DỊCH THUẬT hỗ TRỢ bởi INTERNET DÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN BIÊN – PHIÊN DỊCH, ĐHNN, ĐHQGHN

ABSTRACT
Since the Internet boom all over the world, almost all translation-related
activities have occurred on the Internet, including information search,
translation, communication with clients, and so on. It is undeniable that thanks
to the great assistance from the Internet, the world’s translation industry has
gained amazing achievements. With each passing day, more qualified
translations are produced with less time and less human resources. However,
translation technology is still something new in Vietnam to both translators and
students. Up to now, there have not been any serious studies on the issue in ULIS,
which somewhat was the inspiration for this modest research. With 80 third and
fourth-year students majoring in translations in FELTE, ULIS, VNUH as the
subjects, the research aimed to evaluate their understanding on Internet-aided
translation (IAT) and their ability to apply the Internet in translation practices.
Besides, it provided students the chance to show their views on the most
appropriate way to improve their IAT capacity. Regarding the significance,
through the study, students and the school would be more aware of students’
translation ability, so that a better curriculum could be designed for students to
prepare themselves for the working market. The research is also the basis for
further studies on the same topic.
i
TABLE OF CONTENT
Page
Acceptance page
Acknowledgements i
Abstract ii
Table of content iii
List of figures and tables v
List of abbreviations vi
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1
1.1. Rationale 1
1.2. Aims and Research questions 1

1.3. Scope 2
1.4. Methodology 2
1.5. Significance 3
1.6. Organization 3
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 4
2.1. Translation 4
2.1.1. Definition of Translation 4
2.1.2. An overview on Translation before the 21
st
century 5
2.1.3. An overview on Translation after the 21
st
century 5
2.2. Translation and Technology 6
2.2.1. Computer-assisted Translation 6
2.2.2. Internet-aided Translation 8
2.3. Related researches 10
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 14
3.1. Participants 14
3.2. Data collection instrument 14
3.3. Data collection procedures 15
3.4. Data analysis methods and procedures 15
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 16
4.1. What is Internet-aided translation from students’
point of view?
16
4.1.1. Frequency and purposes of Internet use in translation by
16
ii
students

4.1.2. IAT’s advantages and drawbacks perceived by students
17
4.1.3. Students’ knowledge on IAT tools
19
4.2. How effective students’ coping tactics in Internet-aided
translation?
22
4.3. What should be done to expand students’ capability for
Internet-aided translation, suggested by students?
27
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION
29
5.1. Summary of findings
29
5.2. Limitations of the study
29
5.3. Recommendations for further study
30
REFERENCES
31
APPENDIXES
33
Appendix 1
33
Appendix 2
37
Appendix 3
38
iii
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Names of figures Page
Figure 1: Translation automation measurement scale (Hutchins &
Somers, 1992)
7
Figure 2: Frequency of Internet usage in translation by students 17
Figure 3: IAT tools known by students 19
Figure 4: Assessments of the usefulness of common programs by
students
21
Figure 5: Suggestions on IAT ability improvement by students 27
List of tables
Table 1: ICT support for freelance translator 11
Table 2: Students’ purposes in the use of Interenet in translation 17
Table 3: IAT’s advantages and disadvantages by students 18
Table 4: Functions of IAT tools by Students 20
Table 5: Problem 1 23
Table 6: Problem 2 24
Table 7: Problem 3 25
Table 8: Problem 4 26
iv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
CAT: Computer-Assisted Translation
FAHQT: Fully Automatic High Quality Translation
HAMT: Human-aided machine translation
FELTE: Faculty of English Language Teaching Education
IAT: Internet-aided translation
MAHT: Machine-aided human translation
MT: Machine translation
SL: Source language
ST: Source term

