Abstract
The focus of most studies on dictionary users has been on foreign and second language learners, with seldom attention paid to translation trainees. Given that the dictionary is an indispensable tool used by translators and translators in the making alike, research in this regard is crucial to uncover the uses and attitudes of this group of dictionary users’ towards different forms of dictionaries. Revealing translation trainees’ practices facilitates the correction of wrong ones and helps in guiding students towards the efficient use of dictionaries. The ultimate goal is, thus, informing translation pedagogy. Hence, the present study aims at investigating translation trainees’ uses of dictionaries and their attitudes towards different types of dictionaries. The focus is on uncovering the uses and attitudes of Saudi undergraduate female translation trainees towards the different forms of dictionaries available for them today. The article in hand specifically reports on the quantitative phase of a two-phase, mixed-methods case study. A group of 95 undergraduate students answered a multi-item, online questionnaire, with the aim of revealing their dictionary uses and preferences. The results confirmed the participants’ preference for and heavy reliance on electronic dictionaries, due to their convenience, comprehensiveness, portability and being up-to-date. The results further indicated the participants’ preference for bilingual over monolingual dictionaries. Surprisingly, the results also showed that a high number of the respondents reported using Google Translate frequently. Despite these findings, the survey results revealed that the participants have good knowledge of and do in fact use a wide selection of bilingual and monolingual dictionaries, including paper and electronic ones.
Highlights
There has always been a need to reflect on improving the methods of dictionary use, among translation trainees (Roberts, 1992)
The focus of most studies on dictionary users has been on foreign and second language learners, with seldom attention paid to translation trainees
The results of research done on dictionary use are especially helpful for the design of dictionaries, the focus of such studies has been more on academic and educational contexts, language learners in specific, little is known about the dictionary uses and preferences of users beyond that group (Lew & De Schryver, 2014)
Summary
There has always been a need to reflect on improving the methods of dictionary use, among translation trainees (Roberts, 1992). The results of research done on dictionary use are especially helpful for the design of dictionaries, the focus of such studies has been more on academic and educational contexts, language learners in specific, little is known about the dictionary uses and preferences of users beyond that group (Lew & De Schryver, 2014). In general, “does not have a long history” While large numbers of dictionary users have moved into using electronic dictionaries, studies carried out on users of these digital mediums have been rather scarce (Lew, 2013b). The problem is that without a strong foundation in the basics, the art of translation cannot to be achieved (Fujii, 2007)
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