Can We Assess Creativity? The Use of Rubrics for Evaluating Transcreation in the Undergraduate Program of Translation and Interpreting

Abstract

The professional world of translation and interpreting is in constant change and evolution. For that reason, higher education should keep pace with the professional world and provide future translators with a comprehensive training. This includes training in emergent professional profiles, e.g., transcreation. This is the creative intra-or interlinguistic reinterpretation of a text for adapting it to the target public and is one of the most blooming trends in the translation industry. This work aims at describing an initiative carried out in an English-Spanish translation course at the University of Granada, in which transcreation training was included. First, following a simulated project-based approach, the design and elaboration of transcreation assignments based on the professional transcreation brief are addressed. Secondly, an assessment tool appropriate for the evaluation of such a subjective and creative activity is proposed. The starting point is the traditional rubric, used for the evaluation of translation assignments. An adapted rubric based on a descriptor scale evaluating four different criteria conceived to fit the purpose of transcreation training is presented, and conclusions are withdrawn.