TL: Target language
TT: Target term
ULIS: University of Languages and International Studies
VNUH: Vietnam National University, Hanoi
v
vi
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
In this first chapter, a concise overview on the research is provided, namely
the rationale, aims and research questions, scope, methodology, significance, and
the organization of the study.
1.1. Rationale
Born in the 1960s and first launched in 1970s, the Internet is undoubtedly
one of the greatest inventions in mankind’s history. With its global spread and
continuous information availability, strong contributions have been made to the
development of business, communication, medicine, sciences, education,
entertainment and even politics. Translation is no exception. Thanks to
tremendous support of the Internet, translation services in this twenty-first
century are much faster and of higher quality. Modern translators can easily look
up terminologies and specialized knowledge necessary to the translation from
reliable online resources, which used to be a difficulty for most translators before
the twentieth century. In addition, they have more access to online training
courses so that they are likely to improve their qualification. Another benefit the
Internet brings about for nowadays translation practitioners is opportunities for
translation jobs both domestically and internationally. In one word, translation
has become a real industry in virtue of the Internet in recent days.
Unfortunately, those advantages of the Internet, which are listed above, may
be somehow unknown to many translation and interpreting students. If yes, not
all students know how to make best use of them so as to improve their work and
translation skills. Therefore, as a senior student majoring in Translation and
Interpreting, I would like to carry out the study with the hope that it will raise

would-be translators’ awareness of the role of Internet to their translation
career.
1
1.2. Aims and research questions
The study, firstly, aims at assessing the understanding level of translation
and interpreting students in FELTE, ULIS, VNU of Internet-aided translation.
Secondly, it is about to test students’ ability to apply the Internet to overcome
some certain difficulties in rendering. Lastly, based on students’ responses to the
research, recommendations would be made to the University so that the most
appropriate program could be designed to enhance students’ IAT skills.
In short, the study is intended to address the following questions:
1. What is Internet-aided translation from students’ point of view?
2. How effective students’ coping tactics in Internet-aided translation?
3. What should be done to expand students’ capability for Internet-
aided translation?
1.3. Scope
Because of the limited time and capability, this research’s focus is mainly on
students majoring in translation in FELTE, ULIS, VNU and their competence in
the utilization of Internet for translation. Specifically, the target population of
the study is 3
rd
and 4
th
-year students of Translation and Interpreting Division,
ULIS, VNU in the school year of 2012-2013.
Moreover, the thesis pays attention to making some recommendations on
how to help students be more accomplished in IAT.
1.4. Methodology
For the most possibly comprehensive result, the research was conducted on
the whole population of third and fourth-year students (QH09 & QH10) in

Translation and Interpreting Division, FELTE, ULIS, VNU.
The sole research instrument was a survey questionnaire which was built to
address all the three research questions. In order to achieve reliable answers, the
2
questionnaire was basically designed in the open form so that respondents had to
write down their own answers rather than select from among existing ones.
After being collected from respondents, replies were carefully selected, and
those which met the requirements were critically analyzed according to the two
main methods: the quantitative and qualitative one.
1.5. Significance of the research
This research is seemingly the first one on IAT skills carried out with
Translation and Interpreting Students in ULIS, VNU as the subject. Therefore, its
findings would be the original reference for those who intend to pursue further
researches on related issues with related subjects.
As for students directly participating into the study, they have a chance to
explore powerful Internet applications for translation practices and self-assess
their IAT skills through answering the survey questionnaire.
Finally, for teachers and the school, the study would function as a
suggestion for them to make appropriate adjustments in the curriculum, so that
their students’ translation skills are honed.
1.6. Organization of the research
Following is the construction of the study:
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Literature review
Chapter 3: Methodology
Chapter 4: Findings and discussions
Chapter 5: Conclusion
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
3
This chapter is written to offer an in-depth look at the theoretical

