Abstract
The recent years have witnessed a high demand for professional translation services due to the global nature of world economy, accessibility to data in different languages, and the development of unprecedented communication channels. Translators can no longer meet these growing needs of customers and businesses. As such, different translation technologies have been developed to help translation learners and professionals improve their performance in producing a high quality translation. These technologies are now widely integrated into translation programs in different universities, institutes and training centers around the world for their usefulness and reliability in improving the performance of translation learners and professionals in the delivery of trustworthy and professional translation services. Nevertheless, surveys show that the Saudi labor market still has serious problems with qualified translators who are familiar with translation technologies that have negative impacts on the quality and delivery of translation services. This study, therefore, seeks to explore the opportunities and challenges of incorporating translation software and latest technologies into translation pedagogy in the Saudi universities. An open-ended interview with 37 translation instructors from 9 Saudi universities was conducted. Results indicate that the integration of translation software and technologies is still less than expected. This can be attributed to the fact that the majority of instructors prefer manual translation over computer-assisted translation (CAT), translation technologies are not provided by the institutions, and learning outcomes are not linked to labor market needs.
Highlights
The applications of technologies to translation studies have always been the core concern of translation professionals and software developers because of the increasing demands for translation services [1,2,3]
Classroom instruction is still conventional and largely depends on print texts, hand writing assignment, and inside classroom discussion through whiteboards. This traditional environment of education allows no chance for computerizing the process of translation. This can be attributed to the fact that the majority of instructors prefer manual translation over computer-assisted translation (CAT), translation technologies are not provided by the institutions, and learning outcomes are not linked to labor market needs
The analysis demonstrated that despite the significant part translation technologies and software programs play on improving the professional standards of translation and EFL students' translation productivity, they are still far from being applied as institutionally authorized parts of translation pedagogy
Summary
Different translation technologies have been developed to help translation learners and professionals improve their performance in producing a high quality translation. These technologies are widely integrated into translation programs in different universities, institutes and training centers around the world for their usefulness and reliability in improving the performance of translation learners and professionals in the delivery of trustworthy and professional translation services. Results indicate that the integration of translation software and technologies is still less than expected This can be attributed to the fact that the majority of instructors prefer manual translation over computer-assisted translation (CAT), translation technologies are not provided by the institutions, and learning outcomes are not linked to labor market needs
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