Computer-aided Translation Tools Research Articles

Report on English-Chinese Translation Practice Based on Trados Computer Aided Translation: A Case Study of Procedure in Civil Cases in the U.S. Courts

This report focuses on the translation practice of parts of the text from "Procedure in Civil Cases in the U.S. Courts" using the Trados translation software. By comparing and analyzing the application of Trados in the translation process, this study aims to reveal the advantages and limitations of using computer aided translation (CAT) tools in legal text translation. The research finds that Trados significantly aids in the field of legal translation; however, its effectiveness is still limited by the translator's grasp of legal expertise. Therefore, this paper intends to offer practical suggestions and experience summaries for legal text translation and to discuss the pros and cons of CAT tools in specific fields. Through an in-depth analysis of Trados usage and a detailed examination of the translation practice results, this paper aims to provide feasible recommendations for improving the quality of legal text translation and to serve as a reference for the application of CAT tools in the legal field.

Artificial intelligence and human translation: A contrastive study based on legal texts

Artificial intelligence has advanced significantly in recent years, affecting multiple aspects of life. In particular, this has had an impact on the machine translation of texts, reducing or removing human interaction. Artificial intelligence (AI)-based translation software models have thus become widely available, and these now include Google Translate, Bing, Microsoft Translator, DeepL, Reverso, Systran Translate, and Amazon Translate. Several computer-aided translation (CAT) tools such as Memoq, Trados, Smartcat, Lokalise, Smartling, Crowdin, TextUnited, and Memsource are also available. More recently, artificial intelligence has been applied in the development of applications such as ChatGPT, ChatSonic, GPT-3 Playground, Chat GPT 4 and YouChat, which simulate conversational responses to researchers' inquiries, mimicking human interactions more directly. This study thus aimed to examine any remaining contrasts between human and AI translation in the legal field to investigate the potential hypothesis that there is now no difference between human and AI translation. The paper thus also examined concerns about whether the need for human translators will decline in the face of AI development, as well as beginning to assess whether it will ever be possible for those in the legal field to depend only on machine translation. To achieve this, a collection of legal texts from various contracts was chosen, and these pieces were both allocated to legal translators and subjected to AI translation systems. Using a contrastive methodology, the study thus examined the differences between AI and human translation, examining the strengths and weaknesses of both approaches and discussing the situations in which each approach might be most effective.

Exploring the Influence of CAT Tools on Domestication and Foreignization in Translation

This study explores the usage of computer-aided translation (CAT) tools by translators (TRLs) to determine the extent of their utilization. It aims to identify commonly employed CAT tools and evaluate their impact on enhancing the translation process. Additionally, the study investigates the efficiency of these tools in increasing translation productivity. Moreover, it investigates the implications of CAT tools on language learning, particularly in the context of English and foreign languages. By analyzing these factors, the study seeks to provide valuable insights into the utilization and effectiveness of CAT tools in contemporary translation practices. This research contributes to the existing body of knowledge on the role of technology in translation, offering valuable information for translators, language learners, and professionals in the field. The findings of this study have the potential to shape future practices and advancements in computer-aided translation.

Extent of the Use of Computer-Aided Translation Tools in French to Igbo Language Translation among French Language Students in Colleges of Education in South-Eastern Nigeria

Due to the global orientation of the international economy, the availability of data in several languages, and the creation of previously unheard-of communication channels, there has been a significant increase in the need for professional translation services in recent years. Manual translation techniques are no longer sufficient for translators to fulfill the expanding demands of clients and companies. As a result, several translation technologies have been created to aid both experts and students of translation in creating high-quality translations. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine the extent of the use of computer-aided translation tools in French to Igbo language translation among French language students in Colleges of Education in South-Eastern Nigeria. The study adopted survey research design in which a validated 10 items questionnaire termed the ‘Scale for Measuring the Effectiveness of Computer-aided Translation Tools (SMECTT)’ was developed by the researcher in line with the research questions, and was used to elicit information from respondents in the zone. Cronbach alpha was used to determine the instrument's dependability. Data were collected from 130 participants. Analyzing the data produced from the study will involve using descriptive statistics. The findings reveal variations in tool exposure and usage among students, with preferences for specific tools such as Google Translate. However, limitations are observed in addressing grammar and syntax errors. The study highlights the importance of training and guidance in tool utilization, suggesting potential improvements in language education and translation practices for French language students in South-Eastern Nigeria.

