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Download the ITC Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests [SECOND EDITION]. (PDF document, original English version)
Download the ITC Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests [FIRST EDITION]. (PDF document, original English version)
Translations
The ITC Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests [SECOND EDITION]: Brasilian Portuguese translation
The ITC Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests [SECOND EDITION]: Korean translation
The ITC Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests [FIRST EDITION]: Hebrew translation
The ITC Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests [FIRST EDITION]: Brasilian Portuguese translation
The ITC Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests [FIRST EDITION]: Ukrainian translation
About the ITC Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests [SECOND EDITION]
The second edition of the ITC Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests was prepared between 2005 and 2015 to improve upon the first edition, and to respond to advances in testing technology and practices. The 18 guidelines are organized into six categories to facilitate their use: Pre-condition (3), test development (5), confirmation (4), administration (2), scoring and interpretation (2), and documentation (2). For each guideline, an explanation is provided along with suggestions for practice. A checklist is provided to improve the implementation of the guidelines.
The Council of the International Test Commission wishes to thank the six-person committee who worked for several years to produce the second edition of the Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests: David Bartram, SHL, UK; Giray Berberoglu, Middle East Technical University, Turkey; Jacques Grégoire, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium; Ronald Hambleton, Committee Chairperson, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA; Jose Muniz, University of Oviedo, Spain; and Fons van de Vijver, University of Tilburg, Netherlands.
Also, the International Test Commission wishes to thank Chad Buckendahl (USA); Anne Herrmann and her colleagues at OPP Ltd. (UK); and April Zenisky at the University of Massachusetts (USA) for their careful review of an earlier draft of the document. The ITC is grateful too to all of the other reviewers from around the world who directly or indirectly have contributed to the second edition of the ITC Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests.
About the ITC Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests [FIRST EDITION]
The ITC Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests were developed by a 13-person committee representing a number of international organizations. The objective was to produce a detailed set of guidelines for adapting psychological and educational tests for use in various different linguistic and cultural contexts (Van de Vijver & Hambleton, 1996). This is an area of major importance as tests become used in more and more countries, and as tests developed in one country get translated or adapted for use in another. Adaptation needs to consider the whole cultural context within which a test is to be used. Indeed, the adaptation guidelines apply wherever tests are moved from one cultural setting to another - regardless of whether there is a need for translation. Hambleton (1994) describes the project in detail and outlines the 22 guidelines that have emerged from it. These guidelines fall into four main categories: those concerned with the cultural context, those concerned with the technicalities of instrument development and adaptation, those concerned with test administration, and those concerned with documentation and interpretation. All but the second of these also have direct implications for test use and for test users.
In 2006, the ITC hosted a conference on Test adaptation across language and cultures in Brussels. This conference provided information, guidance and support for updating the ITC Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests. Please click here for more details on the conference web site.
For a more in depth treatment of the ITC Guidelines for Translatng and Adapting Tests please see: Hambleton, R. K. (2005). Issues, Designs and Technical Guidelines for Adapting Tests Into Multiple Languages and Cultures. In R. K. Hambleton, P. F. Merenda and C. D. Spielberger (Eds.). Adapting Psychological and Educational Tests for Cross-Cultural Assessment. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.