loud to yourself. Fix anything that does not sound like it is the way that someone from your community would say it.

When you have completed these steps, you are ready to have a peer edit your work.


Peer-Edit

This section answers the following question: How can others help me check my work?

How to do a Peer-Edit (MAST Step 6)

  • Once you have completed a draft and checked the draft yourself (using the source text for comparison and any other helpful tools to ensure accurate meaning), give the drafted portion to another translator on the team to review. This person should read through it, comparing it to the source text and making notes of any missing or added material. The peer editor should not make changes to the translation, only make comments and suggestions for change. The peer editor should use any available tools for checking meaning, flow, and accuracy.
  • Once the peer editor has completed a check of the passage, go over the suggested edits together. It is up to the translator to make changes.
  • Read the new translation out loud to the peer editor and fix anything that does not sound like it is the way that someone from your community would say it.
  • If you are in disagreement about a suggested change, the translator is responsible for the decision at this level, but these areas should be reviewed as a team so others can provide feedback on the best possible solution to any disagreements.

Key Word Check

This section answers the following question: How can we check that we have translated the key words correctly?

How to do a Key Words Check (MAST Step 7)

The key words check involves two processes. The first is to make a chart of key words that shows key words and how you will translate them in your language. The second is to check the key words in each portion of scripture that you translate.

After you make your list of key words, you may want to refer to the Translation Words resource to help you understand the meanings of the key words and other words in the Bible. This will help you with checking those words during the second part of this step. To learn more about this resource, see Translation Words.

Making a Key Word Chart for Your Language

  1. When you are ready for MAST step 7, work with a translation partner. Together read the source text of the passage you have translated and write a list of any words in the passage that you think are key words. Key words are
    • words that have some moral, spiritual, theological, or religious meaning
    • names of people and places
    • words specific to the historical environment
    • words that connect one thought to another
    • words that show the author's attitude or beliefs.
  2. Discuss the words on your list. Use the Translation Notes and Translation Words to ensure that you understand the meanings of each word. (Some words have more than one meaning.) Make an initial decision on how to translate each meaning of the source language word. Write your decisions next to each word. Sometimes there is no word in the target language that means the same as the source language words. When that is the situation, you may choose to do one of the following:
    • Choose the common use word from the local Christian community.
    • Choose a word with an added descriptor.
    • Create a phrase or combine a few words into one.
    • Borrow the word from the gateway language and adjust the spelling to fit your script and pronunciation.
  3. As a team, discuss all of your lists, and list in alphabetical order all of the source language words that you decide are key words.
    • If possible, do this on a computer so you can easily insert new words in alphabetical order.
    • Put this list in the first column of a chart.
    • In the next column, write next to each source language word your translation of the word.
    • Some words have more than one meaning or have to be translated differently in different contexts. If you need more than one way to translate a key word, make a new line on the chart for each way of translating it. Repeat the source term in the source column, and put the new translation in the next column, under the first translation.
    • You may also want to use another column to write where in the book the word first occurs.
    • Be careful not to include too many words. If the list is too detailed, checking becomes tedious. Additionally, checking every (or almost every word) can push the translated material away from a natural flow in the target language.
  4. Make sure that all of the translators have access to the chart so that you can all use the same words or phrases in your translation.
  5. As you translate other chapters and books of the Bible you will find more key words.
  6. Meet occasionally as a team to discuss changes to the chart: key words that need to be added, translations that need to be corrected, and key words that need more than one translation.
  7. Make sure that all of the translators have access to the newest chart.

Checking the Key Words in a Chapter

  1. Work with another translation partner to compare your translation to the source text and your key words chart.
  2. Compare each verse of the source text to your key words chart.
    • What key words from your chart are in the source text?
    • Does the verse have any key words that should be on your key word chart?
    • Use the Translation Notes and Translation Words to ensure that you understand the meanings of each new key word.
    • Add the new key words to your chart.
  3. Read each verse in your translation to see how the key words are translated.
  4. If a key word is translated in the text differently than it is in the chart, discuss this with your translation partner. You will need to either change the translation in the verse to match what is in the chart or add to the chart another way of translating the key word.
  5. If the translation of a key word does not seem to have the right meaning, or if it does not seem to make sense in the context, discuss it with your translation partner to come up with a solution.
  6. Meet with the rest of team to discuss words that need to be added to the chart and words that need either correction or additional translations.
  7. Check the important words throughout the chapter to see that their meanings are translated consistently. (See: Consistency Checks.)

