Modeling Predictors of Accuracy in Web-Translated Newspaper Stories
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Date
2022
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Publisher
International Journal of Translation, Interpretation, and Applied Linguistics
Abstract
Recently, newspapers published in Africa began to adopt web translation applications to make their
businesses more competitive. However, studies indicate that web translations of even major languages
are often inaccurate and generally gloss over how this affects African languages. And the predictors
of translation inaccuracy seem to be inadequately interrogated. This study, therefore, investigates
the extent to which Google Translate accurately translates English to eight African languages and
the relationship between translation accuracy and perceived journalistic errors, orthography, and
technological limitations of the translating machine. Through document analysis of six newspaper
stories, the study ascertained that the meaning of over 45% of the text was either lost or unclear.
Statistical analysis shows that perceived journalistic errors, inadequate orthography, and technological
limitations significantly predict translation inaccuracy, suggesting that improvement in these variables
would improve the accuracy of web-translated news.
Description
Keywords
African Languages, Google Translate, Journalistic Error, Orthography, Technological Innovation, Web Translation