Training translation students to evaluate CAT tools using Eagles: a case study

This paper presents a case study carried out during the Computer Assisted Translation MA course at the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting of the University of Geneva. The main objectives of the CAT course are to provide the following: a general vision of the area of CAT tools (history and evolution of CAT tools, architecture, and current trends); basic technological skills and competences in the use of two well-known commercial CAT tools (SDL Trados Studio 2011 and MultiTrans Prism); and a solid evaluation method suitable for assessing the utility of a specific CAT tool in a defined context of use. The focus of the present paper is to describe the last section of our course, which concerns how to critically evaluate the appropriateness of a CAT tool in a given scenario. The chosen evaluation method was the EAGLES 7-step recipe (1999), which was one of the deliverables of the Evaluation of Natural Language Processing Systems project (EAGLES I and II). We describe in detail how we implemented an evaluation activity driven by new market needs, and present the result of our experience as well as the feedback obtained from our students.