Verse-by-verse Check

This section answers the following question: How do we do a verse-by-verse check?

How to do a Verse-by-Verse Check (MAST Step 8)

The verse-by-verse check requires at least three people—the translator of the passage and two other translators—one who can translate the mother tongue to the source language and one who can compare what that translators says with the source text.

The translator will read their translation one verse at a time, out loud, in the mother tongue. Without using any resources, one partner will listen to the mother tongue translation and verbally translate the verse into the source language. The second partner will listen to the first partner’s verbal back-translation and compare it to the source text.

The wording will not be exactly the same between the source text and the back-translation, but it is important that:
(1) the meaning in the translation is the same as the meaning in the source text
(2) all of the events and important details found in the source text are present in the translation and
(3) no new or extra information has been added.

If it appears that the meaning in the translation is not the same as the meaning in the source text, the partner who compares the two will tell the translator. The three people will then discuss the verse to see if there really is a difference in meaning.

If there really is a difference in meaning, or if all of the events and important details are not present, the text should be edited. The team should consult the source text, Translation Notes, Translation Words, and other translations or other resources to help them make corrections and improve the translation.

The verse-by-verse check is also a good time to check that the translation has all of the verses and that it is consistent in wording, spelling, punctuation, and formatting. (See Complete Versification Check and Consistency Checks)


Complete Versification Check

This section answers the following question: Are any verses missing in the translation?

It is important that your target language translation include all of the verses that are in the source language Bible. We do not want some verses to be missing by mistake. But remember that there can be good reasons why some Bibles have certain verses that other Bibles do not have.

Versification checking takes place during step 8 of MAST, the verse-by-verse check. It is also part of the proofreading near the end of the refinement and revision processes. This is because during these processes it is very easy to find and resolve errors in the versification.

Reasons for Missing Verses

  1. Textual Variants - There are some verses that many Bible scholars do not believe were original to the Bible, but were added later. Therefore the translators of some Bibles chose to not include those verses, or included them only as footnotes. (For more information about this, see Textual Variants.) Your translation team will need to decide whether you will include these verses or not.
  2. Different Numbering - Some Bibles use a different system of verse numbering than other Bibles. (For more information about this, see Chapter and Verse Numbers.) Your translation team will need to decide which system to use.
  3. Verse Bridges - In some translations of the Bible, the contents of two or more verses are rearranged so that the order of information is more logical or easier to understand. When that happens, the verse numbers are combined, such as 4-5 or 4-6. The UDB does this sometimes, and on rare occasions, also the ULB. Because not all of the verse numbers appear or they do not appear where you expect them to be, it might look like some verses are missing. But the contents of those verses are there. (For more information about this, see Verse Bridges.) Your translation team will need to decide whether to use verse bridges or not.

Checking for Missing Verse Numbers or Content

  • Look at the source text and your translation, and check the verse numbers to see that every verse in each chapter of the source text is also your translation.
  • If the number or content of any verse is missing, find out if it is missing on purpose because of one of the three reasons above, or if it is missing by mistake.
  • If the number or content of any verse is missing by mistake, check to see if it is missing because of a formatting error or if you need to go back and translate that verse.
  • Make the correction.

Consistency Checks

This section answers the following question: What things should we check for consistency?

In order for readers to be able to understand the translation easily, it is important that there be consistency in the following things: important words, spelling, punctuation, and formatting. Checking a translation for consistency is something that is done continually. First it is part of Steps 5-8 of MAST; a MAST facilitator may develop a specific strategy for a project to help maintain consistency for important words, spelling, punctuation, and formatting.

Consistency checking is also part of the proofreading near the end of the refinement and revision processes. This is because during these processes it is very easy to find and resolve inconsistencies.

