Saudi Translation Agencies and Translation Centers: A Study of Post-Editing Practices

Abstract

This qualitative research aims to investigate and analyze the practice of post-editing activity in Saudi translation agencies and translation centers. The study’s focus is on the importance of post-editing Machine Translation (MT) output as an approach to upgrade the quality of MT results to enhance the accuracy of translations. The study data were collected through an electronic survey (questionnaire) comprising short questions about post-editing practice and guidelines in addition to their knowledge about post-editing certification programs. The participants in this study were 18 professional translators working in certified translation agencies and translation centers across different universities between Jeddah, Dammam, and Riyadh cities. The results of the study showed that the participants post-edited the MT outputs in their tasks and recognized the importance of being aware of post-editing standards and guidelines. Further, the findings demonstrated that the majority of the participants used machine translation tools. Finally, they were positively disposed about post-editing certification programs to take employment as post-editors. Based on the results of this study, it is recommended to analyze the state of post-editing in Saudi Arabia on a larger sample to investigate the attitudes of Saudi translation students towards practicing post-editing of MT outputs, and analyzing the activity of post-editing MT in specialized texts by Saudi professional translators.

Systematic Review of English/Arabic Machine Translation Postediting: Implications for AI Application in Translation Research and Pedagogy

“…Perceptual studies conducted to evaluate professional translators' perceptions on using CAT tools and MT and practicing MTPE highlighted patterns of reluctance and avoidance of using MT technologies among translator communities in the Arab world [26,103]. This result is compatible with [34] on the low popularity of postediting amongst the community of practicing translators.…”

“…MTPE is a digital literacy that still awaits due attention in the academic and professional practice of English/Arabic translation, considering the growing demand for translation and the increased use of MT among translators and translation students. While some research studies have underscored the popularity and recent surge in MTPE practice among users and translation service providers [22][23][24], there is humble recognition of postediting by translation communities, academic programs, and research in the English/Arabic language pair [25][26][27][28].…”

“…It is worth noting that not all studies researched the potential of available MT software. There are certain studies that researched the affordances of other translation resources such as online dictionaries like Almaany [26] and Translate Dictionary [50].…”

“…Ref. [65] reported that MB was the best engine, while [26] concluded that Reverso Context has a similar performance to GT. Ref.…”