ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a matrix-based pre-project quality negotiation (MPPQN) method for machine translation post-editing (MTPE) services, which actively uses a translation specification matrix as an instrument of negotiation. The method could be used by translation service providers (TSPs) in their pre-project discussions with their clients in order to reach a clear agreement on the translation quality to be achieved in an MTPE service. The matrix is composed of error categories adapted from Multidimensional Quality Metrics (MQM). The method verbalises and visualises the building blocks of translation quality so that all parties have a clear, shared understanding of the translation qualities to be sought in a specific MTPE project. Various error-category-based MTPE specifications have been used in the industry, but the method presented here can easily be used by TSPs and clients who are new to MTPE quality assurance. The method presented here is devised for the Japanese–English language combination, but it can easily be tweaked for other languages.