background of the study. It starts with the definition of translation and its
context before and after the 21
st
century, followed by a detailed insight into
translation technology. At the end of the chapter, some previous researches in the
same field are shown and analyzed.
2.1. Translation
2.1.1. Definition of Translation
Simply put, translation, as defined in the Oxford Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary (OALD, 8
th
Edition), is “the process of changing something that is
written or spoken into another language”, or it can be a product, that is, “a text
or work that has been changed from one language into another”.
However, in the view of a professional, translation is more than that. Larson,
as cited in Le and Nguyen (2008, p.4), argued translation, as a process, “consists
of studying the source language text (lexicon, grammatical structure,
communication situation, and cultural context); analyzing it in order to
determine its meaning; then reconstructuring this SAME meaning using the
lexicon and grammatical which are appropriate in the Target language and its
cultural context.” As for being a product, a translation, according to Lilova,
should maintain “the invariance of content, qualities of the original and author’s
authenticity” of the source text (Sokolovsky, 2010, p. 286).
To produce the most possibly ideal translation, a translator needs not only
knowledge but also skills, creativity and taste. Therefore, translation can be seen
as “a skill, which calls for appropriate language and acceptable usage; an art,
which distinguishes good from undistinguished writing and is the creative, the
intuitive, sometimes the inspired, level of the translation; a matter of taste, where
argument ceases, preferences are expressed, and the variety of meritorious
translations is the reflection of individual differences.” (Newmark, 1988, p. 6)

4
2.1.2. An overview on translation before the twenty-first century
Given the twenty-first century as a landmark, the history of translation
could be divided into two periods: before and after the twenty-first century,
without and with the assistance of the Internet.
The period before the twenty-first century undoubtedly formed the shape of
translation studies. It was the time when basic theories about translation such as
translation methods, translation procedures, equivalence in translation or
assessment criteria for a translation were developed. Noticeably, these issues
were approached differently by different key thinkers in translation studies. For
example, when it comes to the equivalence in translation, Jakobson argued that
“equivalence is always possible (regardless of the cultural or grammatical
differences between ST and TT)” (Le, H.T. PhD & Nguyen, N.B. MA., 2008, p.42),
and classified it on the basis of meaning, while Nida and Taber (1982) came out
with functional/dynamic equivalence and formal equivalence, and Baker (1992)
with equivalence at word level, equivalence above word level, grammatical
equivalence, textual equivalence, and pragmatic equivalence. This made a great
contribution to building up a vivid and comprehensive picture of translation
studies though.
Also in this period marked the occurrence of computer-assisted translation
or computer-aided translation, often known as CAT. Though primitive and
limited, CAT tools such as word processors, spell and grammar checkers and
terminology bank brought about a positive change in the way translation
practices were performed. Instead of using pen, paper, and printed materials,
translators then made best use of computers and CAT tools for much faster and
more effective translations. In other words, the “printed culture” gradually gave
way to the “screen culture” (Olivia Craciunescu, Constanza Gerding-Salas, Susan
Stringer-O'Keeffe, 2004).
2.1.3. An overview on translation after the twenty-first century
5

Together with advances in information technology (IT) and the rapid
spread of the Internet on a global scale, translation practices have gained many
improvements in both speed and quality. “The Internet with its universal access
to information and instant communication between users has created a physical
and geographical freedom for translators that was inconceivable in the past”
(Olivia Craciunescu, Constanza Gerding-Salas, Susan Stringer-O'Keeffe, 2004).
The “freedom” here could be understood as translators’ free access to
information, materials, as well as job opportunities all over the world. Still, as a
coin always has two heads, those changes undoubtedly shape a stiffer and more
competitive translation environment than ever, which forces modern translators
to perfect themselves for survival. Following in the next sections are detail
descriptions of Internet’s impacts on translators and translation practices.
2.2. Technology and translation
2.2.1. Computer-assisted translation (CAT)
Computer-assisted translation or computer-aided translation is a
form of translation where a human translator translates texts using computer
software designed to support and facilitate the translation process (Ulitkin,
2011).
Another term relating to computerized translation is machine translation
(MT) which, according to Blatt et al, is a system fully automatic in a translation
process without or with a little involvement of human translator for post-editing
(Baker, 1998). Up to now, these two terms Computer-assisted translation and
Machine translation have still been confused with each other by many
translators.
Taking the degree of automation and human involvement in the translation
process as the criterion for classification, as Hutchins and Somers (1992)
suggested, CAT and MT could be distinguished as follow:
6
Figure 1: Translation Automation Measurement Scale (Hutchins and Somers,
1992)

