Yemeni EFL Students’ Use of Different Electronic Tools for Translation: The Internet-Based Tools | April 2018 | Translation Journal

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Yemeni EFL Students’ Use of Different Electronic Tools for Translation: The Internet-Based Tools

Abstract

This study specifically aims to investigate using the Internet in the process of translation among English as foreign language (EFL) students of English department at Queen Arwa University (QAU), Yemen. In addition, it attempts to explore the barriers faced by those students,working across Arabic and English, regarding the use and the application of the Internet and its different tools within the practice of translation. To achieve these purposes, this study employed the descriptive survey research design. It has implemented a questionnaire of both systems of question formulating, open-ended and closed-ended to determine the use of the Internet within the translation process and areas of difficulty students experience concerning its use. The results obtained reveal that poor information technology skills and lacking the practical knowledge required to use the Internet efficiently are two remarkable obstacles to integrating the Internet in the process of translation by students. The findings of the study are significant to the Yemeni translation teachers who are directly mandated with implementation of the Internet-based tools. A couple of considerable recommendations are provided in this study in an attempt to help in solving or, at least, decreasing the room of obstacles existence regarding the use of the Internet in the translation process among those EFL students.

Key words: Translation, the Internet, Electronic Tools, Internet-based Tools, EFL students

1. Introduction

The relationship between translation and technology is not a birth of today but a couple of centuries ago. In fact, the first spark resulted in the integration of technology in the translation field was in 15th century when Gutenberg invented the first portable type printing. Byrne (2007) states "In the 15th century when Gutenberg developed moveable type printing, few could have predicted the explosion in translation activity that would ensue" (p. 63). Gutenberg, since then, had paved the way for a new concept of translation, and the relationship between translation and technology is getting more interactively linked and indispensable. In other words, starting from 15th century until our present time, the age of information and technology, translation and technology have always been associated with one another. This association can be seen from the point of view that translation has made a strong contribution to the promotion of science.

No one can deny the role translation played in the wide spread of the different sciences throughout the world by helping the nations to overcome language and culture boundaries. On the other hand, the coming of technology has altered the way we look at translation as a profession. In today’s professional world, technology is not an option; it is a necessity (Biau Gil and Pym, 2006). The integration of technology in the translation practice has facilitated the process of translation and effectively improved the production of translators. Technology plays an important role for translators in the present time and makes their work easier and faster. They “are feeling the long-term changes brought about by the information age” (Austermühl, 2001, p.1). Translation is currently being carried out in “a context characterized by globalization, specialization and digitization” and it “has become a computer-based activity” (Austermühl, 2001, p.2). It becomes a highly technologized profession which includes some electronic tools and resources linked with the work of translators (Kenny, 2012). Biau Gil and Pym’s (2006) work refers to the vital role that technology plays for translators in the present era.

The most established and effective face of technology is the Internet. Generally, one can argue that the Internet is the backbone of technology, and nowadays most of the technological means are associated with it in a way or another. As a matter of fact, the Internet was the most appreciated breakthrough which has entirely changed the way people look at technology. With the coming of the Internet, it has gradually been more integrated in the different fields of knowledge and practices, and in one level, it could occupy the position of translator assistant. Nowadays, it is actually taken for granted that the Internet is the first option to consider when conducting translation.

Castro Roig (cited in Sánchez, 2006) states “a translator without a computer is like a taxi driver without a taxi.” Roig statement reflects the indispensability of technology in the field of translation and how deeply it dived into this practice to be almost difficult to carry out translation without. “The antiquated image of a lone translator, armed only with a pencil or a typewriter and surrounded by dusty books, is no longer realistic” (Austermühl, 2001, p11). The Internet as an essential part of technology offers nowadays a respectful number of assisting means and tools for translators to help them produce translations of high quality. All those tools merely need an Internet connection to be accessed by translators and most of which can be used with no cost. However, some people all over the world still suffer in using the Internet, get access to it and face many difficulties and problems. Yemeni students are not exception in this regard.

The problem, here, lies in that the overwhelming majority of QAU English-department students still use the traditional means (pen, papers, printed dictionaries, etc…) to practice and conduct translation and they lack the required knowledge that qualifies them to efficiently use the Internet in the process of translation. The Internet is not easily accessible to either the teachers or the studentsdue to different reasons such as IT and financial obstacles. Above and beyond, students' use of Internet-based applications and tools still almost absent due to lack of knowledge and they are noticeably confined to use search engines, usually Google, and machine translators such as Google Translator. Consequently, this study will try to investigate the using and applying the Internet-based tools in the process of translation as well as the reasons why most of the students don't use the Internet assistance when translating.

