Are you looking to open up your assessment to new linguistic and cultural audiences? Congratulations are in order for taking this important step! There are many good reasons to translate your assessment, such as providing your test takers with more equitable assessment opportunities and increasing your organization’s revenue.
If you want to achieve a fair, reliable, valid and defensible translation for the best testing outcomes, however, there are very few translation partners with the depth of expertise and experience that your assessment will require. Which is why many test publishers and other organizations trust Responsive Translation. We specialize in the translation, adaptation, validation and review of high-stakes tests and assessments using methodologies that are in compliance with International Test Commission Guidelines. In fact, we believe this approach is one of the reasons we’re often called in to put out the fires left burning by other language service providers.
We’ve created this worksheet to help you plan your assessment translation project with greater ease. You don’t need an answer for every question (after all, we’re not testing you), but the more you plan here, the quicker the project can get going when it’s time.
Expectations
Clear expectations pave the way for a smoother journey. Consider the expectations that you, your team and your organization have with respect to this project.
1. Goal: What is the goal for this project?
2. Rationale: What is the rationale or thinking behind this project?
3. Outcome: What is the desired or expected outcome?
Language
4. Source Language: In what language is the assessment you’d like to translate?
5. Target Language: What language (or languages) should the assessment be translated into? If you’re not sure yet, that’s okay; we encourage you to set up a free planning consultation with Ken Clark using this link: https://calendly.com/kclark-resptrans/talking-translation.
Audience
6. Characteristics: What characteristics define your target test-taking audience? Examples include approximate age and grade, education level or disabilities.
7. Region: What region or area is your target audience located?
8. Dialect and Culture: Does your audience share a preferred dialect? Are there any cultural considerations for this project, if known?
Project Details
9. Subject: What is the assessment about? What knowledge, skills and/or abilities does it measure?
10. Use: How will the translated assessment be used?
11. Administration: Where and how will the translated assessment be administered?
12. Regulations: Are there any regulatory requirements that must be met?
13. Budget: What is the budget for this project, if known?
14. Deadline: Is there a timeline or specific deadline for this project?
15. Documentation: Are there any specific documentation requirements?
16. Other Considerations: Are there any other considerations you are aware of that may influence this project?
Content Considerations
17. Alignment: Will the translated assessment require content or standards alignment?
18. Authentic Reading Passages: Does your assessment contain any authentic reading passages that may need to be licensed or replaced?
19. Multimedia: Does your assessment contain any images, video or audio?
20. Platform: Is the content in an item bank? If so, will you extract the original items directly from the platform and then create the new items in your bank? Or do you prefer that your translation partner do this?
21. Deliverables: What is the file format of the items that you will provide? In what file format will you expect to receive the translated items?
22. Context: Will you be able to provide the complete items with context: stems, directions, supplemental, answers, scoring rubric, scoring key, images, alt, audio, metadata, item type, preview, etc.?
23. Localization Quality Check: Would you like a linguist to run a QA of the translated items in your item bank to ensure the translations work and display correctly and no mistakes were made during item creation?
24. Metadata: Would you like your translation partner to use any metadata in the translated items?
25. ALT: Do you have images that need to be translated? If so, do these images include ALT information for test takers with visual impairment or low vision?
Validation
26. Method: Do you have a preferred method of validation, such as subject matter expert review, linguistic validation, client review, third-party review or pilot testing? If you’re not sure, we encourage you to set up a free planning consultation with Ken Clark using this link: https://calendly.com/kclark-resptrans/talking-translation.
Past Experience
27. Translation Experience: Have you or your organization previously had assessments translated?
28. Other Providers: Which translation providers have you previously worked with, if any?
29. Linguistic Assets: Do you currently have any of the following linguistic assets (or can you request them from past providers): style guide, glossary, translation memory, past translations?
Communication
30. Internal Contacts, Team Members and Stakeholders (Name, role, email, phone):
31. Translation Partner Contacts (example from Responsive Translation):
We hope you find this worksheet useful, but we don’t have to stop here.
Responsive Translation is ready to support you and your organization today, as you open up your assessment to new linguistic and cultural audiences. We specialize in the translation, adaptation, validation and review of high-stakes tests and assessments.
We encourage you to contact Ken Clark at [email protected] or schedule a free planning consultation here: https://calendly.com/responsive-consultation/consultation.