Important Words

Check the important words throughout the whole translation to see that you have translated them in a consistent way. This does not mean that they must always be translated the same way, but that each sense of the word is translated in the same way. (See Key Word Check)

Spelling

It will be good to have a consistent way of spelling all the words in your language. But in your checks, you may want to focus on checking the spelling of key terms, words you have borrowed from another language, and the names of people and places. (See: Consistent Spelling)

Punctuation

Check to see what decisions your team has made concerning punctuation, and make sure that it is used in a consistent way throughout your Bible. (See Consistent Punctuation)

Formatting

Translators can use formatting to help readers understand how a text is organized. (See: Formatting)

Paragraphs help readers see how ideas are organized. If you use paragraph breaks in your translation, check to see that the breaks are in places that will be helpful for the readers. If you have a chapter with only one or two paragraphs, you may want to see if it could be broken up more. You may use the paragraph breaks in the Unlocked Literal Bible as a guide. You can see paragraphs in the Unlocked Literal Bible at Bibleineverylanguage.org.

Indenting poetry can help readers recognize that a portion of text is poetic, and it can help readers understand the structure of the poem. If you indent poetry, make sure that you do it in a consistent way.

Indenting lists can help readers recognize the organization of a complex list.

Section headings can help readers know what a portion of scripture is about before they start reading it. Section headings can also help readers find a passage that they want to read. If you use section headings, be sure that they are formatted differently than the rest of the text so readers can know that they are not part of the original text. You may want to center the headings over the page, or use bold or italic character styles. Make sure that your section headings all have the same character styles.


Introduction to Refinement and Revision

This section answers the following question: What are refinement and revision?

Refinement and revision are key aspects of making a quality translation that people will actually use and benefit from. Ideally the language community and their church leaders review a translation and provide feedback for the translators to improve their translation. This is the first step in the refinement and revision processes.

Refinement

Refinement is the process of improving a translation before a translation project is complete. Refinement provides an open invitation (implied or direct) to members of the language community to suggest improvements to the translation. The translators are encouraged to print or otherwise publish their translation so that people can immediately use it and provide feedback about it. They also encouraged to invite members of the community and church leaders to review the translation and suggest improvements.

In the refinement process, the community and church leadership use the rubric created by the translators in order to assess the quality of the translation. If they find that any part of the translation lacks a particular characteristic, they discuss this with the translators. Then the translators can adjust the translation so that it will have that characteristic.

Revision

Revision is the process of improving a translation after a translation project has been completed. Revision provides an opportunity for the church to improve a translation whenever they determine there is sufficient need for a revision. There are a variety of needs for a translation to be revised; this is a natural part of ongoing church-owned Bible translation.

One marked difference between refinement and revision is that refinement always uses the rubric established by the translators, while a revision often establishes a new rubric for assessing the quality of their work. This new rubric can be adapted from the original rubric. However if the language community determines that the standards established in the original rubric were not met, they may do a revision that meets those standards.


Community Review

This section answers the following question: What is a community review?

The intent of the community review is to provide feedback to the translators to help them to ensure their translation is a quality translation that is accurate, clear, and natural. This helps the translators to know that they are meeting the standards they established for quality in their rubric. (See: Designing a Rubric for Bible Translation Quality.) Also, involving the community in the refinement process increases the likelihood that the translation will be accepted and used.

The translators will share the translation and their rubric with members of their language community. These people should be representative of their community. For example, there should be men and women, old and young, formally educated and not formally educated. The translators will use one or more testing methods so that they can receive feedback from the community about whether or not the translation has the characteristics that they established in their rubric. (See: Community Review Methods.) The translators will then refine their translation based on the feedback provided.

The following resources are recommended for use in reviewing the translation: Translation Questions and the Reviewer's Guide. These will help the translators find out what people understand when they hear or read the translation. To learn about the Translation Questions, see: Using Translation Questions.

The following resources are recommended for helping the translators address issues that are discovered through the community review process: Translation Notes and Translation Words. These resources can help the reviewers and translators better understand what was written in the source text so they can determine whether or not the translators need to change anything in the translation. To learn about these resources, see Translation Notes and Translation Words.

Translation Questions, Translation Notes, and Translation Words are embedded in BTT Writer. All of these resources are available on bibleineverylanguage.org.

