Teaching commercial MT to translators: bridging the gap between human and machine

155 Teaching commercial MT to translators: Bridging the gap between human and machine Natalie Kübler University Paris 7 Denis Diderot kubler@ccr.jussieu.fr Abstract This paper presents the experiment that was led at the University Paris 7 to teach machine translation to translation students. Linking machine translation with translation-training in order to help students acquire the linguistic and technical skills increasingly required on the translation market has become part of a number of translation syllabuses in the last few years. Although, MT knowledge is more and more required for professional translators, most of them are still skeptical, not to say hostile to MT. Our objective here is then twofold: showing translation trainees why and how MT can be used for professional purposes, from the text to be translated to the final result. 1. Introduction Nowadays, new needs are arising from the ongoing globalization process. The impact of globalization has been to augment cross- cultural communication, hence the need for intercultural language resource management, which is part of content management. Intercultural language resource management is the creation, processing, and management of multilingual and multicultural language resources. Therefore, new skills and competences are required from language professionals on the labour market, especially ICT, technology, and language resource management competences, as identified in the three following surveys: the EU-sponsored SPICE-PREP II report on content localisation (updated 2001), the LETRAC survey on the skill and competences needed by industry for translators, and the translators section of the LEIT Industry Needs Survey. Although the LETRAC project was criticised for its emphasis on technology, various authors have identified such a need more recently, and, what seems to be more and more essential, the necessity for “constant adjustments” (Torres del Rey 2000) to constantly developing technology and new business processes. Localization companies, such as Bowne Global Solutions have acquired machine translation (MT) systems. However, companies usually do not have qualified staff which can use or enhance MT systems. Some international organisations, such as the European Community for example, have been using MT for years in their translation tasks. Therefore, linking MT with translation training in order to help students acquire the linguistic and technical skills increasingly required on the translation market has become part of a number of translation syllabuses in the last few years, as shown for example on the LISA Education Initiative Taskforce website.1 Although, MT knowledge is more and more required for professional translators, most of them are still skeptical, not to say hostile to MT. Our objective here is then twofold: showing translation trainees why and how MT can be used for professional purposes, from the text to be translated to the final result. This paper presents the two teaching scenarios that attempted to achieve those objectives and the results obtained. Section 2 deals with the academic context in which the experience was led. In section 3, the projects, data and tools used will be described. Section 4 explains how the projects were led, describing in details the different stages necessary to achieve a translation …

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