Il traduttore e le tecnologie: prospettive professionali e didattiche

This paper looks at the impact of the use of Information and Communications Technologies on the translating profession, in a context where recourse to ICT has changed dramatically the way translators work, also improving their productivity as well as output quality. Three main issues are discussed: the impact of digital technologies on how the translated text is drafted with a focus on the writing process, the use of ICT in the documentary research which is most often necessary in translation assignments, and recourse to translation memories and automatic translation. In particular, the aspects examined include word processing, documentary research on the web and the acquisition of documentary competence in the training stage, the use of CAT Tools, and recourse to machine translation, and in particular online automatic translation services, which in their basic versions are freely available on the web. In the conclusions, implications for translation training are discussed. In actual fact, in many educational institutions ICT for translation is actually taught, but in separate modules or in electives rather than as part of the core translation courses. In addition, there is also a degree of reluctance to let students use any form of ICT in official tests and exams. It is concluded that, also on account of the extremely rapid evolution of the ICT resources used in the translating profession, it would be desirable that all Universities offering professional translation programmes seriously consider the opportunity to gradually open up to technological innovations.