Measuring translation revision competence and post-editing competence in translation trainees: methodological issues

Translation proper is rarely the sole activity of professional translators, who regularly function also as revisers and/or post-editors. Various models of and studies into translation competence (TC), translation revision competence (TRC) and post-editing competence (PEC) exist. However, a fundamental question remains unanswered: how similar - or different - are TC, TRC and PEC? Before this question can be answered, a methodological issue must be addressed: how do we measure TRC and PEC? Using existing literature, we propose seven instruments to measure TRC and PEC. Our aim is to determine whether the instruments are exchangeable, that is, result in similar measures of the underlying variable. We conducted a small-scale study with translation trainees, who performed L1 Dutch-L2 French TR and PE tasks. The measuring instruments generated TRC scores that were significantly different and therefore not exchangeable. In contrast, PEC scores were not always significantly different. In conclusion, with measuring instruments for TRC and PEC being generally not exchangeable, it is imperative that researchers not only report on measuring instruments thoroughly in research in general, but also use measuring instruments designed according to the same principles when they investigate differences and similarities between TRC, PEC, and even TC.