2. Research Questions

As this study attempts to investigate the usefulness of the Internet assistance in the translation process, it will try to find satisfactory answers to the following questions:

1-What are the barriers faced by QAU translation students in integrating the Internet in the process of translation?

2-Why the use of the Internet is still limited and almost absent among the students when translating?

3-How far can the found obstacles be overcome?

3. Literature Review

3.1. Translation Process

The coming of globalization and the industrial revolution has mainly contributed to the spread of the words 'translation' and 'translate' and the concepts they hold. Starting from the late nineteenth century to the early twenty first century, the world has become more aware of the need of breaking cultural and distance barriers, aiming at making the entire world as one small village. In order to approximate people beliefs, customs, languages, knowledge etc., there have been an urgent need of a medium through which the barrier of language diversity can be overcome, and that medium was 'translation' which is a branch of applied linguistics and a complex craft, profession and process.

Ghazala (2008) has shed some light on the complexity of the translation process and proved that translation is not as an easy affair as some people see. He states

“As a subject, translation is generally used to refer to all the processes and methods used to transfer the meaning of the source language text into the target language by means of using: words which already have an equivalent in Arabic language, new words for which no ready-made equivalents are available in Arabic before, foreign words written in Arabic letters and foreign words changed to suit Arabic pronunciation” (p.4).

Newmark (1981) qualifies translation as a craft aiming at “replacing a written message and/or statement in one language by the same message and/or statement in another language” (p. 7). He (1988) also states that translation is “rendering the meaning of a text into another language in the way that the author intended the text” (p.5). Nida and Taber (1982) believe that “translation consists in reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language message” (p.12). Therefore, the translator in order to transfer the message, concepts, style, effect and implications of a text, he/she will inevitably be in need of some tools assisting him/her to perform that task efficiently. Actually, one of the main and most effective tools to produce an accurate and reliable piece of translation is the electronic tools. The Internet, as one kind of electronic tools, offers a good number of different translation-assisting tools.

3.2. The Internet and Translation Profession

From historical point of view, the origins of the Internet mainly date back to 1960s in which it was originally a research being conducted by United States federal government. In fact, the Internet has publicly appeared first in the military and academic institutions in the United States and it was used as a means of communication through big computers at that time. The modern Internet appeared in the early 1990s as a result of the participation of business enterprises in the Internet use which paved the way for an industrial revolution in the field of computer manufacturing. Put it differently, the 1990s of the last century was a revolutionary decade with an abundance of “new linguistic varieties arising out of the worldwide implementation of the Internet” (Crystal, 2003, p. ix). Biau Gil (2002) portrays “Twenty years ago most freelance translators used a typewriter or dictated translations to a secretary; ten years ago they had a computer with a word processor; nowadays most translators need to know how to use translation-memory software and terminology managers, and must be expert Internet users” (pp. 89-90). Owing to the integration of business and technology, many technological innovations and products have come to life which effectively supported and strongly contributed to the wide spread of the Internet to every part of this world. Since then, the Internet is remarkably taking more and more developments every day and rapidly becoming more involved in many new areas of life. Nowadays, the Internet is indispensable tool for translators, so we have what is known as the Internet and related online technology digital translation.

The Internet “is the transport vehicle for the information stored in files on another computer. The majority of these files are available on the World Wide Web, a network of sites that can be searched and retrieved by a special protocol known as HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)” (Sánchez,2006 , p. 3).The World Wide Web, which is behind many of the development in the past century, is “ a term indicating an internet based system accessed using browsers to access information, graphics, photography, video, and audio materials made available to specific individuals or the public”(Küng, Richards, & Towse, 2008, p. 4). BBC (2012) defines the Internet as “a global network of computers that works much like the postal system, only at sub-second speeds. Just as the postal service enables people to send one another envelopes containing messages, the Internet enables computers to send one another small packets of digital data” (BBC.co.uk). What is more, Küng, Richards & Towse’s (2008) definition of the Internet which refers to “a telephony-based system that links computers and computer networks worldwide to permit distribution of data, e-mail, messages, and visual and audio materials to individuals, groups of individuals and the public” (pp. 3-4).

