Rothwell, A., Moorkens, J., Fernández-Parra, M., Drugan, J., Austermuehl, F. & Piccioni, S. (2023). Translation Tools and Technologies . Routledge, 270 pages. ISBN 9781003160793

## Introduction

In  the  age  of  GILT  (globalisation,  internationalisation,  localisation,  and  translation),  the  role  of language-related  technology  solutions  as  empowering  tools  for  human  translators  has  been highlighted by many scholars in Translation and Interpreting (T&I) studies and beyond. Indeed, the emerging trend of human-machine collaboration accelerated by our human experimental endeavours to emancipate human manual labour from automatic and routinary tasks has dominated the scholarly and professional literature. However, regardless of existing standardised documents (see ISO 31661  and  ISO  639-1)  aiming  at  consolidating  translation  and  localisation,  there  seem  to  be  no comprehensive discussions on the historical development, status quo, and prospect of translation tools and technologies so far. With an overarching aim to provide a panoramic view of the industry and the market related to technology-enabled translation services, this pioneering volume brings together  collective  wisdom  from  six  contributors  whose  extensive  knowledge  and  considerable expertise in computer-assisted (or aided) translation (CAT) 1 , machine translation (MT) 2 , subtitling, automatic  speech  recognition  (ASR) 3 ,  automatic  term  extraction  (ATE) 4 ,  game  localisation 5 , translation workflow and project management, and translation quality assurance (QA) and quality control  (QC).  It  is  one  of  the  must-reads  for  present  and  future  language  professionals  (editors, translators,  interpreters,  and  project  managers)  on  both  sides  of  the  aisle  for  language  service providers and service users.

## Book Summary

The straightforward and comprehensive book includes twelve chapters, each shedding light on a specific aspect of translation tools and technologies. Starting right away, in Chapter 1, Introducing Translation Tools and Technologies, the authors immediately grab our attention by establishing an overview of milestones in the development of translation tools and technologies, inclusive of easyto-understand explanations  for  concepts  and  terms.  Continuing  with  the  overview, in  Chapter  2, Principles of Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT), the authors get straight to the claim that 'human ethics matter' since the technological tools are created by our human being to facilitate our work. By navigating through the principles of the objectives and essential features of translation tools and technologies, the authors pave a clear path forward for readers to contextualise these tools and technnologies, inclusive of easy-to-understand explanations for concepts and terms. Continuing with the overview, in Chapter 2, Principles of Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT), the authors get straight to the claim that 'human ethics matter' since the technological tools are created by our human being to facilitate our work. By navigating through the principles of the objectives and essential features of translation tools and technologies, the authors pave a clear path forward for readers to contextualise these tools and technologies in today's industry and market. Then in Chapter 3, Translation Memory, Matching, Alignment, and Data Exchange, the authors go directly to one of the most frequently used tools  in  CAT  -  Translation  Memory  (TM).  With  thorough  reviews  of  fundamental  principles  of translation alignment, the authors walk us through many different aspects of TM-related applications in real-life professional work.

1  Computer-assisted (or aided) translation (CAT) refers to software, typically including translation memory and termbase facilities, that helps translators during the translation process (compare machine translation).

2  Machine translation (MT) refers to automatic translation of text or speech performed by computer software, with or without human intervention.

3  Automatic speech recognition (ASR) refers to software that enables the recognition of spoken language and its conversion into text.

4  Automatic term extraction (ATE) refers to the process of using computer programs in order to identify strings of text that are potential terms. The extracted strings are referred to as term candidates (compare term extraction).

5  Game localisation refers to the localisation of video games and associated material.

From easy-to-understand to tricky and nuanced territory, the next two chapters brush through terminology and corpora management powered by CAT tools. Securely anchored in achieving finegrained linguistic equivalence from bilingual data, Chapter 4, Managing Terminology in CAT Tools, discusses specialist terminology tools, such as the termbase, and leads us towards a practical method to manage bulky and even contested term entries in a more effective way. Then in Chapter 5, Electronic Corpora, the authors look beyond the lexical level and focus their gaze on leveraging the powerful utility of comparable and parallel corpora. By taking us through a step-by-step hands-on guide, the authors illustrate how electronic corpora can be efficiently constructed and managed to fit into specific domain knowledge and corresponding terminology.

Next, shifting our attention from the detail-oriented granular level of computer-assisted operations to the meta managerial level of automatic translation tools, Chapters 6 to 8 enrich our understanding of  meta-management activities related to CAT tools. In Chapter 6, Current Machine Translation Technologies, the authors examine the operating principles of current MT technologies. In Chapter 7, Advanced Leveraging in CAT Tools, the author attempts to create some sort of synergy between CAT and MT by showing diverse approaches to these technologies as empowering tools for our human translators. Chapter 8, Translation Project Management, critically reflects on many practical considerations in broader translation project management, reviewing both sweet spots and pain points in the current translation workplace. However, the authors tend to suggest the mixed bitter-sweetness in  running a multi-stakeholder team across linguistically and culturally diverse terrains  and time zones as a gratifying and rewarding experience for human translators to truly actualise their full capacity, genius and creativity, and infinite human potential that are not limited to the role of a language staff.