Translators' Perceptions on Open Source Translation Tools: Trados and OmegaT

In the last century, great technological development has changed the working principles and methods of institutions and professions worldwide and has started a radical innovation process. While it eliminated those who could not keep up with this innovation, it raised those who did to be the best in their fields. One of the professions affected by this change is undoubtedly translation. Translation technology systems are widely used by translators all over the world today and have a large market. Translators' use of translation technologies more effectively and accurately ensures that their translations are carried out more accurately and in a faster time, and it has become the indispensable equipment of a good translator in the historical process. This has given vital meaning to translation technologies such as translation memories and machine translations. The benefits of translation technologies to the translator are many. Although many studies have been conducted on the problems experienced by translators and the limitations and advantages of translation technologies in general, there are very few studies on the problems experienced by translators individually about the use of translation technologies, the problems they experience and their attitudes. The aim of this article is to identify the various problems that translators experience while using computer-assisted translation tools, to reveal the reasons for using the programs they frequently use, and to get the comments of the translators who use alternative options. By employing a document analysis approach to collect data, the article presents a descriptive analysis of opinions. This analysis is between the paid Trados program, which is known to all translators, and the free alternative program OmegaT. The user comments of the Proz forum, which is known worldwide by translators, are used in the analysis. An analysis is presented by listing the positive and negative opinions about both computer-aided translation tools. The article presents some suggestions regarding translation education based on the findings.

Enhancing Instrumental Competence in Translator Training in a Higher Education Context: A Task-Based Approach

This study aims to design a task-based e-Course for teaching computer-aided translation technology in a higher education context. It also investigates the impact of the e-Course on enhancing the instrumental competence of trainees, as reflected from their use of translation products. This study employs mixed qualitative and quantitative methods using descriptive statistics, pre-post paired sample tests, and an analysis of the translation process. Results of the paired-sample tests showed a noticeable increase in the scores of trainees. The difference in means between the pre and post-tests is statistically significant at P < 0.05. The descriptive statistics of errors have also shown that translation errors decreased dramatically after completing the e-Course. Analysis of the translation process indicated that trainees developed a noticeable mastery over translation competence when employing various CAT tools in the translation process. The study recommends that translator training in a higher education context in this age of globalization and localisation should familiarise trainees with the technical aspects of the industry and align with the industry’s needs and specifications. In this sense, this study culminates in the design of a learning prototype for the teaching of various desktop and cloud-based computer-aided translation tools and not only those used by big companies in a blended, hybrid or fully online environment.

Exploring Undergraduate Students’ Perspectives toward Computer-aided Translation Tools and Machine Translation: A Case Study of Students of the English Department

Computer-aided Translation (CAT) tools have attracted the attention of scholars who practice translation in various disciplines. The current study investigated undergraduate students’ Perspectives on CAT tools and Machine Translation (MT). More specifically, it investigates to what extent CAT tools improve productivity and translation quality. Finally, it also explores the other merits of using CAT tools. The present study used a qualitative analysis and semi-structured interviews to answer the research questions. The findings indicate that most of the students have a positive attitude toward using CAT tools. Furthermore, the findings show that lexical, syntactic, and special use of expressions as well as collocations and words that have cultural connotations were the most challenging that the students encountered when using MT. in addition. Improving productivity, enhancing quality, scalability, and connectivity are the four concepts mentioned by the subjects of the study as merits that made them use the CAT tool for translation other than using machine translation.

