Cultural barriers and new technologies of translation: Using Omega T in translating idioms

Abstract

Technologies of translation have known an impressive interest of translators and
researchers. The world seems very small due to the latest advancement of
technology. This development raised the need for translation to overcome
language barriers. English, for instance, is considered as the language of
international communication. This state of affairs increases the demands for
translation from and into English. In order to respond to the huge number of
translation demands, many translators choose to employ machine translation and
computer aided translation tools. These technologies have undoubtedly
contributed in delivering good and fast translation. However, some problems
have been seen concerning the quality of translation. One of the main
disadvantages of translation technologies is rendering effective meaning in
cultural contexts. This paper aims to spotlight on the major problems of
translating cultural aspects using technologies of translation. It tries to
investigate the case of translating idioms from English into Arabic using
translation memory tools, precisely Omega T as an assisting tool. Therefore, an
experiment was designed at the department of English to examine the students’
performance. The findings revealed that the use of Omega T plays a significant
role in enhancing the quality of students’ translation of idioms.