Why foreign language proficiency still matters: multidimensional assessment of student translators’ performance in online translation tests

Translation assessment is central to translator education. Building on translation competence models, recent scholarship increasingly advocates competence-based, multidimensional assessment that combines product and process evidence when evaluating students’ translation performance. Online tests, now widely used for low- and high-stakes translation assessment, offer a practical context for concurrently capturing both strands of evidence. This study examines how foreign language (FL) proficiency relates to student translators’ process management, product quality, and performance perceptions across text types in course-embedded online tests. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study combined holistic assessment of translations with screen recordings, questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews for a comprehensive analysis. The findings indicated that, although its effects varied by text type, higher FL proficiency predicted more effective process management and higher translation quality, and was associated with more positive performance perceptions. However, many test-takers were unaware of the importance of process management. This study calls for further strengthening FL proficiency development, incorporating process management training, and considering FL proficiency in early diagnostic assessment and placement to support more equitable competence development across entry proficiency levels. Overall, the study contributes to competence-based translation assessment by providing a multidimensional account of student translators’ performance across FL proficiency levels in online translation tests.