A descriptive analysis of the Turkish Translation (2021) of the Guideline 'Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) (2020)' from a terminological perspective

This study conducts a descriptive content analysis of the Turkish translation (CoE, 2021b) of the educational guideline Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) (CoE, 2020). The research adopts Toury's (2012) translation norms as its theoretical framework and Vinay and Darbelnet's (1995) translation procedures as its methodological tool. Aiming to uncover the guiding norms behind the relevant translation, the macro-level analysis explores the translational background and (in)tolerance for linguistic mediation, while the micro-level analysis addresses the parenthetical and terminological treatments. At the macro-level, the translation policy was driven by an implicit political motivation to harmonise the national implementation of language education with European standards under the patronage (Lefevere, 2017) of the Turkish Ministry of National Education. There was neither a practical need nor an institutional motive for linguistic mediation; however, textual mediation was tolerated to legitimise terminological preferences. At the micro-level, parenthetical interventions were employed for conceptual clarifications, anaphoric references, and terminological explanations. Literal translation (n=103) and calque (n=70) emerged as the dominant procedures. Out of 100 corpus terms, 36 exhibited polyonymous behaviours through one-to-many, many-to-one, and/or paratextual inconsistencies. Overall, the research results reflect a strong inclination for source-oriented strategies (direct [n=194] versus oblique and supplementary [n=93]), positioning the Turkish CEFR (CoE, 2021b) towards the adequacy direction.