As showed in the figure above, fully automatic high quality translation
(FAHQT) has the highest degree of mechanization and the least of human
involvement in the scale. Therefore, FAHQT can be seen as MT, and “high quality”
is the goal that MT’s developers have been aimed to for long. Besides, this figure
divides CAT into two sub-types: human-aided machine translation (HAMT) and
machine-aided human translation (MAHT). HAMT refers to systems in which the
translation is mainly carried out by the program itself with the intervention of
human translators at any stage in the process such as resolving specific language
problems in the source text or correcting the target text. Meanwhile, MAHT
describes a translation process which is essentially done by a human translator
with the support of computer tools, for instance, spelling, grammar and style
checkers, dictionaries, and encyclopedias. Strictly speaking, no matter how good
a machine translation system is, the intervention of a human translator in the
translation process is still needed to generate a precise work. Hence, in this
paper, MT is somehow regarded as HAMT – one of the CAT’s sub-types.
In general, CAT, including MT, is a large and complicated system covering
varieties of tools. The following is the list of common “pure” CAT tools, that is,
tools without the need of the Internet.
7
- Spelling, grammar, and style checkers, included in word processors such as
Microsoft Word and OpenOffice.org Writer.
- Electronic dictionaries like Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (OALD),
Cambridge Dictionary, or Longman Dictionary.
- Translation Memory Systems such as SDL Trados, Wordfast, DéjàVu, or
OmegaT, whose function is to allow translators to leverage previous translations
when translating new documents. This tool works best for texts of high repetition
like contracts, legal texts, certificates, application forms and CVs.
- Terminology Tools including term-extraction and concordance tools such
as WordSmith Tools, TextStat, and AntConc and terminology management tools
like MultiTerm or TermStar. All these tools help translators maintain the

terminological consistency during the translation process, especially when
translating in group or in a big translation project.
- Machine Translation Systems such as Systran enabling the translator to
shorten the time for simple texts and to focus efforts on places where needed.
Some editing is recommended before the translation process to get a target text
as good as possible.
2.2.2. Internet-aided translation
Needless to say, MT and CAT drove a marked and decisive shift in
translation practices; however, it was not until the “Internet boom” that the shift
became a historic turning-point in the translation industry. That the Internet has
become a global phenomenon changed a lot the way translators translate,
research for references, and get jobs. Though the term “Internet-aided
translation” has hardly been used officially in any documents, the relationship
between Internet and translation has been touched on quite a lot in many recent
researches. In this paper, the term is utilized by the author to mention translation
practices which are performed with the assistance of Internet-related CAT tools
and machine translation systems and other Internet applications.
8
Fortunately, since the Internet boom, most CAT tools and MT systems have
incorporated desirable and useful functionalities. More online database
applications have been established, for example, online electronic dictionaries
and corpora (including thesaurus, antonym, and idioms dictionaries), online
electronic encyclopedias like Wikipedia or www.encyclopedia.com, and online MT
systems such as Altavista's Babelfish babelfish.altavista.com, lingo24.com, and
most commonly Google Translate translate.google.com.
More importantly, the translator community all over the world has
benefited directly from other new features of the Internet, as described below
(Sánchez, 2006):
- Web Browsers such as Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Google
Chrome enable translators to access to the majority of information globally.

