Translation, from Pen-and-Paper to Computer-Assisted Tools (CAT Tools) and Machine Translation (MT)

Bianca Han

doi:10.3390/proceedings2020063056

Abstract

This paper reflects the technology-induced novelty of translation, which is perceived as a bridge between languages and cultures. We debate the extent to which the translation process maintains its specificity in the light of the new technology-enhanced working methods ensured by a large variety of Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) and Machine Translation (MT) tools that aim to enhance the process, which includes the translation itself, the translator, the translation project manager, the linguist, the terminologist, the reviewer, and the client. This paper also hints at the topic from the perspective of the translation teacher, who needs to provide students with transversal competencies that are suitable for the digital area, supported by the ability to tackle Cloud-based translation tools, in view of Industry 4.0 requirements.

Highlights

This paper reflects the technology-induced novelty of translation, which is perceived as a bridge between languages and cultures
Since translation is perceived as a bridge between languages and cultures, it was only a matter of time until technology-induced novelty influenced the way in which we perform the sophisticated act of rendering words from one language to the other
Tools and Machine Translation (MT) tools that aim to free-flow the entire process of translation, which includes the translation itself, the translator, the translation project manager, the linguist, the terminologist, the reviewer, and the end client

Summary

Technology and Translation

The aim of the present paper lies in emphasising the necessity of adaptation to the intrinsic novelty imposed by the actual trend in the evolution of the world, brought about by the development of technology in all the arenas of human activity. By using CAT tools in the translation classroom, other major requirements of Industry 4.0 are met: the use of technology as a didactic means, the development of students’ digital skills, and the integration of various technologies into the normal teaching flow as a basic ingredient. Regardless of their preoccupations and approaches to translation studies—aiming to establish the relationship between word and meaning, the rapport among languages, the (im)possibility to express the intended message in the language of the Other, the precarity of the coding-decoding-recoding of the message, the fidelity towards the original, and the extent to which a translation is prone to lose and win (with)in the process—one of the coordinates that all seem to have agreed upon lies in the fact that translation is an important ingredient in the communication process. The portable typewriter came followed by the dictating machine as the technological step, and it was adopted by in-house translation services

On CAT Tools and MT

Translation Technology into the Classroom

Conclusions