Evaluation, Language, and Untranslatables

Peter Dahler-Larsen with Tineke Abma, Maria Bustelo,Roxana Irimia, Sonja Kosunen, Iryna Kravchuk,Elena Minina, Christina Segerholm, Eneida Shiroma, Nicoletta Stame, and Charlie Kabanga Tshali

doi:10.1177/1098214016678682

Evaluation, Language, and Untranslatables

Peter Dahler-Larsen with Tineke Abma, Maria Bustelo,Roxana Irimia, Sonja Kosunen, Iryna Kravchuk,Elena Minina, Christina Segerholm, Eneida Shiroma, Nicoletta Stame, and Charlie Kabanga Tshali

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The issue of translatability is pressing in international evaluation, in global transfer of evaluative instruments, in comparative performance management, and in culturally responsive evaluation. Terms that are never fully understood, digested, or accepted may continue to influence issues, problems, and social interactions in and around and after evaluations. Their meanings can be imposed or reinvented. Untranslatable terms are not just “lost in translation” but may produce overflows that do not go away. The purpose of this article is to increase attention to the issue of translatability in evaluation by means of specific exemplars. We provide a short dictionary of such exemplars delivered by evaluators, consultants, and teachers who work across a variety of contexts. We conclude with a few recommendations: highlight frictions in translatability by deliberately circulating and discussing words of relevance that appear to be “foreign”; increase the language skills of evaluators; and make research on frictions in translation an articulate part of the agenda for research on evaluation.

Original language	English
Journal	American Journal of Evaluation
Volume	38
Issue number	1
Pages (from-to)	114-125
Number of pages	12
ISSN	1098-2140
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1098214016678682
Publication status	Published - 1 Mar 2017

Keywords

Faculty of Social Sciences
translation
culture
language

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10.1177/1098214016678682

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Evaluation, Language, and Untranslatables. / Peter Dahler-Larsen with Tineke Abma, Maria Bustelo,Roxana Irimia, Sonja Kosunen, Iryna Kravchuk,Elena Minina, Christina Segerholm, Eneida Shiroma, Nicoletta Stame, and Charlie Kabanga Tshali.

In: American Journal of Evaluation, Vol. 38, No. 1, 01.03.2017, p. 114-125.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

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Evaluation, Language, and Untranslatables

Abstract

Keywords

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