Analysis of Edit Operations for Post-editing Systems

Post-editing has become an important part not only of translation research but also in the global translation industry. While computer-aided translation tools, such as translation memories, are considered to be part of a translator's work, lately, machine translation (MT) systems have also been accepted by human translators. However, many human translators are still adopting the changes brought by translation technologies to the translation industry. This paper introduces a novel approach for seeking suitable pairs of n-grams when recommending n-grams (corresponding n-grams between MT and post-edited MT) based on the type of text (manual or administrative) and MT system used for machine translation. A tool that recommends and speeds up the correction of MT was developed to help the post-editors with their work. It is based on the analysis of words with the same lemmas and analysis of n-gram recommendations. These recommendations are extracted from sequence patterns of the mismatched words (MisMatch) between MT output and post-edited MT output. The paper aims to show the usage of morphological analysis for recommending the post-edit operations. It describes the usage of mismatched words in the n-gram recommendations for the post-edited MT output. The contribution consists of the methodology for seeking suitable pairs of words, n-grams and additionally the importance of taking into account metadata (the type of the text and/or style and MT system) when recommending post-edited operations.

The impact of text presentation on translator performance

Abstract Widely used computer-aided translation (CAT) tools divide documents into segments, such as sentences, and arrange them side-by-side in a spreadsheet-like view. We present the first controlled evaluation of these design choices on translator performance, measuring speed and accuracy in three experimental text-processing tasks. We find significant evidence that sentence-by-sentence presentation enables faster text reproduction and within-sentence error identification compared to unsegmented text, and that a top-and-bottom arrangement of source and target sentences enables faster text reproduction compared to a side-by-side arrangement. For revision, on the other hand, we find that presenting unsegmented text results in the highest accuracy and time efficiency. Our findings have direct implications for best practices in designing CAT tools.

User-driven assessment of commercial term extractors

Abstract In this paper, we address the system evaluation issue for commercial term extraction tools from the users’ perspective. We first revisit the gold standard approach commonly practised among researchers, and discuss the challenges it may pose on end users, taking translators as a typical example. Considering the very different motivations and needs of users and researchers, a user-driven approach is proposed as a variation and alternative to the gold standard approach to allow users to assess and understand the performance of commercial tools more objectively. Its feasibility and usefulness are demonstrated by deploying a benchmarking dataset of English-Chinese financial terms, produced by multiple annotators, in a case study with SDL MultiTerm Extract. The results also provide insight for future development of term extractors designed for translators, which will hopefully generate more accurate candidates, offer more customised features, enable better user experience, and enjoy wider popularity as a computer-aided translation tool.

The Integration of Computer-Aided Translation Tools in Translator-Training Programs in Saudi Universities: Toward a More Visible State

The paper aims to investigate the current state of Computer-Aided Translation (CAT) tools integration into the translator-training programs of some universities in Saudi Arabia, which are King Saud University (KSU), Princess Nourah University (PNU), Imam Mohammed Ibin Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Prince Sultan University (PSU), and Saudi Electronic University (SEU). The investigation touched upon the sufficiency of this integration and the usability of these tools by the translation students and graduates of these universities in different translation courses and tasks, which contributes to enriching the field of translation technology, due to the scarcity of such studies in the investigated region. The study used a mixed-methods approach to enhance the validity of the data. The results showed that CAT tools have not been integrated effectively yet into the translator-training programs of the universities under study, as not all of them provide CAT courses. While the universities that do, lack some elements which can help to promote the integration of these tools into the programs. As for the usage of these tools, the findings revealed that a significant percentage of the participants do not use CAT tools in their translation tasks, and more than half of them do not use CAT tools in other translation courses. These findings suggest more integration of CAT tools in the universities’ translator-training programs to enhance their outcomes and increase their graduates’ opportunities in the job market.

The Integration of Computer-Aided Translation Tools in Translator-Training Programs in Saudi Universities: Toward a More Visible State

The paper aims to investigate the current state of Computer-Aided Translation (CAT) tools integration into the translator-training programs of some universities in Saudi Arabia, which are King Saud University (KSU), Princess Nourah University (PNU), Imam Mohammed Ibin Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Prince Sultan University (PSU), and Saudi Electronic University (SEU). The investigation touched upon the sufficiency of this integration and the usability of these tools by the translation students and graduates of these universities in different translation courses and tasks, which contributes to enriching the field of translation technology, due to the scarcity of such studies in the investigated region. The study used a mixed-methods approach to enhance the validity of the data. The results showed that CAT tools have not been integrated effectively yet into the translator-training programs of the universities under study, as not all of them provide CAT courses. While the universities that do, lack some elements which can help to promote the integration of these tools into the programs. As for the usage of these tools, the findings revealed that a significant percentage of the participants do not use CAT tools in their translation tasks, and more than half of them do not use CAT tools in other translation courses. These findings suggest more integration of CAT tools in the universities’ translator-training programs to enhance their outcomes and increase their graduates’ opportunities in the job market.

