The comparative impact of editing texts translated into Farsi with and without the original English texts

Abstract

This research sought to determine whether there was a significant difference in the quality of the Farsi texts edited by professional editors with and without referring to their original English texts. To this end, copies of one text translated from English into Farsi were given to 40 professional editors, half of whom received the original English text as well. The editors edited the text as if this was a real-life professional assignment and their texts were subsequently assessed by two raters who were both well-experienced professors of Farsi. To respond to the research question, the means of the scores given by each rater to the two groups, that is, those receiving the English text and those who did not, were calculated for an independent samples t-test to be run. The conclusion was that there was no significant difference in the editing quality of the two groups. In other words, receiving the original English text was not a determining factor on the quality of the editors' work. Furthermore, a questionnaire focusing on both certain professional aspects of the editors' work in general and their working relationship with translators was administered to all 40 editors, the results of which are discussed in the paper.