A quest for the right word enhancing reflexivity and technology in terminology training

INTED2010, the 4th International Technology, Education and Development Conference was held in Valencia (Spain), on March 8, 9 and 10, 2010.When it comes to translators training, the acquisition of indexing and terminological competences (both at retrieval and management stage) has a major role in the performance of future translators. A good terminological database, as a result of an accurate research, along with computer assisted translation tools (CAT tools) can improve translation’s speed and quality and also reduce revision costs, bringing in benefits for all the players in the translation industry: language service providers and clients. That process (analysis, selection, retrieval and storage of terminology) takes place mostly in the pretranslation stage, but underlies the whole translation work and can be a determining factor to the quality of the final product and to its homogeneity, especially when carried out in a collaborative environment. The development of terminological databases is an essential step in the training of translators and the efficient search for the right word a necessary skill in today's globalised translation market. Moreover being the quest for the right word almost entirely run over the Internet, data diversity can greatly increase the noise. This search poses several questions, mainly (1) how and where to retrieve information and (2) how to manage it efficiently, especially to students who are neither experts in terminology nor in translation. To ease some of these problems, students were assigned a project in terminology (a database) and, in order to accomplish it, both a Webquest and an ePortfolio were proposed as guidance tools. Along the process, students were expected to build up their thematic and communicative competence and, in parallel, widen their skills in computer-assisted translation tools as well as standard officeautomation software. This paper aims at discussing how these two tools helped students guide their research, structure the problem solving activities, develop critical thinking and terminological competencies