SDL Trados and Tmxmall: A Comparative Study of Computer-Aided Translation Tools

<p>Technological development has brought about a series of changes, including influences on the traditional translation industry which is unable to meet the future needs due to its low efficiency and limited forms. Computer-aided translation software, shortened as CAT software, is therefore developed. Featuring powerful memory and fast computing speed of computers, CAT software allows translators to give full scope to creativity, which enhances traditional translation efficiency. In recent years, both CAT software and cloud translation software have been rapidly developed. The latter is built based on cloud computing technology, and is emerging one after another. This article, taking such CAT software as SDL Trados and such cloud translation platform as Tmxmall as examples, studies similarities and differences between the two different kinds of tools in terms of operation interface, translation project management and corpus management. By analyzing features of the two tools, this article seeks to provide references for translators and software engineers.</p>

Accessibility in the Computer-Aided Translation Tools for English-Arabic Language Pair

Computer Aided Translation (CAT) Tools are essential in the current market. However, one ofthe main disadvantages of the most commonly-used CAT tools, like Trados, MemoQ, and more is thatthey are not accessible to visually-impaired translators. This critical disadvantage limits their jobopportunities in the market.Most of the studies that are conducted on the accessibility in CAT tools are for differentlanguage pairs rather than Arabic. In the light of Skopos theory by Hans Vermeer, the current papersheds the light on the accessibility in CAT tools in the Arab market to explore their efficiency for thevisually-impaired professional Arab translators working on the English-Arabic language pair. Thispaper aims to explore how the commonly-used CAT tools are accessible or inaccessible, to what extentthey are compatible with the screen readers, and to suggest alternative CAT tools to be accessible tothe visually-impaired translators and also to be compatible with the commonly-used CAT tools.In order to answer these questions, a quantitative and qualitative questionnaire is designed inorder to be answered by visually-impaired professional Arab translators and students in languageuniversities using CAT tools. At the end of this research, alternative CAT tools are suggested to beaccessible.

The ergonomics of translation tools: understanding when less is actually more

ABSTRACT Professional translation and consequently translation training involve a wide range of technological aids and translation tools. Agreat deal of effort has been devoted to developing and implementing features that can contribute to higher consistency, productivity and quality but less attention has been paid to the needs of learners and users. Research with professionals at the workplace suggests that there is potential to optimise the ergonomics of certain features of computer-aided translation tools. An exploratory study of the usability of two such tools with very different interfaces was carried out with students enrolled in a Master of Arts (MA) programme in translation. Quantitative measures from process monitoring software and qualitative indicators from post-task interviews highlight how students interacted with the two tools as they translated comparable source texts. The process measures and the comments suggest that the CAT tool with the leaner interface might be easier for students to use. In-depth analyses of three pairs of comparable segments support this finding, as do the evaluations of the target text segments by a separate cohort of MA students. We consider the implications of our findings in light of recent calls for improved cognitive, physical, and organisational ergonomics at the translation workplace.

Fuzzy-Match Repair Guided by Quality Estimation

Computer-aided translation tools based on translation memories are widely used to assist professional translators. A translation memory (TM) consists of a set of translation units (TU) made up of source- and target-language segment pairs. For the translation of a new source segment s', these tools search the TM and retrieve the TUs (s,t) whose source segments are more similar to s'. The translator then chooses a TU and edit the target segment t to turn it into an adequate translation of s'. Fuzzy-match repair (FMR) techniques can be used to automatically modify the parts of t that need to be edited. We describe a language-independent FMR method that first uses machine translation to generate, given s' and (s,t), a set of candidate fuzzy-match repaired segments, and then chooses the best one by estimating their quality. An evaluation on three different language pairs shows that the selected candidate is a good approximation to the best (oracle) candidate produced and is closer to reference translations than machine-translated segments and unrepaired fuzzy matches ( t). In addition, a single quality estimation model trained on a mix of data from all the languages performs well on any of the languages used.

