A Comparative Study on the Different Perspectives of Technical Translation: Influence of Technical Terms in Defining Technical Translation with Special Reference to selected English Non-Literary Documents

Harsha Amarasinghe and Senevirathne H.h
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Harsha Amarasinghe: Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka
Senevirathne H.h: Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 2020, vol. 4, issue 6, 551-555

Abstract: Technical translation has become such a crucial part of translation as it has been recognized that nearly 90% of all translations are technical translation (Kingscott (2002). Having recognized the importance of this, it is observed that number of universities and colleges have given prominence to technical translation in their respective degree programmes or diplomas in relation to translation studies. However, one of the difficulties confronted by number of students and academics in this particular field is that there is no definite theory as to what technical translation exactly mean. There are two widely known major perspectives on technical translation; translation of documents related to technology, and the translation of documents of specialized areas (Newmark, 1988). Although most universities have opted to include both highly technical documents and documents of specialized areas as technical translation, Jody Byrne (2006) argues that “in reality, ‘technical’ means precisely that, something to do with technology and technological texts. Just because there is a specialized terminology, doesn’t make something technical,†which leaves number of academics in the particular field confused. Hence, this research aims to provide a clear definition to technical translation. The key element in technical translation is the usage of technical terms. Therefore, quantitative approaches were employed to determine the usage of technical terms on the relevant documents of highly technical texts as well as specialized areas which had been selected through convince sampling. The study indicated that a considerably higher percentage of technical terms have been utilized in documents related to technology in comparison documents of specialized areas. Consequently, it is possible to conclude that technical translation should only mean the translation of documents related to technical translation.

Date: 2020
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