- Free webmail e-mail services like Hotmail, Yahoo! or Gmail have
completely replaced traditional letters in the communication between
translators and clients. They can easily send and receive many types of
documents like images, contracts, or papers in just few seconds no matter how
far they are.
- Search Engines such as Google or AltaVista have played an important role
in helping translators fill in the gaps in their knowledge of a specific field. Thanks
to Search Engines, researching comes much easier and more convenient for
translators than before.
- Specialized Databases (or the so-called “Invisible Web”) like Web of
Knowledge, ProQuest, SCOPUS, and PubMed can be regarded as indispensable
tools for translators when they have to hunt information not available on normal
Search Engines. These databases are like research platforms or electronic
libraries providing specialist knowledge of fields such as medicine and sciences.
- Chats and Other Online Communication Systems such as Yahoo! Messenger
and Skype are powerful instruments for translators to keep in touch with their
colleagues and clients at a distance in cheap costs. Just with a computer
9
connected to the Internet, translators can call others how long they want without
concern about the bill.
- Social media such as blog, twitter, or facebook could function as a forum
where the translation community can freely share ideas, opinions and any matter
concerned with each other. Some examples of these social media are Translation
Notes ( Slashdot (
Naked Translation ( and
Curioso Pero Inútil ( Besides, by virtue of
the updatedness of such sites, translators can draw upon them to modernize their
vocabulary such as terminology, slangs, idioms and knowledge relating to their
working languages.
Amazingly, according to Minako O’Hagan (1993) that the Internet formed

the modern telecommunications systems put in the coming of a new kind of
translation: Teletranslation. This female PhD and at the same time a lecturer in
Translation Technology, SALIS argued that it is in the age of telecommunications
that the demand on translation is higher than ever because of the soaring
demand on tele-learning, tele-conferences, and localization. The world now is
increasingly flatter, and modern translators, interestingly, can sit at home while
translating for any conference or meeting thousands of miles faraway, or
education and shopping websites in the need of localization.
In short, it is strongly apparent that Internet had revolutionized the world
of translation and made translation become a thriving industry with the support
of high technology. Thus, Internet-aided translation skills are what any modern
translator should obtain so as to survive in the era of information technology.
2.3. Related researches
As mentioned above, the marriage between translation and Internet has
been touched on in quite a few researches. Nevertheless, most of them merely
speak about the theory face of the issue rather than focus on pointing out the
10
application of Internet features by a particular target group to their translation
practices.
Cheerfully, there used to be several studies conducted to show the practical
use of Internet-facilitated translation programs by a specific target group and
their behaviors towards these programs. The first study which should be cited is
the research project set up by Heather Fulford and Joaquín Granell-Zafra from
Business School, Loughborough University in the United Kingdom (Heather
Fulford, Joaquín Granell-Zafra, 2005). This project aimed to investigate the
adoption of information and communication technologies by UK freelance
translators to support their various activities in translation process, as
summarized in the table below:
Table 1: ICT Support for Freelance Translators
Activity Information and

communication technology
support
Document production
e.g. creating and formatting
target texts; overtyping sources texts
with target texts
Word processing software
Graphical/ presentation software
Web publishing software
Desktop publishing software
Information search & retrieval
e.g. locating background and
reference materials; locating client
company information; identifying
terminology; locating definitions of
terms; finding examples of
terminology usage; managing
personal terminology collections
Internet search engine
Electronic encyclopedia/ reference
work
Terminology databank
Text corpus/ document archive
Electronic library
Electronic dictionaries and glossary
Database software
Terminology management software
11
Translation creation
Formulating translation

Translation memory
Machine translation
Communication
e.g. liaising with clients;
networking with colleagues
Electronic mail
Electronic mailing lists
Online discussion groups
Marketing & work
procurement
e.g. promoting translation
services; searching for clients; bidding
for translation contracts
Having own web site
Online marketplaces
Business management
e.g. client & contact data
management; contract quotations;
billing/invoicing; financial
management
Database software
Spreadsheet software
Accounting/ bookkeeping package
Most of the survey participants (about 80%) were quite experienced
translators (over six years’ experience), while the remaining 20% were relative
newcomers with up to five years’ experience. Sadly, the findings of the survey
revealed that despite their widespread adoption of general-purpose software
applications, respondents hardly use more special-purpose ones such as
terminology management tools and translation memory. Besides, levels of
awareness of translation-specific software were low, and many translators

