In the driver’s seat: Perceptions of control as indicators of language professionals’ satisfaction with technologies in the workplace

Introduction Language technologies are continually improving and developing. However, technological advances are only one factor influencing users’ satisfaction with technologies in their workplaces. At least since Martin Kay’s (1980/1997) contemplation of “The Proper Place of Men and Machines in Language Translation,” attention has focused both on the capabilities of computers and software applications (e.g. translation environment tools [TEnTs], machine translation) and on the willingness of language professionals to share their activities with these and thus to give up a greater or lesser degree of control over their work. These two complementary facets of the integration of technologies into the language professional’s workplace help determine the success of language technologies as working tools.