Machine Translation: A Study on Turkish-English Translation Assisted by Software

Communication has been a big part of how our species has changed since the beginning of time. So much that today, it is hard to imagine running a business or living a normal life without a language that everyone speaks (Freitag et al., 2021). The use of mechanical dictionaries to bridge the barriers between languages was first suggested in the 17th century (Hutchins & Somers 1992), and these technologies have had a transformative impact on communication, the mode of information sharing and access globally especially with frequent cross-cultural communication among people from countries and regions. Machine translation (MT) is simply automatic translation. Systran (2004) describes machine translation as a process that uses computer software to convert text from one language to another. It is the process of translating words from one natural language such as English to another such as Turkish using computer software. Translation software have gained popularity given that they provide a useful environment to facilitate and manage translation projects. This research includes a review of existing translation approaches, it sheds light on the current state of machine translation technology and its impact on the translation industry. The study further explores the nature of the translation process assisted by software and implements a model which will be tested from the end user`s perspective for effectiveness using Software Usability Measurement Inventory.