Successful translations that work for all stakeholders depend on making informed decisions right from the beginning. From choosing the best type of Spanish for your test or assessment to the translation and adaptation team who can secure your test’s psychometric properties, here is what you need to know.
It’s very likely that you will need a Spanish translation of your test or assessment.
Your jurisdiction may have a legal mandate requiring the translation of tests and assessments important to the wider public into Spanish. Or perhaps you are an academic, scientist or medical researcher who wants to ensure bigger sample sizes and greater research integrity through the Spanish translation of your survey or assessment. Or maybe you recognize that in your target market the incomes of people who speak Spanish are rising and there are dividends to be had for those who cater to this growing audience.
Whatever the case may be, Spanish is a language that is impossible to ignore. But how can you satisfy test takers, test administrators, regulators and other stakeholders all at the same time?
In this report, we will share our secrets to Spanish translation and adaptation so that you can secure the best Spanish translation possible for any test or assessment in your portfolio. But first, let’s start at the beginning.
Demographically, Spanish is the world’s second most important language. Spanish is the native language of 470 million people around the world, second only to Mandarin in the number of native speakers. (If you’re curious, the English language comes in third.) Spanish is an official language in 20 countries found in the Americas, Europe and Africa, but it is spoken in many more.
In the United States alone, 38.3 million people over the age of five–representing 13 percent of the country’s population–speak Spanish at home. At home or abroad, with so many native speakers of Spanish, it’s wise not to turn a blind eye to the opportunities.
The Spanish language offers advantages for organizations who choose to serve Spanish-speaking markets through properly translated tests and assessments. Proper translation, however, requires making the right decisions from the start, like what type of Spanish is needed and who to trust with this specialized type of translation and adaptation.
Unfortunately, Spanish is not a universal language. Spanish across the globe is mutually intelligible (meaning speakers can typically understand each other), but that does not apply to all cases or all fields in the same way.
What’s more, many problems arise when natural context is missing. Words offered as multiple-choice options may not have the same meaning for many test takers, even if they are all native Spanish speakers.
Differences in Spanish have the potential to muddy the validity of an assessment. What a Spanish speaker from Mexico says may not be accurately understood by a Spanish speaker from Argentina or Spain, and vice versa. Accepted vocabulary, pronunciation and even grammar can vary greatly among Spanish-speaking countries.
In fact, in a number of cases, what speakers of one nation consider to be everyday or innocuous words become highly sexualized language to speakers of another Spanish-speaking country. For that reason, it’s important to understand your target audience and their needs before choosing the best type of Spanish for your test or assessment. But how?
Before you establish the parameters for translating your assessment, there are some important questions to consider, such as: What is your assessment used for? What do you know about your group (or groups) of intended test takers? Where do your test takers live? Have they always lived there?
There is no one “right” way to speak Spanish, but there is a right type of Spanish that will be most comfortable for your test takers. That’s why, where possible, we recommend that assessments be translated and tailored to each test-taking audience.
In our experience, the most common types of Spanish for tests and assessments are:
Mexican Spanish: Spanish speakers in Mexico or from Mexico use Mexican Spanish, which is known for its use of diminutive suffixes. Also, some words have Nahuatl or Mayan origins.
Castilian Spanish: Spanish speakers in Spain use Castilian Spanish, the only type of Spanish that uses the second person plural vosotros. For tests and assessments destined for Spanish speakers from Spain or from Europe in general, opt for Castilian Spanish.
Argentine Spanish: Spanish speakers in Argentina use Argentine Spanish. Due to the large influx of Italians in the 19th and 20th century, this type of Spanish was shaped by Italian intonation and vocabulary. Like Uruguayan Spanish, it also uses the second person singular vos.
US Spanish: Spanish speakers in the United States have roots in and influences from a variety of Spanish-speaking countries and backgrounds. However, the de facto standard of US Spanish has been heavily shaped by Mexican Spanish as well as American English. Spanish-speaking audiences who live in the US are often better served by translation into US Spanish.
International Spanish: An artificial construction, this type of Spanish is typically used for wide-scale surveys where creating and administering several individual national versions is unfeasible. International Spanish is often achieved by employing multiple translators who speak different types of Spanish and instructing them to be as culturally neutral as possible, avoiding country- and region-specific references, and pretesting and debriefing test items among relevant groups.
Do you have an idea about the right kind of Spanish for your test takers? After considering what type of Spanish your test or assessment requires, the next step is to consider what kind of treatment it needs.
A test or assessment is not just any text. And it can’t be translated that way if you intend to maintain its validity and reliability, and thus its usefulness as a measure.
A test or assessment requires a proven translation and validation process to guarantee that the translated version delivers on three counts. First, that it is conceptually, semantically and pragmatically equivalent to the original. The translated test should do the original test justice.
Second, that the translated version is culturally appropriate, relevant and meaningful among your target test takers. It should understand how your test takers think and be designed to elicit appropriate responses.
Third, that it achieves item equivalence and psychometric comparability. The translated test should make it possible to pool data and compare results across multilingual audiences and participants.
The truth is that most language service providers are not prepared or experienced enough to preserve your test’s psychometric properties in translation.
Responsive Translation, on the other hand, is one of a few specialized language service providers–with the experience, qualifications and processes at the ready–who can.
Previously known as 1-800-Translate, Responsive Translation has been providing high-stakes translation to compliance-intensive industries for more than 30 years.
Our assessment services include translation, adaptation, localization, validation and review in 150 languages and dialects, including Spanish, which is our most popular request.
Our experience includes translating for some of the best-known names in test publishing, such as Pearson, ETS, ACT and NWEA, as well as translating training and talent assessments for P&G, IHG and many others.
We work with highly-qualified translators, reviewers, subject matter experts and psychometricians who specialize in assessment translation and adaptation and have decades of experience under their belt.
We also take quality assurance and process optimization very seriously. Though we tailor our workflows to each individual client’s needs, here is a sample translation and adaptation workflow for a high-stakes assessment:
Intake
Triage
Translation
Adaptation
Production/Publishing
Review
Post Translation
Spanish is a language that can’t be ignored, but there is a way you can translate and adapt your assessment into Spanish so that it satisfies test takers, test administrators, regulators and other stakeholders alike.
To discuss Spanish translation for your organization, please contact Ken Clark at 212-355-4455 or [email protected].