seemed skeptical about the value of such technologies.
Recently, a more in-depth study has been carried out by a PhD candidate
named Vanessa Enríquez Raído in Universitat Ramon Llull, Spain so as to
investigate the web search behaviors of translation students (Raído, 2011).
Again, the samples of this research all were experienced in translation, four of
whom were postgraduate translation trainees (in their first year of studies), one
was PhD student of translation with three years of casual professional
translation experience, and the rest is a translation teacher with over 15 years of
12
experience. By asking participants to translate two popular-science texts from
Spanish to English, the study aimed to examine their online search behaviors in
relation to a number of translation task attributes and user attributes. For
conclusion, the study pointed out factors affecting the search behavior of
translators, including the translator’s level of translation expertise, the level of
perceived domain knowledge and web search expertise, the complexity degree of
translation task, and the amount of time spent on searching.
In Vietnam, aside from some articles merely offering a short and general
overview on the issue there has not had any serious study conducted. Similarly,
no standard has been set to evaluate the capacity of Vietnamese translators, both
experienced and fresh, for applied translation technology.
Inspired by that fact, the study presented in the rest of this paper is to draw
attention to the never-aimed target population, i.e. translation-specialized
students in FELTE, ULIS, VNU with the hope that more suggestions and strategies
would be offered after the study to help these would-be translators sharpen their
translation skills.
Conclusion: Presented in the chapter is the strong theoretical background of
this research, including theories about translation, the overview on translation
before and after the 21
st
century, the relationship between the Internet and

translation, and related researches. This is the basis for the research’s reliable
outcomes.
13
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
In this chapter, important matters relating to the study are clearly unveiled,
including research subjects, research instruments, the way and the means
findings are analyzed.
3.1. Participants
As the main subject of the research, students who are in the third and fourth
year of Translation and Interpreting Major, ULIS, VNU, Hanoi were chosen to be
participants of the study. In general, these students have been trained quite well
in both translation theory and practices. Besides, with more experience in
accessing recognized translations as well as in doing translation themselves, they
have obtained a certain number of skills and techniques for rendering. More
importantly, under the pressure of employment after graduation, most of them
have a greater occupational awareness, always thirsty for things that can
enhance and maximize their translation capability. In contrast, freshman and
second-year students normally pay less attention to those aids as they are fairly
new to translation and have not undergone the basic training. That is the reason
why this study gives the central focus to third and fourth-year students in the
major.
For the reliability and validity of the result, the research was to be
conducted on the whole third and fourth-year students (approximately 80 ones)
majoring in Translation and Interpreting.
3.2. Data collection instrument
The single instrument utilized during the research process was a survey
questionnaire.
14
With the aim of performing assessments as subjunctively and
comprehensively as possible, the questionnaire was delivered to the entire

research population. In terms of the content, it contains six questions, in which,
the first four ones address the research question 1, the fifth one answers the
research question 2, and the last one solves the issue in the research question 3.
Regarding its form, almost the questions (except the sixth one) are in open form,
requiring respondents to respond honestly. In contrast, the form of the question 6
is partly closed; that is, respondents can choose among a number of available
choices and make their own suggestions and comments at the same time.
3.3. Data collection procedures
After the questionnaire’s design was completed, it is necessary for the
researcher to contact students who were expected to participate in the survey.
Then, the questionnaire was delivered to students both by hand and by email, so
that they were willing to finish them effectively. Once having finished,
participants could give back the questionnaires either by hand or by email,
whatever they prefer.
3.4. Data analysis methods and procedures
Data, after collected from the survey, was categorized into the two types:
quantitative and qualitative one.
For quantitative data, they were examined in numbers or percentage, and
presented logically in the form of tables and graphs.
For qualitative one, the answers of participants to open-form questions in
the questionnaire were used as the basis for analysis. Those data were
interpreted and presented rightly and clearly.
15
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
In this chapter, findings and results of the research questions will be
presented neatly and then be examined minutely and fully one by one.
4.1. Research question 1: What is Internet-aided translation from
students’ point of view?
With the aim of assessing students’ understanding degree of Internet-aided
translation, this research question was addressed at the top. For comprehensive

