Shedding light on the grey area of assessment in legal translationa case study based on a holistic method

Résumé

Assessment is a very controversial topic in Translation Studies as it is entrenched with subjectivity. In an attempt to verify the validity and reliability of holistic assessment as far as legal translation is concerned, the following case study was designed. A legal text was translated by a Master�s student and this translation was assessed holistically by 10 evaluators, who had to complete a questionnaire after grading the translation. Results show once more great disparity in the evaluators� value judgment and highlight the subjective nature of this kind of assessment. However, results did not differ much from those obtained when the same translation was assessed following an apparently more objective error-based method, which confirms the usefulness of holistic assessment as a supplementary tool, especially for translator training purposes.