The Internet has been nominated for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, as it has virtually revolutionized the world (‘Internet in running for 2010’, 2010). Globally, according to a report, there were about 1.5 billon Internet users in the year 2008; the number has increased worldwide to more than 45 % (i.e. 2.2 billion) users by 2013(‘Global Online Population Forecast, 2008 to 2013’, cited in ‘India Will Be’ 2009, p.5). On March 31, 2017, more than 3.7 billion people are using the Internet worldwide; more than 2 billion live in developing countries (Internet World Stats). One area which has taken a big part of participation in the Internet uses is translation area.

Translation as a practice is no longer a pen-and-paper activity. It has become a computer-based activity in our present time due to the great impact technology in general and the Internet in particular made to translation. Globalization and the related technological revolution have changed the way in which information in the present-day is produced and perceived (Abdallah, 2011). For the most part, technology is now playing a vital role in the practice of translation as the laboratory of translators in which translation is tested, formulated and produced with the help of the various useful tools available. The advent of the internet and related online technology has caused a paradigm shift in the field of translation from the utilization of printed materials to the use of digital translation and interpretation material (Drugan & Chris, 2011, cited in Dos Santos, 2016, p.42).

The Internet, like other electronic tools, has advantages as well as disadvantages. Translators could gain ground on the Internet and take many advantages with the aim of finding ways to improve the way they translate. The Internet, in fact, provides many options that assist the translator to conduct his/her translation efficiently in various available means. It is used as “cost-effective, additional promotion and distribution channel” to serve audiences (Van der Wurff, 2008, p. 67). It “reduces the cost of content reproduction and distribution, but not the costs of content production” (ibid). Besides the easier and faster delivery, the Internet nowadays offers many options to translators helping them to produce an accurate and reliable translation. Most of the options have covered all the areas of translators' need including linguistic aspects such as the semantic, syntactic and stylistic, and also the aspects related to the way they do their jobs such as client communicating, product delivering and document formatting. Additionally, “as translators exploit translation capabilities offered by machines, they must consider of the benefits of the technology are worth the cost of their translation work being downgraded as simple copy editing work” (Dos Santos, 2016, p.45). As a matter of fact, all what translators need nowadays is a computer with an Internet access to do their jobs in a complete manner. The tools the Internet provides are various and can fully be depended on to carry out a respectable piece of translation.

3.3. The Internet-based Tools

It is worth mentioning that the Internet-based tools have granted translators new assisting methods which can never be reached but on the Internet, giving the Internet new privileges over the traditional means of conducting translation. Most of those tools can be accessible by ordinary translators for free. The most well-known Internet-based tools and resources of which a translator can make use are many. Austermühl (2001) provides a valuable list of Internet resources in each chapter of his book. Sánchez (2006) also presents a quick overview of electronic tools for translators with a separate list of wide variety of tools for the Internet along with the links. Kenny (2012) highlights some of the translation electronic tools which include electronic dictionaries, term banks, terminology management systems, term-extraction tools, corpora, corpus-processing tools, translation memory tools and social networking. Hence, the integration of advanced technology in the translation profession is characterized by augmented use of electronic tools such as electronic mail and instantly updated digital thesaurus which make it difficult for translation procedures to be carried out by a team (Koskinen, 2000).

According, we can name here a series of internet-based tools, for instance online monolingual and multilingual dictionaries (general, specificfield & linguistic-specified), online encyclopaedias, specialized searchable databases, online spelling checkers, electronic syntactical and semantic proof-readers, internet-based machine translation, internet-based translation memories, online linguistic-discussion platforms (forums & chats and other online communication systems), blogs, search engines, internet-based pdf creators and convertors and finally e-mail services.

The ways translators take advantages of these different tools differ, and some of them (machine translation and translation memories) are purely built by the effort of each individual translator. These tools have, in fact, covered many areas of translation conducting; they can for example, guide the translator for the best choice of a word in a text, provide a cultural background about the subject the text concerns, make corrections of the structures composing the translated text, provide hundreds of glossaries of terms in many different fields of knowledge, provide an opportunity to consult and chat with professional translators on any difficulty. In other words, these tools “make the translation process easier and faster and of which translators should have a good command in order to satisfy today's market demands” (Sánchez, 2006, p. 1).