and detailed data, it was split into the first four questions in the survey
questionnaire. In detail, the question 1 was to identify the frequency students use
the Internet in translation and their purposes; the question 2 was to determine
IAT’s strong and weak points perceived by students; and the question 3 and 4
were to test students’ knowledge on IAT’s tools. Generally speaking, though
frequently utilizing the Internet in translation, students still did not exploit it to
the fullness.
4.1.1. Frequency and purposes of Internet use in translation by students
According to the data from the first question in the questionnaire, the
Internet, predictably, is employed habitually in translation by the majority of
respondents. Specifically, the Internet is the translation aid to 86% of surveyed
students, whereas 12% of them merely occasionally use this global network, and
the surprising 2% never think about it when translating. Noticeably, the 2% was
totally from the third-year students, which partly proves the integral role of the
Internet in seniors’ translation practices. Following is the pie chart showing how
often students use the Internet to support their rendering.
16
Figure 2: Frequency of Internet Use in Translation by Students
Concerning students’ purposes when using the Internet in rendering, more
than half of the students of the first two groups (68%), sadly, only mentioned
some common functions without clarity. For example, they gave vague answers
like “search for information” or/and “search for terminology”. The rest (32%),
more decently, managed to specify carefully their uses as the table below.
Table 2: Students’ Purposes in the Use of Internet in Translation
Terminology - Search for cultural equivalence, slangs, idioms
- Search for technical terms
- Search for synonyms and collocation
- Search for neologism and its source
- Check the usage of an expression or a structure
- Check the existence/ usage frequency of an

expression/ phrase.
Background
knowledge &
information
- Refer to articles in the same topic in both SL &
TL
- Update information
Translation - Translate roughly/ word for word
- Refer to recognized translations
4.1.2. IAT’s advantages and drawbacks perceived by students
17
In order to determine students’ attitudes towards IAT, the second question
was designed, in which respondents were required to state three advantages and
disadvantages from their viewpoint. Below is the table containing data gathered
from the question.
Table 2: IAT’s Advantages and Disadvantages by Students
Percentage of
respondents
Advantages Disadvantages
100% Diversity (information,
terminology, background
knowledge)
Information workload
Low accuracy
Speed Low reliability
Convenience & accessibility
28% Distraction (social media,
game online)
Eye strain
Dependence

7% Internet connection
requirement
Low-quality rough translations
From the table above, it is apparent that the entire research population
(100%) fully appreciated IAT’s useful attributes, namely the speed; the diversity
in information and terminology; and the convenience and accessibility.
Meanwhile, its accuracy and reliability were almost considered as weaknesses,
apart from the information workload. Interestingly, about 28% of the students
referred to certain potential drawbacks such as distractions caused by social
media or game online, eye strain, and translator’s dependence. In addition, other
weaknesses like the Internet connection requirement and low-quality
translations were pointed out by a tiny handful of respondents (7%).
4.1.3. Students’ knowledge on IAT tools
18
As the data collected from the first and second question was not enough to
evaluate students’ understanding, the third and fourth question were raised. In
the third one, respondents were expected to name some translation tools they
have used or heard about, and state their functions as well. Overall, nearly 200
names were written down, and after being classified according to function, they
were illustrated in the chart below.
Figure 3: Internet-Aided Translation Tools Known by Students
As shown in the chart above, online electronic dictionaries were visably
translation tools used most by students, as nearly half of their answers (45%)
were names of online dictionaries developed by Vietnam and the international
community (see Appendix 2). The next most popular tools for respondents were
online machine translation systems, namely Google Translate, with 33%,
followed by search engines, specifically Google Search, with 14%. Sadly, online
electronic encyclopedias, the vast stores of background knowledge of all topics,
were familiar with a very small number (2%), while specialized databases where
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