Introduction
1 These guidelines are published by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (the Agency) and draw from the work of an advisory group set up for the purpose. The Agency would like to acknowledge the very significant contribution made by the group and also the constructive comments received during the consultation on the early draft.
Purpose
2 The purpose of the guidelines is:
- to promote effective practical arrangements for institutions in Wales to meet the terms of precept No.14 in section 6 of the Agency's Code of practice for the assurance of academic quality and standards in higher education (the Code) relating to the assessment of students:
The languages of assessment and teaching will normally be the same. If, for any reason, this cannot be achieved, institutions must ensure that their academic standards are not consequently put at risk;
- to acknowledge the particular circumstances of higher education institutions in Wales in ensuring the equal status of Welsh and English under the terms of the 1993 Welsh Language Act; and
- to acknowledge the responsibilities of higher education institutions in Wales to provide opportunities, wherever possible, for assessing student performance in the Welsh language, irrespective of the language(s) of teaching/tuition.
Status
3 These guidelines are advisory only and do not form part of the Code.
General
4 These guidelines start from the premise that a degree of risk attaches to making reliable and valid judgements about student achievement, where there is any intervention between the assessor and the work produced by the student for assessment. Best practice in assessment, therefore, should seek to eliminate or, so far as possible, minimise, any such intervention.
5 The most effective means for securing reliable and valid judgements of student achievement is for internal and external examinations to take place in Welsh. The appointment of internal and external examiners who are linguistically and academically competent to make judgements on the original Welsh language text is regarded as a first principle.
6 Where this is not possible, institutions may wish to consider offering an academic translation service. This constitutes a significant intervention, and thus carries a higher risk. Translation may unintentionally fail to convey, for example, technicalities and nuances of meaning; it may also unintentionally enhance performance through inferring meanings not actually present within the original.
7 The risk associated with translation is present within both internal and external examining processes, and may be to the advantage or to the disadvantage of the student.
8 Institutions offering such a service should ensure that arrangements are in place to minimise the risk and to safeguard the reliability of the assessment process.
Good practice
9 The good practice in internal and external examining described below removes the need for translation and minimises the risk of advantage or disadvantage to the student.
- Internal examining
10 Risk is lowest when bilingually competent internal examiners can be appointed from within the department/school providing the programme pursued by the student, to grade assessments submitted in both Welsh and English for comparative purposes. Institutions may wish to consider including within examination regulations how they might determine the bilingual competency of internal examiners for this purpose.
11 When it is not feasible to secure a competent bilingual examiner from within the department/school, institutions may wish to consider appointing a bilingual examiner in the appropriate specialism/discipline, from elsewhere. As an associate internal examiner, this person should work with the examination team, for example in setting the assessments in English and Welsh and in marking together assessments submitted in both Welsh and English. Institutions may wish to consider how examination regulations can assure the quality of this process.
- External examining
12 The risk to external examining is minimised by appointing bilingually competent external examiners who meet the generic criteria that institutions apply to all external examiners' appointments.
13 Institutions in Wales, collectively, may wish to consider establishing a database of such bilingually competent subject specialists to assist individual institutions in the appointment of appropriate external examiners.
14 Where it is not feasible to appoint a bilingually competent external examiner who meets the normal criteria, institutions should consider appointing an associate external examiner, with the appropriate subject expertise, who is bilingually competent. The associate external examiner should work closely with the designated external examiner in considering examination scripts and assignments in both English and Welsh.
Use of translation
15 Where translation is used, institutions should ensure that the quality assurance arrangements for minimising the associated risk:
- do not compromise the opportunities for students to be assessed in the language of their own choosing; and
- provide opportunities for students to achieve to their maximum.
16 In pursuit of these two aims, institutions should counsel and advise students on their best interests, including their language skills, and on the risks implicit in the translation of assessments.
17 Institutions may also wish to consider the extent to which different levels of risk attach to different modes/styles of assessment and to different discipline areas, and counsel students accordingly.
Quality assurance of assessment through translation
18 Reliance on translation alone, both into Welsh from English for the purposes of setting assessments, and from Welsh into English for grading completed assignments, carries a high risk and institutions that do follow that route will need to consider means of minimising these.
Planning
19 To assure the quality of all translated materials, there is a need to identify, at an early stage each year, the demand for assessment in Welsh and to ensure that examination arrangements are effectively organised to meet these demands. In particular, institutions should set and publish clear timetables for students and staff to facilitate sound and timely translations of all relevant materials.
Ensuring comparability
20 When assessments that are set initially in English are being translated into Welsh, it is important that there should be comparability of expectations and standards. This should be done in a way that provides for equality and does not advantage or disadvantage the student.
Institutions may wish to consider how examination regulations place the onus of responsibility on departments/schools to secure this.
Subject sensitivity
21 Institutions will need to be sensitive to the different risks that attach to the different styles and modes of assessment relating to different subjects/disciplines. Ideally, translators will need to be 'subject sensitive' and institutions in Wales may wish to consider pooling their experience and expertise in order to use translators who might specialise in broad discipline areas. Subject sensitive translators could also ensure that the nuances of language codes associated with particular disciplines can be addressed in the translation process. When it is not possible to use subject sensitive translators, institutions may consider commissioning a second translation for comparative purposes.
Assuring standards
22 Institutions should consider having explicit criteria, comparable with those for students who submit assignments in English, in order to determine the overall quality and standard of the Welsh text in students' submitted assignments.
Verification
23 Translated examination papers/assignments will need to be verified. Institutions will need to consider the standard practice of 'back translation' as a means of securing this.
Independence
24 Translators may be internal or external to the institution. In all cases, however, institutions should take steps to ensure they are independent from the teaching, examining and marking processes, in respect of the students whose work is being translated.
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