Then the next two chapters, personally most exciting for the reviewer, cover the fun part of our job as a human language creative workforce - subtitling, games, software, and web. These chapters include a wide range of interesting activities using tools and technologies to generate audiovisual subtitles (see Chapter 9) and to provide localised content for websites, games, and software (see Chapter 10).

The final two chapters offer a profound reflection on a series of practical matters covered by previous chapters impacting the use of translation tools and technologies: task-, domain- and contextspecific QA (see Chapter 11) and cognitively demanding tasks utilising tools and technologies for translators (see Chapter 12). The book concludes with a sobering afterword visualising the future outlook and ongoing debates in the fast-moving area of the T&I industry and market.

## Evaluation, Reflection, and Take-Home Messages

A convincing body of scholarly literature has testified the influence of technology on how language and text are perceived and interpreted in general, legal and human rights settings (Engberg, 2023; Yi, 2023). This valuable volume adds to our growing understanding of the role of technology in the evolving profession of translation and interpreting in our modern society. The contributions of the fascinating volume are mainly two-fold. One is its strong position in the technology-empowered future of our professional world. By acknowledging that the universal influence of automation and technology in the professional world is not just disruptive to the T&I market but rather all sectors in the economy (manufacturing, knowledge work, skilled labour, finance and banking), contributors to this book unequivocally pinpoint the importance of cultivating employable T&I students who fit in the  constantly  evolving  technology-enabled  industry  and  market  needs,  particularly  through  the expert knowledge as instructed in this educational book and handy soft skills (e.g. interpersonal communication and collaboration and working with the multilingual and multicultural team across different time zones). The other is its firm stance and unwavering faith in the creativity of our human translators and interpreters as trailblazers, changemakers, and problem solvers. By tracing back the early days of developing these translation tools and technologies, the authors in the book unveil a shared respect for the immense manpower and genius in optimising technical solutions and iterating updated versions of more sophisticated systems that help project managers to navigate through bugs and fixes with a peace of mind.

On a personal account, I find many aspects of technology-enabled localisation workflow management very relatable to my prior professional experience. As a former staff at a Fortune Global 500 technology company, I resonate with many practical challenges and difficulties for localisation managers to manage on-the-fly requests from multiple functions within a sizeable organisation like Tencent Technology. For Tencent, whose interactive entertainment publishing business is one of its top revenue generators, the requests for localising games that re-create the authentic gaming experience for gamers in various game cultures across a vast range of geographic locations are enormous. As voiced by many contributors to this exciting volume, the key skills and abilities to work against tight deadlines and align interests with multiple stakeholders within the organisation (publishing department, concept arts and creative department, marking department, business development, overseas partnership outreach department, and outsourcing management teams) extend far beyond coursebook knowledge. Instead, it puts high demands and expectations on our T&I graduates to learn fast on the job and give full play to their resourcefulness manifested through a kaleidoscope of transferrable skills so that our graduates can constantly evolve and stay relevant in their professional roles.

As educators and instructors, we become increasingly aware of the role of translation tools and technologies in our pedagogical design. However, as rightly noted by many authors in the book, we should embrace a balanced view and encourage our students to reflect both the brighter side (e.g. enhanced efficiency and reduced cognitive overload) and the shadow side (e.g. data breach, security, ethics, and confidentiality) of rapid advances tools and technologies. We, as talent cultivators and classroom culture shapers, should first accept the sometimes honest yet uncomfortable truth that technologies like ChatGPT and other AI-enabled applications are here to stay. Then we can challenge our learners to reflect critically on how they can find their place in the professional world by embracing changes, evolving and collaborating with an open, rational, yet optimist growth mindset. After all, how we frame our life happenings defines what we choose to become.

Overall, in this book, the authors of the volume take readers on a brilliant tour of thorough analysis, covering the latest trends in teaching, learning, and practice. Written in a highly readable and relatable style with academic rigour, the collective volume is a powerful source of reference, judged by its major contribution to our understanding of the intricate and far-reaching inner workings of translation tools and technologies in contemporary industrial and corporate settings. I am sure that readers of the volume, professional, academic, and general, can make personalised sense of the rich cluster of topics and themes covered by the book and find their North Star in their lifelong learning and career development.

## References

- Engberg, J. (ed.) (2023). Between Text, Meaning and Legal Languages: Linguistic Approaches to Legal Interpretation. De Gruyter Mouton.
- International Organization for Standardization. ISO 3166-1 Country Codes. Retrieved from https://www.iso.org/iso-3166country-codes.html. Accessed 17 April 2023.
- International Organization for Standardization. ISO 639-1 Language Codes. Retrieved from https://www.iso.org/iso-639language-codes.html. Accessed 17 April 2023.
- Yi, R. (2023). The promise of linguistic equity for migrants in Australian courtrooms: a cross-disciplinary perspective. Australian Journal of Human Rights 29:1, 174-180. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1323238X.2023.2232171

Reviewed by Ran Yi School of Humanities and Languages The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia ran.yi@unsw.edu.au