Testing a methodological framework for retrieving parallel texts in the domain of business translation

Abstract

Parallel texts complement other documentary resources such as dictionaries, glossaries, and terminology databases. Although translators have used them for a long time, there seems to be a lack of consensus on both how to design and how to use them. Against this backdrop, I propose a methodological framework that systematises the retrieval of parallel texts with search engines. First, I review a number of studies on the concept of parallel texts as well as the use of search engines in translation. Next, I describe the proposed framework. I then consider a series of case studies and apply the model to 10 texts from the field of economics and business. The aim is to assess the hits Google provides in response to a series of search queries. The results obtained show how useful a detailed knowledge of the texts to be retrieved and their possible location on the web is.