TRANSLATION at INTER-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS the SET of SKILLS and KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED and the IMPLICATIONS for RECRUITMENT TESTING Anne Lafeber
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
TRANSLATION AT INTER-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS THE SET OF SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR RECRUITMENT TESTING Anne Lafeber Dipòsit Legal: T. 879-2012 ADVERTIMENT. L'accés als continguts d'aquesta tesi doctoral i la seva utilització ha de respectar els drets de la persona autora. Pot ser utilitzada per a consulta o estudi personal, així com en activitats o materials d'investigació i docència en els termes establerts a l'art. 32 del Text Refós de la Llei de Propietat Intel·lectual (RDL 1/1996). Per altres utilitzacions es requereix l'autorització prèvia i expressa de la persona autora. En qualsevol cas, en la utilització dels seus continguts caldrà indicar de forma clara el nom i cognoms de la persona autora i el títol de la tesi doctoral. No s'autoritza la seva reproducció o altres formes d'explotació efectuades amb finalitats de lucre ni la seva comunicació pública des d'un lloc aliè al servei TDX. Tampoc s'autoritza la presentació del seu contingut en una finestra o marc aliè a TDX (framing). Aquesta reserva de drets afecta tant als continguts de la tesi com als seus resums i índexs. ADVERTENCIA. El acceso a los contenidos de esta tesis doctoral y su utilización debe respetar los derechos de la persona autora. Puede ser utilizada para consulta o estudio personal, así como en actividades o materiales de investigación y docencia en los términos establecidos en el art. 32 del Texto Refundido de la Ley de Propiedad Intelectual (RDL 1/1996). Para otros usos se requiere la autorización previa y expresa de la persona autora. En cualquier caso, en la utilización de sus contenidos se deberá indicar de forma clara el nombre y apellidos de la persona autora y el título de la tesis doctoral. No se autoriza su reproducción u otras formas de explotación efectuadas con fines lucrativos ni su comunicación pública desde un sitio ajeno al servicio TDR. Tampoco se autoriza la presentación de su contenido en una ventana o marco ajeno a TDR (framing). Esta reserva de derechos afecta tanto al contenido de la tesis como a sus resúmenes e índices. WARNING. Access to the contents of this doctoral thesis and its use must respect the rights of the author. It can be used for reference or private study, as well as research and learning activities or materials in the terms established by the 32nd article of the Spanish Consolidated Copyright Act (RDL 1/1996). Express and previous authorization of the author is required for any other uses. In any case, when using its content, full name of the author and title of the thesis must be clearly indicated. Reproduction or other forms of for profit use or public communication from outside TDX service is not allowed. Presentation of its content in a window or frame external to TDX (framing) is not authorized either. These rights affect both the content of the thesis and its abstracts and indexes. UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI TRANSLATION AT INTER-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS THE SET OF SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR RECRUITMENT TESTING Anne Lafeber Dipòsit Legal: T. 879-2012 Anne Lafeber TRANSLATION AT INTER-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS: THE SET OF SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR RECRUITMENT TESTING DOCTORAL THESIS Supervised by Dr. Anthony Pym and Dr. Christopher Scott-Tennent Department of English and German Studies Tarragona 2012 UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI TRANSLATION AT INTER-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS THE SET OF SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR RECRUITMENT TESTING Anne Lafeber Dipòsit Legal: T. 879-2012 UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI TRANSLATION AT INTER-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS THE SET OF SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR RECRUITMENT TESTING Anne Lafeber Dipòsit Legal: T. 879-2012 Professor Anthony Pym URV. Av. Catalunya 35 43002 Tarragona, Spain [email protected] March 18, 2012 I hereby certify that the present study Translation at inter-governmental organizations: The set of skills and knowledge required and the implications for recruitment testing, presented by Anne Lafeber for the award of the degree of Doctor, has been carried out under the supervision of myself and the late Dr. Christopher Scott-Tennent at the Department of English and German Studies of the Rovira i Virgili University, and that it fulfills all the requirements for the mention “Doctor Europeus”. Professor Anthony Pym President Intercultural Studies Group European Society for Translation Universitat Rovira i Virgili Studies Tarragona, Spain UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI TRANSLATION AT INTER-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS THE SET OF SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR RECRUITMENT TESTING Anne Lafeber Dipòsit Legal: T. 879-2012 UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI TRANSLATION AT INTER-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS THE SET OF SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR RECRUITMENT TESTING Anne Lafeber Dipòsit Legal: T. 879-2012 Acknowledgements I owe my deepest gratitude to my supervisors at Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Dr. Anthony Pym and Dr. Christopher Scott-Tennent. Their guidance, their meticulous revision and their incisive comments have been invaluable. Through them I have discovered the fascinating world of academic research, and they have steered me deftly through the various stages, keeping me on course and patiently coaching me along the way. The momentum of the research was kept up due, in no small part, to the timely feedback received throughout from Dr. Pym and the enthusiastic encouragement provided by Dr. Scott-Tennent. The unexpected death of Dr. Scott-Tennent cast a dark shadow over the last stage of the preparation of this thesis, and it saddens me greatly that I cannot present the final product to him. The research would have been impossible to carry out without the hundreds of professional translators who took the time to answer the surveys which I sent out to international organizations, and I am grateful to IAMLADP, the International Annual Meeting on Language Arrangements, Documentation and Publications, for circulating the different questionnaires among its members. I am also indebted to the students from the universities of Bath, Geneva, Leeds and Westminster and the Monterey Institute of International Studies who participated in the test trial and to their coordinators for administering the tests. Special thanks are due to the translators and revisers who willingly participated not only as test- takers, but also as graders in the trial, and particularly to my colleagues Nicole Maguire and Nicholas Whitehead for tackling a major portion of the grading. I am also extremely grateful to my employer, the United Nations Secretariat, for funding some of the coursework and granting me study leave during the writing stage, and to my direct supervisors, Sally Shaw, at ECLAC, and Graham Hobbs, at UNOG, for their constant support. The expert help of the United Nations statisticians Dr. Humberto Soto and Dr. Muhammad Atiyat is also particularly appreciated. It should be noted that the views expressed in this thesis are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. I would like to make a special mention of my colleague and dear friend, Diane Frishman, whose advice and encouragement have been invaluable over the last four years. Finally, I would like to thank my husband, Roberto Correa, without whose unwavering support and enthusiasm this research project would never have been started and this thesis would never have been written. I owe him so much. i UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI TRANSLATION AT INTER-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS THE SET OF SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR RECRUITMENT TESTING Anne Lafeber Dipòsit Legal: T. 879-2012 ii UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI TRANSLATION AT INTER-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS THE SET OF SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR RECRUITMENT TESTING Anne Lafeber Dipòsit Legal: T. 879-2012 Abstract Translation at inter-governmental organizations (IGOs) is a branch of professional translation that calls for highly competent translators, and succession planning poses a major challenge. There is, therefore, both a practical and a moral imperative to make recruitment testing as fair and reliable as possible. The research focuses on the decisive element in the recruitment process: text-based translation tests. How effective are current tests as instruments of selection? Do they screen out the translators who are best suited to the translation work at the IGO in question? What combination of skills and knowledge should IGOs be looking for in candidates? A survey was chosen as the tool for identifying and ranking the skills and knowledge that IGO translators need. Two questionnaires were distributed: one on the impact of the different components of the skills-knowledge set and one on the frequency with which new recruits lack the required skills and knowledge types. Over 320 translators and revisers working at 24 IGOs participated in the survey. The principles of qualitative risk analysis were applied to the results to draw up ideal candidate profiles for IGO translation work in general, as well as for individual translation services. The implications for recruitment testing were then explored by examining current testing practice in the light of the candidate profiles. A survey was made of testing at 18 IGO translation services, and the recruitment procedures of two individual organizations were analyzed in detail. A test trial, involving 40 M.A. students from five training institutions, as well as IGO translators and revisers, was then run to determine whether tests based on empirically-identified recruitment priorities might be better than traditional tests at identifying the most suitable candidates for a specific organization. The findings suggest that IGO translators need far more than language skills. They also need research, computer, analytical and interpersonal skills, as well as extensive general knowledge and, possibly, specialized subject knowledge. Moreover, some skills and knowledge types are more important than others.