Like it or not, machine translation (MT) is here to stay. To increase understanding of what MT represents, increased MT literacy is needed not just in the translation community, but also in the broader research and scholarly community. So it was with great enthusiasm that I read Machine Translation and Global Research: Toward Improved Machine Translation Literacy in the Scholarly Community. This book, written by two specialists in the field, comes as a breath of fresh air in the sometimes unproductive and often contentious discussions about MT.
This book is specifically devoted to MT literacy, and its goal is to “inform [the reader] about the ways that machine translation is used in the context of scholarly communication” (1). It is not geared at translation scholars per se, but rather at members of the broader research and scholarly communities who may want to explore MT in a world dominated by English as the de facto lingua franca. For the authors, it is important that researchers be made aware of the possibilities offered by MT as well as the limits of its potential.
Chapter 1 (Scholarly Communication), the most substantive part of the book, defines the field of scholarly communication and examines the role of English as the established international language for scientific communication. The authors focus on the challenges faced by researchers who use English as an additional language, on the role of translation – professional and non-professional – in scholarly publishing, and on the limits of MT for knowledge dissemination.
Chapter 2 (Machine Translation) focuses on MT per se, i.e., its history, the various approaches (rule-based, corpus-based, neural networks) as well as its strengths and weaknesses. The authors then explore the concept of controlled languages for MT purposes, i.e., controlling the input the systems receive (e.g., the Canadian MÉTÉO system).
In Chapter 3 (Expanding the Reach of Knowledge Through Translation-Friendly Writing), the authors offer the reader some practical tips for writing in a more “translation-friendly” style through the use of controlled language. Ten guidelines are presented, including the use of short sentences, the active rather than the passive voice, etc. The authors use the academic abstract as a convincing example of how writing in a translation-friendly style can yield better results. The concept of “post-editing” is also explained to the reader.
Chapter 4 (Some Wider Implications of Using Machine Translation for Scholarly Communication) addresses some of the wider ethical issues associated with the use of MT for the purposes of scholarly dissemination. The aim is to make researchers aware of some of the risks associated with MT. For example, what are the risks of wanting to use a common lingua franca – English – for research dissemination? What does this mean for other languages? The creation of an “epistemological monoculture” (81, 85)? Also, since MT relies on data (in the form of translations) provided by human translators, will the work and contribution of professional translators go unnoticed, unrecognised? This very important chapter raises questions that go beyond the limited scope of MT systems per se and delves into the more complex issues of ethics, privacy and copyright, as well as the hegemonic use of English as a means of communication.
In Chapter 5 (Towards a Framework for Machine Translation Literacy), the authors present a framework for MT literacy. Very practical in scope, the framework proposes four modules that inform the development of workshops potentially delivered by librarians or other information specialists. The modules are designed for scholars who are “seeking to become more informed about the (potential) applications of machine translation for scholarly communication” (89).
The authors are very clear about the aims and the intended audience of this book, as well as its scope and limits. As a whole, this very well written and nuanced book will undoubtedly be of interest to scholars who use English as an additional language for scholarly communication as well as to information specialists who want to gain a better understanding of the pros and cons of MT for research purposes.
Beyond its interest to scholars, I believe this book will provide readers with a better understanding of MT in general. Although general knowledge dissemination may not be the book’s primary intent, I believe that it will contribute to MT literacy in a broad sense. As MT is now ubiquitous, it is urgent that scholars produce resources that are accessible and offer a nuanced view of the uses of MT – beyond the polarised views of MT as either “good” or “bad”. In this respect, this book is a solid and thoughtful contribution to the field of scholarly communication as well as Translation Studies.
Matthieu LeBlanc
Université de Moncton
E-mail: matthieu.leblanc@umoncton.ca