Actually I am one of students who choose to learn translation. When preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam of MTI, I usually need to do translating exercises. In each exercise, there is one thing that is indispensable, namely online dictionary. When I was translating an article, online dictionary would be used to look up new words; when I was checking a translated article, it would be used to revise sentences by its sentences base function and translating function. Whenever,only if I have translating exercises, online dictionary is always on my hand. Gradually it has become one part of my translating life , and I has relied on it.
Although it is indispensable in translation, I cherish it but sometimes hate it. Because online dictionary can’t always meet my needs,instead let me spend more time analyzing and correcting what information it has.
Under this condition,not only for myself, Online dictionary is necessary in their translating exercises, but also for an increasing number of students who receive translating training or enjoy doing translating. Therefore, will they have the same feeling for online dictionary? in other words, will online dictionary bring them a lot of advantages, or disadvantages in translating? In order to answer to this question, I interview different students who are English major junior students or engage in news translating internship and then write this paper down.
1.2 The Purpose and Significance of the Study
Based on the mentioned motivation, how users can correctly take the advantage of online dictionary is of importance. And this paper will further research on the advantages and disadvantages of online dictionary in translation. It will bring potential benefits:
1)Knowing Online Dictionary more and Using it More Effectively. The normal regularity is that a new thing--online dictionary--is only simply used at the beginning of its development. If users would like to know the tool more and use it more effectively, it needs to be researched and introduced more.
2)Listing advantages and disadvantages. As a new tool, there must be some imperfect aspects, such as inaccuracy of meanings, too many definitions mixed up together, and the like. In addition, as online dictionary is changing frequently, people will be confused by various changes. Those all may mislead users or result in confusion. Therefore, it is necessary to list advantages and disadvantages.
1.3 Structure of the Thesis
According to the motivation of writing(Research Background), more and more students are ready to engage in translating work. During their translating exercises, online dictionary will be indispensable, and it will bring many good effects but also some bad ones. This paper will research on what advantages and disadvantages for student in translation online dictionary will cause.
I will conduct the questionnaire to collect the data about advantages and disadvantages. And I will interview many postgraduate, teachers and amateur translators to know advantages and disadvantages. After all these steps, I will use Wenquxing website and Excel to analyze the data and also I will understand tadvantages and disadvantages from the perspective of cognitive process.
Finally, by analyzing the data and unnderstanding advantages and disadvantages from the perspective of cognitive process, I will list the advantages and disadvantages and show the suggestions for using online dictionary.
2. Literature Review
2.1 The New Kind of Users of Online Dictionary
As online dictionary is being further improved, and more students in China engage in translation, a new group of users appear, like college English major students who engage in news or movie subtitle translation on the Internet platforms, or who are ready to take an entrance exam of MTI. That is to say that researching subjects are not just three types of users of online dictionary: 1)Senior users:English scholars,and English major student, etc.; 2)Junior users:college students, workers with higher education, etc.; 3)Primary users:middle or high students, etc.(Liuqian qian,2013). There are more students having many translating exercises or frequently engaging in translating work on the Internet.