TURKISH EFL ACADEMICIANS’ PROBLEMS CONCERNING TRANSLATION ACTIVITIES AND PRACTICES, ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE USE OF ONLINE AND PRINTED TRANSLATION TOOLS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR QUALITY TRANSLATION PRACTICE

ABSTRACT

This mixed method research study aimed to highlight the problems of EFL academicians concerning their current translation practices, their attitudes towards the use of various translation tools, and offer suggestions for more quality translation practices. Seventy-three EFL academicians from three Turkish universities participated in the study. The qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews and open-ended questionnaire items and analyzed with the content analysis while the quantitative data was obtained through Likert–scale items and analyzed with descriptive statistics. Based on the participants’ ideas, the establishment of a translation center in the university, collaboration with professional translators with academic background and experience of professional translation in various disciplines, the organization of awareness-raising seminars, the introduction of minor and double major programs in translation and the integration of training programs facilitating the use of online translation tools and search engines were found beneficial in enhancing the quality of existing translation practices.