The Evolution of the Global Language Service Market

Abstract

Globalization and informatization are reshaping the landscape of the translation industry. The newly emerging technologies have not only changed the traditional concept of translation but also greatly enriched and expanded its intension and extension, ushering in a brand-new era of language services. Based on authoritative language service reports in China and abroad, this paper analyzes the development trends of the said industry, including the sustained growths of language service demands, the constant extensions of service sectors, the increasingly diversified service items, the rapid growths of service technologies, the diversifications of service roles, and the refinements of service standards. This paper also suggests that translation educators in the new era should reconsider the limitations of traditional translation educations, keep an eye on the industrial chain as well as the development trends of language services, and closely follow the market demands for language services. Only in this way can they facilitate the reform of translation education and improve the setup of translation disciplines step by step, promoting the sustainable development of language service educations.