4. Research Design and Methodology

4.1. Participants

This study was set to be carried out among 53 participants (male and female) aged between 20 and 22 years. They are EFL Yemeni students whose mother tongue is Arabic. They specifically represent translation students of level-three and level-four of English department at QAU during the academic year 2016 \ 2017. The logic behind choosing students of these two levels is that the students of both levels have taken, and are still taking a number of translation courses. Most importantly is that the students, particularly third-level, are taking a course on the electronic tools used in the translation process during the conducting of the study. They are expected to have gained some of the knowledge needed to efficiently contribute in this area of study, and they are likely to provide reliable and relatively precise answers to the instrument of this study.

4.2. Instruments

This study is both a quantitative and qualitative study as it uses a questionnaire with closed-ended and open-ended questions in order to collect data. Quantitative data collection has been used since it is the proper method to get temporary facts (Ebel, 1980). Moreover, the open-ended question gives a chance to students to add any other comments and ideas related to the topic of the study, so this is qualitative data. The instrument used to carry out this study is a five-choice Likert scale questionnaire involving some closed-ended questions and one open-ended question. The questionnaire consists of 10 items with five-point Likert scale of agreement and disagreement, 'Strongly Agree, Agree, Uncertain, Disagree and finally Strongly Disagree'. Likert-type scale is ‘the most commonly used scaling technique..., which has been named after its inventor, Rensis Likert’ (Dörnyei, 2003, p.28).

4.3. Procedures

At the initial stages, the questionnaire was designed, revised and approved. After that the responses of the questionnaires were quantitated by assessing a numerical value to each category of Likert-type scale which is used to measure the students’ attitudes towards something. Each level was attributed a number from 1(Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree) respectively to make it easy to both students in administration stage and to the researcher in data analysis stage. The subjects were asked to circle a number (only one) that they consider most appropriate under those five levels of agreement. The total number of participants involved in the questionnaire was 30 students of both levels and genders out of 53. This was due to the absence of other participants at the day of conducting the questionnaire, which was first conducted among six students of fourth-level in matter of 10 minutes, and a few days later, it was carried out among twenty-four students of third-level in a matter of 15 minutes.

Then, the quantitative information was collated, tabulated and frequency and percentage analysis was carried out by using appropriate software statistical package for windows, i.e. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (IBM SPSS Statistics 23, 2015). Content analysis was used with qualitative data. According to Dörnyei (2007), content analysis has recently become associated with qualitative research as it concerns a second-level, interpretive analysis of the underlying deeper meaning of the data.

5. Data Interpretation and Results

5.1. Quantitative Data

Table 1

The descriptive statistics of frequencies and percentages with mean scores per item of the students' responses to the questionnaire

No.

Items

Strongly

Agree

Agree

Uncertain

Disagree

Strongly

Disagree

Mean               Score*

N

%

N

%

N

%

N

%

N

%

1

I have a standing access to the Internet and can use it anytime.

12

40

11

36.66

6

20

1

3.33

0

0

4.96

2

I have an Internet access; still, I cannot make use of it to facilitate the translation process.

5

16.66

15

50

3

10

4

13.33

3

10

4.12

3

The lack of accessibility to a fast Internet connection is one obstacle to integrating the Internet in the process of translation.

8

26.66

15

50

2

6.66

3

10

2

6.66

4.56

4

I have a marked reluctance to shift from the traditional means of conducting translation toward those based on the Internet.

3

10

7

23.33

9

30

6

20

5

16.66

3.48

5

I am accustomed to using the Internet and have the practical experience needed to fully exploit it.

13

43.33

8

26.66

7

23.33

1

3.33

1

3.33

4.84

6

There are some tools on the Internet by which they can effectively facilitate the process of translation.

11

36.66

13

43.33

5

16.66

1

3.33

0

0

4.96

7

I use some Internet-based tools when conducting translation.

12

40

12

40

5

16.66

1

3.33

0

0

5

8

When doing translation, I often go to Google to look up an unknown vocabulary, phrase, term, acronym etc.

13

43.33

7

23.33

6

20

4

13.33

0

0

4.76

9

I have utilized Machine Translation (MT) and Translation Memories before.

5

16.66

7

23.33

5

16.66

8

26.66

5

16.66

3.56

10

A translation produced by the assistance of the Internet is more accurate than that by a human solo effort.

