“I Looked It Up in DeepL”: Machine Translation and Digital Tools in the Language Classroom

Cotelli Kureth, Sara; Delorme Benites, Alice; Haller, Mara; Noghrechi, Hasti; Steele, Elizabeth (2023). “I Looked It Up in DeepL”: Machine Translation and Digital Tools in the Language Classroom Studie e Ricerche : Human Translation and Natural Language Processing Towards a New Consensus?, 35, pp. 81-96. Venice: Fondazione Università Ca’ Foscari 10.30687/978-88-6969-762-3/006

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This article looks at a widespread yet erroneous use of machine translation (MT): looking up single words, thus treating MT systems as online bilingual dictionaries (ODs). After a literature review of this trend in research about MT, we consider data from a large survey that we carried out in 2021 at all Swiss universities on MT use and users’ attitudes. When analysing users’ metalinguistic awareness, we discovered that non-translators perceive the text to translate, mostly at word level, leading to the misuse of MT systems as ODs. Moreover, the survey results revealed confusion between the different digital tools for language learning, namely MT, online parallel corpora like Linguee and ODs. We therefore suggest broadening the scope of MT literacy to include training learners in general digital literacy to enable them to use such tools appropriately.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL Rectorate and Services BFH Centres and strategic thematic fields > Thematic field "Humane Digital Transformation"
Name:	Cotelli Kureth, Sara; Delorme Benites, Alice; Haller, Mara; Noghrechi, Hasti and Steele, Elizabeth
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PB Modern European Languages Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science
ISSN:	2610-993X
ISBN:	978-88-6969-763-0
Publisher:	Fondazione Università Ca’ Foscari
Language:	English
Submitter:	Mara Haller
Date Deposited:	31 Jan 2024 11:26
Last Modified:	31 Jan 2024 11:26
Publisher DOI:	10.30687/978-88-6969-762-3/006
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Machine translation Language learning and teaching Online dictionaries Online corpora Tools
ARBOR DOI:	10.24451/arbor.21168
URI:	https://arbor.bfh.ch/id/eprint/21168