Female Translation Students' Knowledge and Use of Online Dictionaries and Terminology Data Banks: A Case Study

Abstract

This study aims to determine whether translation students at an undergraduate translation program have sufficient awareness of the availability and usability of online vocabulary and terminology search tools that can be of valid assistance to a translator. The study surveyed 50 female translation students of the Translation Program at Prince Sultan University, Saudi Arabia. The survey consisted of questions about knowledge and use patterns and included texts for translating between English and Arabic. Results show that although the students know and use a variety of online resources, they still lack in awareness of some of the very useful ones, and a small minority of the students does not use monolingual dictionaries at all. Analysis of the students' translations of selected terms reveals that availability of excellent online resources is not enough to prevent mistranslations if the students cannot select the right equivalent. The study has implications for lexicographers about the dictionary features most frequently used by translators-to-be. It also provides pedagogical tips for translator trainers who should guide their students to making use of the full potential of online dictionaries and term banks in order to achieve better translation outcomes.

Successful Translation Students’ Use of Dictionaries

“…The pieces of information the participants of this study reported looking for when consulting the dictionary are similar to those mentioned by the participants in Sabbah and Alsalem (2018). This finding, in particular, signifies a major difference between successful translation trainees and other trainees.…”

“…With the digital revolution, a common finding that has been supported by the results of the current study is dictionary users' shift to electronic dictionaries (Lew, 2013b). This shift has been confirmed by the results of many studies in the field, including Kodura (2016), Sabbah andAlsalem (2018), andTulgar (2017).…”

“…Other studies have investigated EFL learners' use of dictionaries when completing translation tasks (Liang & Xu, 2018;Tulgar, 2017). One exception to this is the study carried out by Sabbah and Alsalem (2018), which attempted to investigate translation students' knowledge, patterns of use, and attitudes toward different kinds of online dictionaries as well as terminology databases. The main aim behind this study was to reveal the extent to which the participants were aware of the existence of online resources that can be of help to translation trainees.…”

“…The main aim behind this study was to reveal the extent to which the participants were aware of the existence of online resources that can be of help to translation trainees. Sabbah and Alsalem (2018) reported that most participants used dictionary apps and online dictionaries rather than traditional paper dictionaries. Furthermore, most participants reported using both monolingual and bilingual dictionaries.…”

“…Other online dictionaries the students reported a preference for included the Oxford Dictionary, Reverso, Glosbe, The Free Dictionary, Alqamoos, and Word Reference. When asked about why they would consult the dictionary, participants in Sabbah and Alsalem's (2018) study mentioned the following purposes: checking meaning, translating from English to Arabic, checking synonyms, and, as mentioned by a few students, checking spelling and looking for examples of word usage.…”