A Comparative Study on the Application of Dictionaries in Persian-to-English Translation

Dictionaries as old translation tools have always been considered as a determining factor in facilitating the translation process. This study, with a descriptive-experimental approach, aimed at examining the effects of online dictionaries on the work of Iranian translators. This study has two separate phases. In the opening phase of the project, a questionnaire was given to 100 Iranian translators in five Iranian state universities to investigate the type of dictionaries they use while translating Persian articles into English. In the main phase of the study, four groups of translators with different types of dictionaries were selected and given a task of translating three Persian article abstracts, and their translations were assessed in terms of the accuracy of the words and expressions of the source text and the speed of the job. Results indicated that translators using online dictionaries rendered the texts more accurately and much faster than the other three groups. Translators using computer software occupied the second rank, hardcover dictionary users were the third, and mobile dictionary users, bringing up the rear, were the last group to finish the job.