4

13.33

8

26.66

8

26.66

8

26.66

2

6.66

3.52

*Mean category: 4.21–5 = Strongly Agree; 3.41– 4.20 = Agree; 2.61–3.40 = Uncertain; 1.81–2.60 = Disagree; 1–1.80 = Strongly Disagree

Based on the results shown in table 1, most of the participants (77%) havestrongly agreed they have a standing access to the Internet (item 1). Nevertheless, 67% of the participants have agreed that they cannot efficiently make use of the Internet (item 2), and the majority, 77%, have strongly agreed that the fast Internet is one obstacle to using the Internet in the process of translation in this context (item 3). Moreover, 33% of the participants have agreed that they still prefer the traditional means of conducting translation, i.e. pens, papers… etc., and feel less interested in using the Internet-based tools (item 4). On the other hand, 37% of them have disagreed with the statement revealing that they face no problem to use the Internet instead of the traditional means, and 30% of them have been undecided. 71% of the participants have also strongly agreed that they have the skills and the practical knowledge needed to deal with the Internet efficiently (item 5). Only 6% of them lack the knowledge and 23% of the participants have been undecided.

As shown in figure 1, 80% of the participants have strongly agreed on the existence of Internet-based tools which assist in the translation process (item 6); only 3% of them have disagreed with the statement and17% of them have been uncertain whether or not there are tools on the Internet that can facilitate the translator's task. This result indicates noticeable awareness among the participants over the role the Internet plays in the field of translation.

Figure 1. The percentages and frequencies distribution of the 6th item of the students’ questionnaire

Similarly, most of the participants (80%) have strongly agreed that they use some Internet-based tools when doing or practicing translation (item7). Only 3% of them have disagreed and 17% of them have been uncertain. This may be owing to personal tendency to deal with the traditional means of conducting translation. Figure 2 presents all these results with frequencies.

                                                                                                                                                                                           Figure 2. The percentages and frequencies distribution of the 7th item of the students’ questionnaire

To support the previous two results, 67% of the participants have strongly agreed that they often make use of Google when conducting translation (item8). On the other hand, 13% of them have disagreed with the statement revealing that they are of no need to use Google when doing their translations and 20% have been uncertain over the use of Google when translating. However, only 39% of the participants have agreed they have used Machine Translation (MT) and Translation Memories before (item 9). On the contrary, 44% of them have disagreed. Finally, 40% of the participants have agreed on the fact that a translation conducted with help of the Internet is more accurate than that which is without (item10). In contrast, 33% of the participants have disagreed with the statement and 27% of the participants have been undecided.

5.2. Qualitative Data

Regarding the qualitative data which acquired from the open-ended question, only 10 participants have provided answers. All the comments slightly varied and reflected subjective standpoints. Those comments have revealed that all the ten participants emphasize the significance of the Internet in the translation process and in general. For example, one participant said “Using the Internet in the translation process is very helpful that we can find many options for one term and to overcome the untranslated cultural related terms that differ from one culture to another.” Another two participants have expressed that they have just started to know about the Internet and its use in translation process. One of them said “Unfortunately, we just started to know about the tools that help us to translate”, and this clearly reflects the lack of pervious practical Internet-using knowledge and orientation. Another participant said “A lot of people don't have computers; it is a big problem”. This emphasizes again the lack of computer-using knowledge. Another said “I think if the students cannot use the Internet, they find many difficulties when translating using the Internet”. A participant has given a different point of view stating “When you translate between two languages, you should use the Internet; however, you won't need it when interpreting”. Finally, one of the participants has shed light on the idea that the translation produced by pure computer effort is of a poor quality, he/she said “I think the Internet does translations fast, but the translations produced are unacceptable and make no sense.”

6) Major Findings, Discussion and Recommendations

Through the results shown in the previous section, one can simply notice the points of similarity among participants' responses. Actually, similarity of reactions to the statements leads us to the idea that the problems students face in using the Internet when doing their translations are mainly objective and not subjective. According to participants' perspectives obtained from the responses, we can argue that the lack of practical knowledge on how to use the Internet in general, and in the translation process in particular, is one of the most considerable obstacles. Lack of the Internet accessibility may not be regarded as a main obstacle to the participants. The percentage (20%) given to the choice 'Uncertain' of the first item reveals that those participants have some access to the Internet but not that which can be accessed all the times and for translation process. However, the majority of participants (77 %,) have emphasized that the absence of fast Internet accessibility hinders them from using Internet in the translation process (item3). So, lack of easier and faster accessibility is one of the main obstacles to these students in their EFL context. The high percentage 71% of the participants who have agreed that they have the skills and the practical knowledge needed to deal with the Internet efficiently (item 5) reveals that most of the participants are skilled and familiar with using the Internet. However, this doesn't necessarily mean they are familiar with all Internet-based tools which specifically used to facilitate the translation process. Besides, the high percentage (80%) of the participants who have agreed on the existence of Internet-based tools which assist in the translation process (item 6) highlights the students’ awareness of the importance of the Internet in the process of translation and indicates noticeable understanding among them over the role the Internet-based tools play in the field of translation. The uncertainty (17%) here emphasizes that some participants are required to read more and practice in this area and improve themselves to handle the profession of translation professionally in the future. According to Dos Santos (2016) ‘the translator has to learn speedily in order to ensure that they have the skills and tools they require for the job’ (p.45). To support this, qualitative data has revealed that all the ten participants (37%) emphasize the significance of the Internet in general and in the translation process in particular.