Key elements of the community review are:

  1. Christians in the community read (or listen to) the translated scriptures and contribute to their improvement
  2. The above listed resources are used for ensuring accuracy and completeness
  3. The translators are responsible to respond to feedback and implement changes in the translation where needed.

Community Review Methods

This section answers the following question: What are some methods the community can use to review the translation?

Question and Answer Method

One method for getting feedback about the translation is to use the Translation Questions or the Reviewers Guide to find out how well people understand the scripture passage. If people have trouble answering a question, that may be an indication that something in the scripture has not been translated accurately, clearly or naturally.

The translator or leader will read (if it is a written translation) a portion of the translation to the gathered listeners. Before reading, he should tell the people listening to stop him if they hear something that does not sound accurate, clear, or natural. In this situation, it is often easiest for the reviewer to notice if a translation is not natural. Alternatively, if the people are literate, each one in the group can be asked to read a passage of the newly translated material. It is best, even if everyone in the group is literate, to have the portions read out loud to the whole group. Portions should not be too long (the length read is subject to the abilities of the group and the type of passage). It is also very important for listeners to understand that they are now a part of the team helping to improve the quality of the scripture. They themselves are not being tested. Rather the questions are designed to help them provide feedback on the meaningfulness of the new translation.

After a portion is read aloud, a translator will read a question and wait for the listeners to answer. Their answers will help the translator know if anything in the passage needs to be worded differently to make it more clear.

Other Checking Methods

As well as asking questions, there are other checking methods that you may also use to ensure that the translation is easy to read and sounds natural to the listeners. Here are some other methods that you may like to try:

  • Retell Method: The translator reads a few verses and asks someone else to retell what was said. The translator compares what the person says to the text. This helps to check the clarity and naturalness of the translation and offers alternate ways of saying the same thing.

  • Reading Method: Someone from the community reads a portion of the translation aloud while the translator takes notes where the pauses and mistakes occur. This will show how easy or how difficult it is to read and understand the translation. Afterward the translator looks at the places in the translation where the reader paused or made mistakes and considers what part of the translation was difficult. The translators may need to adjust the translation at those points so that it is easier to read and understand.

  • Offer Alternate translations: In passages where the translators are not sure of the best way to express a word or phrase, they may ask other people for an alternative translation or offer a choice between two translations and see which translation people think is the most clear.

  • Reviewer Input: The translators ask others whom they respect to read the translation and to take notes and tell where it might be improved. These reviewers might give better word choices, more natural expressions, and even spelling adjustments.

  • Discussion Groups: The translators asks someone to read the translation to a group of people. The translators encourage the reader and the others to ask questions for clarification. The translators pay attention to the words people use, since alternate words and expressions come up when someone is trying to make sense of a difficult point; these alternate words and expressions might be better than the ones in the translation. The translators pay attention to the places where people do not understand the translation, and then work to make those places clearer.


Church Leadership Review

This section answers the following question: How can the church leaders ensure that their Bible translation is of good quality?

The intent of the church leadership review is to provide feedback to the translators to help them to ensure that their translation is a quality translation that is accurate, clear, and natural. This helps the translators to know that they are meeting the standards they established for quality in their rubric. (See: Designing a Rubric for Bible Translation Quality.) Also, involving the church leadership in the refinement process increases the likelihood that the translation will be accepted and used.

We recommend that participants in this review be mother tongue speakers of the language who did not participate in the community review of the passage. When possible, these should be leaders who have been trained or ordained through their church network, and they should use every aspect of their own knowledge and training to check the scriptures.

The translators will share their translation, their rubric, the source text, the Statement of Faith, and their key terms list with the leaders of multiple church organizations in their language community. The church leaders will review the translation in order to affirm that the translation aligns with the intent of the original texts and with the Statement of Faith, which is an expression of what the Church around the world has taught since the beginning. The translators may also ask the church leaders to check the translation for complete versification and consistency. The translators will then refine their translation based on the feedback provided.

Review Process

Church leaders should work together to review the work, although they may review it on their own and come together to discuss any concerns or suggestions. The leaders may choose from several different options how best to review the work as a team.

