2.3.1. House’s translation quality assessment model
TQA has been a field which is of significant interest and requires further investigation and research. Thus, in order to produce the most optimal assessment
of translation quality, various frameworks and models have been developed. Among different methods and frameworks for evaluating translation quality, House‟s (1997) TQA model addresses almost every facet of the translation process. The model has advantages over others because of its coverage and ease
of use (Tabrizi et al., 2014).
According to House (2015), equivalence serves as the conceptual foundation for both the evaluation of translation quality. The translation must have a function equivalent to the original in order for the original and translation
to be considered equivalent (Askari & Rahim, 2015). Hence, it can be said that function is the foundation of House‟s TQA model.
House‟s (2001) TQA model is grounded in Hallidayan systemic-functional theory (as cited in Pham, 2013). Despite being developed based on Halliday‟s theory, House (2006) points out two fundamental functional components that co- exist in every text and must remain the same equivalence throughout the translation: the ideational and interpersonal functional components. The translation must maintain the equivalence of these two components (as cited in Pham, 2013).
Regarding the two functions, there are three meta-functions in every language (Halliday & Hasan, 1995, as cited in Simaibang, 2011):
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(1) The ideational function: to organize the perception of the writer or speaker about the real and imagined world, which refers to real or imagined people.
(2) The interpersonal function: to show, create, or preserve social relationships which are speech function, modalities, and forms of address between individuals.
(3) The textual function: to produce written and spoken texts that flow cohesively within themselves and suit the context in which they are employed.
2.3.2. Overt and covert translation
House (2015) classifies translation into two types: overt translation and covert translation, based on empirical work using the original model.
2.3.2.1. Overt translation
Overt translation concentrates on the ST. When the text is translated overtly, the original text is closely linked to the community and culture of the SL and is frequently addressed directly to people in that culture, but it also reaches beyond that group because it is, regardless of the SL origin (House, 2015). The author categorizes overt translation into two types:
a) overt historically connected ST: those associated with a particular
event in which an audience speaking in that SL is or was being addressed.
b) overt timeless ST: those have their unique historical significance,
transcend as artistic and aesthetic creations, always have to exhibit period- and culture-specificity due to the addresser‟s standing as a product of his or her time and culture.
2.3.2.2. Covert translation
Covert translation concentrates on the TT. A covert translation is treated as though it was the original text. The covert translation is not pragmatically identified as a translation of the ST but rather appears to have been made independently. Therefore, a covert translation is not specifically intended to an audience from the source culture and is not closely associated with the original language and culture (House, 2015).
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House lists some examples from her original 1977 model of TQA including an economic text, a scientific text, a journalistic text which illustrate the types of ST that led to covert translation. There are direct TL addresses for each of these translation texts, making them just as instantly and “originally” important to them as the original material is to the addresses in the SL.
2.3.2.3. The differences between overt translation and covert translation
Firstly, while overt translation is ST audience/author-oriented, covert translation is TT audience/reader-oriented. Taking political speech scripts as an example, overt translation will be applied to translate this kind of text, which has
an influence on the ST audience, i.e., people who directly listens to the speech rather than the TT audience, they just receive the translation as information that this is what the speaker conveys to the ST audience, the TT audience does not engage in the activity happening between the speaker and the ST audience. In contrast, an article on an online daily newspaper will be covertly translated because the translation of the article has a direct impact on the TT audience, i.e., the ones who read that article.
Secondly, while covert translation can be treated as the “second original”, overt translation does not (House, 2015). In other words, a covert translation is treated the same as the original text. For instance, international corporations often launch different versions with different language translations of their financial reports. All the translations play the same role which offers details on their financial status and business achievements regardless of the languages. However, the translation of literary works such as prose, poems is overt because the original has its own value and stance.
Finally, the purposes of a ST and its covert translation are the same while those of an overt translation are not. The purposes are grounded in the demands
of similar audiences in both the communities of the SL and the TL (House, 2015). For example, in regard to a covert translation of a news article, no matter how many translations are produced, the main purpose for creating such translations is disseminating information. In contrast, back to the example of political speech, the purposes of overt translations based on different events and times.
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Specifically, at the time when the political event occurs, the translation serves as the means to help the ST audience (in the event that this is the global event attracting attention of people all around the world) understand the message of the speech. On the other hand, when the event had already finished and the speech was translated to be included in a history book, the purpose of the translation is to ensure that significant events and turning points are remembered while also preserving the historical and cultural legacies of a country or communities. House (2015) maintains that the original text is incorporated into a newly created speech event, providing it with a new framework when translating overtly. On the contrary, when translating covertly, the ST is replicated in the TT the role that it has within its context and discourse (House, 2015).
2.3.3. Overtly erroneous errors and covertly erroneous errors
Besides the concepts of overt and covert translation, overtly erroneous errors and covertly erroneous errors have to be considered since they are indispensable components in House‟s evaluation scheme.
2.3.3.1. Overtly erroneous errors
According to House (2015), overtly erroneous errors were caused by either
a breach of the TL system or a mismatch between the ST and TT elements‟ denotative. House (2015) develops categories of cases involving breaches of the
TL system:
ungrammaticality cases, which refers to observable violations of the system
dubious acceptability cases, which refers to breaches the norm of usage – a collection of linguistic rules guiding the real use of language rather than the language system, which is concerned with the potentialities of a language.
In addition, House (2015) separates the cases in which the translator altered the denotative meaning of ST objects and structures into categories such
as additions, omissions, and substitutions, which included wrong combinations
of elements and wrong selections.
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2.3.3.2. Covertly erroneous errors
Shakernia (2014)‟s study applied House‟s TQA model to conduct the TQA
in which covertly erroneous errors are classified based on Genre and the situational dimensions of Genre and Register (including Field, Tenor and Mode)
by comparing the ST and the TT.
According to House (2015), overtly erroneous errors have received more attention from scholars but covertly erroneous errors have not, despite the fact that the latter requires a far more thorough and qualitative-descriptive study; and how errors are weighted relative to one another differs from text to text.