Attitudes to CAT Tools: Application on Egyptian Translation Students and Professionals

Abstract

Computer-aided Translation (CAT) tools have become indispensable in most organizations, with major benefits including increasing productivity, unifying terminology and minimizing translation costs. With both positive and negative feedback being reported about these systems, it is imperative to further explore users’ attitudes to CAT tools. Given the scarcity of research conducted in this field on the English-Arabic language pair, the present study attempts to examine users’ attitudes to CAT tools among 114 translation students and professional translators in Egypt. The main purpose of the research is to examine user attitudes towards these tools with specific reference to their perceived benefits, ease of use and compatibility. The survey instrument was adapted from Moore and Benbasat with some modifications. Drawing upon Dillon and Fraser’s premises, the research investigates the relationship between user attitudes to CAT tools and various factors, including years of experience, computer skills and type of texts translated. Semi-structured interviews were also used to achieve a mixed-method. The study points to an overall favorable attitude among participants towards using CAT tools, despite some mixed and contradicting opinions on some aspects. The findings also confirm that users with better computer skills have more favorable attitudes towards CAT tools unlike those with more experience in translation. The study concludes with some recommendations for future research.