  • They may use the Reviewer’s Guide, taking turns asking and answering questions.
  • They may go verse by verse through each passage, comparing it to the ULB and using the resources to help them affirm meaning and quality: Translation Notes, Translation Questions, and Translation Words.
  • They may compare the translated text to a commonly used gateway language translation (other than the ULB).

Any of these are good ways to review the text.

While reviewing the work, the leaders should make notes of any questions or concerns they have. Then they can plan a time to meet with the translators and work through those questions and concerns. The leaders and the translators should use the available translation resources for help with anything they don’t understand. After they resolve the issues and make any needed changes, the translators may need to ask the community to review the refined passage again to make sure that it still communicates well. If meeting with the community leads to more changes, they may need to meet with with the church leaders again to affirm that the translation is still accurate.

Questions about the Translation

Here are some questions to ask yourselves while reviewing a portion of scripture. If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, please explain in more detail so that the translators can know what the specific problem is, what part of the text needs correction, and how you would like them to correct it.

  1. Are there any doctrinal errors in the translation?
  2. Did you find any areas of the translation that seem to contradict the national language translation or the important matters of faith found in your Christian community?
  3. Did the translators add extra information or ideas that were not part of the message in the source text? (Some implied information may have been expressed explicitly for the meaning to be clear. This is a desirable part of meaningful translation.)
  4. Did the translators leave out information or ideas that were part of the message in the source text?

Here are some general questions to ask concerning the translation. If the answer is no to any of these questions, please note the area in the text that is a concern and explain your concern to the translators.

  1. Does the translation conform to the Statement of Faith and the Qualities of a Good Translation?
  2. Does the translation have the qualities described in the rubric that the translators used?
  3. Did the translators show a good understanding of the source language as well as the target language and culture?
  4. Does the language community affirm that the translation speaks in a clear and natural way in their language?
  5. Is the style that the translators followed appropriate for the community?
  6. Is the dialect that the translators used the best one to communicate to the wider language community? For example, have the translators used expressions, phrase connectors, and spellings that will be recognized by most people in the language community?
  7. As you read the translation, think about cultural issues in the local community that might make some passages in the book difficult to translate. Have the translators translated these passages in a way that makes the message of the source text clear, and avoids any misunderstanding that people might have because of the cultural issue?
  8. In these difficult passages, do you feel that the translator has used language that communicates the same message that is in the source text?
  9. In your judgment, does the translation communicate the same message as the source text?

The following resources are recommended for helping the church leaders check the accuracy of the translation: Translation Questions and the Reviewer’s Guide. (To learn how to use these resources, see: Using Translation Questions.) These will help the translators find out what people understand when they hear or read the translation.

The following resources are recommended for helping translators address issues that are discovered through the church leadership review process: Translation Notes and Translation Words. (To learn how to use these resources, see: Translation Notes and Translation Words.) These resources can help the reviewers and translators better understand what was written in the source text so they can determine whether or not the translators need to change anything in the translation.

Translation Notes and Translation Words are embedded in BTT Writer. All of these resources are available on bibleineverylanguage.org.

Summary

Key elements of the church leadership review are:

  1. Church leaders from multiple church networks or denominations read (or listen to) the translated scriptures and contribute to their improvement.
  2. The church leaders refer to the WA translation resources and to their own Bible reference books to ensure accuracy and completeness of the translation.
  3. The translators are responsible to respond to feedback and implement changes in the translation where needed.

Addressing Concerns

This section answers the following question: What happens after the church leaders review the translation?

After the community or the church leadership reviews the translated portions, they and the translators should take the following steps.

  1. The reviewers either send their results to the translators or discuss the results with them.
  2. The team (or the team with the reviewers) does any needed research to determine whether or not a change really is needed.
  3. The team (or the team with the reviewers) determines what kind of change is needed.
  4. The team makes the change.
  5. If the reviewers did not check the translation for complete versification and consistency, the team checks it and makes any needed changes.
  6. If the team or reviewers are concerned that the community might not understand the correct meaning, they ask some community members to review the passage with the change. Discussion with community reviewers and church reviewers continues as needed.
  7. The team publishes the refined version or the revision.
  8. If it is a revision, the church will need to decide whether or not to continue to publish the first version. (The church might want both versions to be available for people to use.)