In the information age, the rapid development of translation technologies has greatly alleviated the contradiction between traditional translation modes and the increasingly growing demand for translation.
Driven by information technology and globalization, today’s translation activities have significantly transcended traditional modes, undergoing revolutionary changes in work areas, content, forms, and methods (Yang Ping, 2012:10). The translation industry is indeed experiencing a digital revolution.
The application of information technology is a major characteristic of the translation digital revolution, primarily manifested in the popularity of Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) technology, localization engineering technology, corpus technology, translation collaboration platform technology, and machine translation technology.
1. Computer-Assisted Translation Technology
Currently, the demand for language services is unprecedentedly increasing, with trends toward diversification and specialization becoming increasingly prominent. The content and formats awaiting translation are becoming more complex. CAT technology automates the heavy manual translation process, significantly improving the efficiency and quality of translation work.
With continuous innovation in language technology research and development, translation memory tools (such as SDL Trados, MemoQ, etc.), terminology management tools (such as SDL MultiTerm, crossTerm, TermStar, etc.), and automatic QA tools (such as QA Distiller, ErrorSpy, etc.) have emerged, becoming the most widely used mainstream tools in modern translation work.
2. Localization Engineering Technology
Information technology has brought tremendous changes to translation work. We are experiencing a rapid transition from text translation to hypertext translation, from linear translation to non-linear translation, and from static translation content to dynamic translation content.
More and more software, websites, E-learning, games, mobile apps, etc., need to be pushed to the global market, accelerating the development of localization engineering and technology (such as localization compilation, agile testing, multilingual typesetting, etc.). Meanwhile, localization engineering and technology tools (such as Alchemy Catalyst, SDL Passolo, Adobe RoboHelp, WebWorks Publisher) have been widely applied among localization service clients and providers.
3. Corpus Technology
The development of computer technology and the popularization of network technology have rapidly advanced corpus technology, making professional translators increasingly aware of the important role of corpora in translation practice. Many large corpora are either publicly distributed on CD (such as LLC, COLT, etc.) or shared through network technology (such as BOE, BNC, TEC, COCA, etc.).
Many commercial companies are competing to build various bilingual databases (such as Youdao, JuKoo, CNKI, Bing, Baidu, etc.). According to the “Survey Report on the Survival Status of Translators in China” (Transn United, 2007), 80% of translators use online dictionary tools (such as iCiba, Chinese Translation Dictionary, HaiCi, etc.).
Corpora have solved the problem of large-scale corpus storage and have become an indispensable reference resource for modern translators, allowing them to query, compare, and verify massive language resources at any time, thereby enhancing translation quality.
4. Translation Collaboration Technology
In the information age, the explosive growth of information often requires fast translation and multilingual instant publication, accelerating the transition from individual translation to collaborative translation. With the push of Internet technology, online trading platforms and social media have flourished, and language outsourcing and crowdsourcing models have rapidly spread globally.
Language technology providers have developed collaborative translation platforms such as LingoTek, MemSource Cloud, SDL GroupShare, XTM Cloud, etc. Through collaborative translation technology, global collaboration and monitoring can be achieved, language assets can be shared, and scalable translation can be realized. This has become the main business processing model for today’s large language service providers (LSP).
More and more companies adopt a combination of internal and external approaches, leveraging global community resources to provide more language support in a shorter time. Crowdsourcing translation platforms such as OneSky, Rationwork, Textmaster, Translia quickly fragment massive translation tasks, becoming a focus of attention in the language service industry (Wang Huashu, 2013:23).
5. Machine Translation Technology
The surge of information has also led to an unprecedented increase in demand for machine translation (MT), which is widely used in news, tourism, commerce, instant messaging, and other areas.
The EU-funded MosesCore open-source project is being widely used globally; at the end of 2010, Google and the European Patent Office launched a patent translation engine between multiple languages in Europe; SDL launched the real-time automatic translation cloud platform BeGlobal; in 2012, Microsoft introduced a fully automatic simultaneous interpretation system based on deep neural network technology, etc. This reflects the broad application prospects of MT technology.
Moreover, the emergence of intelligent voice translation technology allows people to ditch traditional keyboards and achieve “automation” of interpretation anytime, anywhere. According to the “2012 Freelance Translator Industry Report” published by ProZ.com, as many as 54% of translators used MT technology in their translation-related tasks, significantly improving work efficiency (ProZ.com, 2012).
Cloud Translation Technology
In recent years, the rapid development of cloud computing has given rise to “cloud translation” technology, which integrates translation business, translation knowledge bases, dispersed translators and suppliers through Internet technology, merging global language information resources to provide integrated solutions for language services, which will inevitably enhance the overall productivity of the language service industry.
In summary, as the application of information technology in translation work continues to deepen, the translation work in the information age presents various technical characteristics, requiring translators to possess comprehensive translation technology skills to meet the demands of language service work in the information age.
(This article is sourced from Wang Huashu, Wang Shaoshuang’s “Research on the Composition and Training of Translation Technology Competence in the Information Age”)
