Translation validation of adult literacy survey – The LAMP

About LAMP

The Literacy Assessment and Monitoring Programme (LAMP) organised by UNESCO’s Institute of Statistics (UIS) is an adult literacy survey designed to be administered in emerging countries, where building capacity and eliminating illiteracy are priorities.

Project Scope

cApStAn was responsible for translation verification of 13 language versions for the following countries: Afghanistan, El Salvador, Kenya, Jordan, Laos, Mongolia, Morocco, Niger, the Palestinian Autonomous Territories, Paraguay and Vietnam. Robust translation quality control procedures were implemented in order to deliver equivalent and valid survey questionnaires for the required language-country combinations.

Challenges

Given the target countries, it was a challenge to identify suitable linguists for the required languages who had experience in transadapting adult literacy survey questionnaires. It was imperative to maintain consistency across all the languages for data accuracy, as the survey results would be utilized to assess the literacy skills of the target countries and propose policy development and changes accordingly.

For Niger, cApStAn arranged on-site hands-on training for linguists working on the 6 national languages – French, Fulfulde, Hausa, Kanuri, Songhay-Zarma, Tamajaq. The feedback they provided on the national versions was world class.

Project execution process

Outcome achieved

The project was considered a success as UNESCO was able to launch the adult literacy survey in the target countries with questionnaires well transadapted for the survey takers.

cApStAn successfully addressed the challenge of identifying experienced linguists in the required languages and coordinated efficiently with the UNESCO team to help them analyse the verifiers’ findings, further discuss these and resolve any residual controversies with the national centres in each country.

Want to try this out on your materials?

Select some sample items or sample questions, and request a free pilot at hermes@capstan.be or contact us via the form below for more details.