The Memory of Knowledge: An Analytical Study on Translators’ Perceptions and Assessment of CAT Tools with Regard to Text Genre

The use of the computer-aided translation (CAT) tools has been skyrocketingover the last two decades in the translation industry. Therefore, it has becomenecessary to measure user satisfaction based on two dimensions: text genre andyears of experience using such tools. The study aims at investigating veterantranslators’ perceptions about their best practices to get the best out of CATtools, some solutions to mitigate some issues and suggestions to optimize thefunctionality of this software. Furthermore, the study aims at highlighting themost frequent advantages and disadvantages and displaying translators’perception of the most highly-ranked linguistic issue in each text genre. It alsoanalyzes translators’ perceptions of the most influential factor that determinesthe effectiveness of CAT tools. This study is significant because it is based onhands-on experience and gives translators a broad overview on the feasibility ofthis software and brings attention to the functionality needed to be optimized byCAT developers. For the purposes of this descriptive study, a survey wasdistributed among a sample of English <> Arabic professional translators fromdifferent fields of specialization and with different years of experience using CATtools. The study found out that translators’ years of experience using CAT toolsdoes not affect their satisfaction with such tools while the field of specializationhas an effect on how translators are satisfied with CAT tools. Years of experiencematter when it comes to providing solutions and suggestions. Based on theattained findings, a number of solutions and suggestions are presented

Translation and Technology: Investigating the Employment of Computer-aided Translation (CAT) Tools among Iranian Freelance Translators

The present study aimed to investigate the employment of computer-aided translation (CAT) tools among Iranian freelance translators. Fulford and Granell-Zafra (2005) proposed a model encompassing both information and communications technology (ICT) and CAT tools to support a large number of activities, including document production, information search and retrieval, communications, business management, marketing and work procurement, and translation creation. CAT tools are employed to support document production, business management, and translation creation; and ICT tools are used to support the rest. A questionnaire was used for data collection from Iranian freelancers. As the results indicated, Iranian freelance translators were more interested to employ general-purpose software applications, such as word processing programs and presentation software, whereas they showed less interest in the employment of special-purpose software, such as accounting packages and database software. Moreover, most participants approved the effectiveness of CAT tools in their work.

Use and Evaluation of Computer-Aided Translation Tools (CAT) on the Word Level from the Perspective of Palestinian Translators and Translation Trainees

This research study aimed to identify the use and evaluation of Computer-Aided Translation (CAT) tools in the translation of Arabic/English words and expressions from the perspective of Palestinian translators and translation trainees (PTTT). Previous studies have addressed technology and translation in general and the use of CAT tools in particular, still there have been no studies that addressed the evaluation of Arabic- English CAT tools. A sample of 400 translators and translation trainees were selected, and a questionnaire, adapted from a Chinese study (Xu & Wang 2011), was completed by 308 participants. In addition, 12 semi-formal interviews were conducted with selected PTTT. Results revealed that PTTT highly recommended using CAT tools, indicating that they are fast and convenient; still the majority considered them unreliable and recommended that caution should be practiced in using them. Not all CAT tools are used by PTTT, either because they are new or not sufficiently developed to handle some of the challenges of parsing and translating Arabic.

Use and Evaluation of Computer-Aided Translation Tools (CAT) on the Word Level from the Perspective of Palestinian Translators and Translation Trainees

This research study aimed to identify the use and evaluation of Computer-Aided Translation (CAT) tools in the translation of Arabic/English words and expressions from the perspective of Palestinian translators and translation trainees (PTTT). Previous studies have addressed technology and translation in general and the use of CAT tools in particular, still there have been no studies that addressed the evaluation of Arabic- English CAT tools. A sample of 400 translators and translation trainees were selected, and a questionnaire, adapted from a Chinese study (Xu & Wang 2011), was completed by 308 participants. In addition, 12 semi-formal interviews were conducted with selected PTTT. Results revealed that PTTT highly recommended using CAT tools, indicating that they are fast and convenient; still the majority considered them unreliable and recommended that caution should be practiced in using them. Not all CAT tools are used by PTTT, either because they are new or not sufficiently developed to handle some of the challenges of parsing and translating Arabic.