The high percentage (80%) of using some Internet-based tools reflects the dominance of the Internet over the practice of translation and how the Internet has become more integrated in the translation process to the students. Undoubtedly, Google has become the wide gate of the Internet nowadays, and most of the participants (67%) are certainly to get through it when surfing the Internet. This is in total agreement with Sánchez’s (2006) argument: “Translators frequently need to research the topics they work with, and the best they can do to overcome their lack of knowledge in a specific field is to consult a search engine as Google” (p.4). The unacquaintance with the way Google can help in the translation process may consider the main reason behind the answer of other students. In addition, MT and translation memories also have been used by some students (39%). This percentage reflects considerable professionalism among some of the participants towards these two means, especially the second one. Therefore, a notable point of disagreement was found in the ninth statement. The participants' responses were divided, almost equally, among the five degrees of agreement and disagreement. 44% didn’t use MT and translation memories before. Such percentage is expected since these are advanced translation-assisting tools for those EFL students, especially translation memories which are costly and slightly difficult to deal with by students of translation. “One must be aware of the pros and cons of using a translation memory prior to starting a translation, as they can also slow down the translation process in non-repetitive texts such as novels, in which case creativity is more important than terminological consistency” (Sánchez, 200, p.5). Furthermore, one can argue that one reason behind this is the misconception or misunderstanding of the terms 'machine translation and translation memories'. Therefore, some participants may have been in confusion on whether or not they have used them before. The undecided results also denote uncertainty among some participants and unfamiliarity with the Internet in general and these tools particularly.

Accordingly, in light of all results obtained above, a number of recommendations are worth considering as the following:

  1. EFL students (whether a student or graduate translator) must be advised about the emphasized importance of possessing a personal computer in his/her position. “The computer is becoming a universal medium for communication and co-operation” (Austermühl, 2001, p.6).
  2. There should be some courses, given at earlier levels, concerning the tools available on the Internet for translators.
  3. A reachable Internet access along with some booklets on how students can utilize the Internet must be provided inside the classes of the university to give them the opportunity to make use of it when practicing translation process. The ease in the use of the Internet in the teaching–learning process will create a good environment for teaching/learning translation in the university.
  4. Teachers should encourage the use of the Internet-based tools among their students by assigning texts to be translated and delivered electronically via the Internet.
  5. Students should be advised to go beyond Google, and must be guided around the advanced specialized web-based tools such as MT and translation memories, which are neglected by most of them.

7) Conclusion

This study has attempted to investigate the usage of the Internet in the translation process and also the problems posed against students of English department at QAU in this connection. The results obtained from the data collection instrument have pointed to an obvious lack of information technology skills and practical experience in dealing with the Internet-based tools which assist in the translation process. They have also indicated the fact that the absence of the easier and fast Internet accessibility is one obstacle, even if not a main, to the involvement of EFL students in the process of Internet-assisted translation. To add more, advanced technological means for translators are still out of use among the students, although such useful means may play an effective role in the translation process, and translation memories is one considerable example. For that reason, the obstacle of the unavailability of the Internet access is not less important than the obstacle of the lack of information technology skills.

Accordingly, more efforts should be put into the integration of the Internet in the practice of translation among students with the provision of some courses concerning the Internet assistance in translation process in earlier levels. Translators and students alike have a lot of options over translation-assisting tools on the Internet, and they can facilitate the translation task in an effective way. In a word, the presence of the Internet in the process of translation is indispensable in our present time, and the majority of translators are in no need for the traditional means any longer due to the remarkable effectiveness and dominance of technology over all aspects of our life particularly the practical ones. EFL translation-students should therefore strive to acquire the relevant knowledge and skills needed to effectively use the Internet-based tools in the translation process.

                                                             

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