Moving Beyond Conventional Tests: Performance Assessment as an Alternative for Evaluating Students’ Academic Translations

Abstract Evaluating students’ academic translations constitutes a prevalent and essential practice in the context of translator education and training. Such evaluations are typically conducted by allocating numerical scores or letter grades to ensure the congruence between the intended pedagogical objectives and the actual learning outcomes. Existing research indicates that university instructors’ prevailing translation evaluation methods in undergraduate English translation programs are grounded mainly in the theoretical frameworks of the traditional testing paradigm. This article seeks to address the ‘problem’ inherent in evaluative practices arising from the challenges and criticisms directed towards the principles and methodologies underpinning Classical True Score Measurement Theory and the conventional testing tradition. To this end, the article first examines the current state of language assessment in general and translation evaluation in particular. Then, it identifies the issues and limitations commonly linked to translation tests. Due to the shift from conventional testing to modern (alternative) assessment, performance-based evaluation is proposed as a viable solution to address the shortcomings of traditional testing, an alternative that may effectively bridge the gaps left by traditional assessment methods. The article concludes that performance-based assessment is particularly well-aligned with translation evaluation, as both domains exhibit significant commonalities in terms of their nature, characteristics, and objectives. It is hoped that the insights provided by this study will pave the way for further investigation into this critical area of research within translation studies, specifically concerning academic translation evaluation.