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The impact of translation apps on translation students’ performance

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Abstract

Utilizing translation technologies, such as computer-aided translation tools, online dictionaries, and parallel corpora, has become integral to the professional practice of translation. However, further research is necessary to investigate the effect of these technologies on translation quality and translator performance. The aim of the current study was to assess the impact of mobile translation apps on the performance of trainee translators. To achieve this aim, 59 undergraduate translation students were required to translate a text from English into Arabic. The sample was divided into three groups based on the translation app they used. The first group did not use any translation apps, the second group used the Google Translate app, and the third group used the Reverso Context app. The participants’ translations were evaluated and scored using a rubric that is based on the standardized error-marking rubric developed by the American Translators Association’s Certification Program. Students’ scores and translation errors were statistically analyzed to detect differences in the performance of the three groups. Results indicated a statistically significant difference in scores among the three groups in favor of Reverso app users. Students who used the Reverso app had fewer Lexical, Cohesion, Omission, and Text-type errors than those who did not use a translation app. The results highlight the importance of integrating translation apps in translation training classrooms to enhance students’ translation competence.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the faculty member who contributed to the evaluation and scoring of the translation tasks.

Funding

This study was funded by the Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission, Ministry of Culture, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under [12/2022] as part of the Arabic Observatory of Translation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Language Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Hind Alotaibi & Dania Salamah

Authors
  1. Hind Alotaibi
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  2. Dania Salamah
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Contributions

HA contributed to the introduction, results, discussion, and conclusion sections. In addition, she was responsible for data collection. DS also contributed to the discussion and conclusion sections, and she was responsible for the methodology and data analysis sections. Both authors proofread and edited the article and verified documentation and formatting.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dania Salamah.

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Appendices

Appendix 1

Error-Marking Rubric

Meaning Transfer Errors (10 pts.)

Category

Number of Errors

Deduction

A (0.25-1/error)

  

AMB (0.25-1/error)

  

COH (0.25/error)

  

F (0.25-1/error)

  

L (0.25-1/error)

  

MU (0.25-1/error)

  

O (0.25-1/error)

  

T (0.25/error)

  

IND (0.25/error)

  

TT (0.25-1/error)

  

VT (0.25/error)

  

OTH-MT (0.25-1/error)

  

Total

/10

Mechanical Errors (10 pts.)

Category

 

Number of Errors

Deduction

G (0.25/error)

SYN

  

WF/PS

  

P (0.125/error)

   

SP (0.125/error)

   

D (0.25/error)

   

C (0.25/error)

   

U (0.25/error)

   

OTH-ME (0.25/error)

   

Total

/10

Final total

/20

Appendix 2

Explanation of Codes in the Rubric

Code

Meaning

A

Addition

AMB

Ambiguity

COH

Cohesion

F

Faithfulness (the translation is too far from the meaning of the ST)

L

Literalness

MU

Misunderstanding of the ST

O

Omission

T

Terminology or word choice errors

IND

Indecisiveness (when more than one option is given)

TT

Text type (errors of register and style)

VT

Verb tense (when the grammar is correct, but the meaning is wrong)

OTH-MT

Other meaning transfer errors

G

Grammatical errors (these include SYN and WF/PS errors)

SYN

Syntactic errors

WF/PS

Word form or part of speech errors

P

Punctuation errors

SP

Spelling errors

D

Diacritical marks

C

Capitalization errors

U

Usage errors

OTH-ME

Other mechanical errors

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Alotaibi, H., Salamah, D. The impact of translation apps on translation students’ performance. Educ Inf Technol 28, 10709–10729 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-023-11578-y

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