Electronic Dictionaries and Translation

178 students majoring in translation at the College of Languages and Translation and 10 translation and interpreting instructors were surveyed. It was found that 45% of the students use an electronic dictionary (ED). 99% of those use a general English-Arabic ED, 68% use an Arabic-English ED, 27% use an English-English ED and only 2% use a specialized ED. The students gave 12 reasons for not using an ED in specialized translation courses. It was also found that 70% of the translation instructors do not allow students to use an ED in class or test sessions. Reasons for that are given.

Prof. Reima Al-jarf
King Saud University
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/aljarf