Cotelli Kureth, Sara

2023-12-07, Cotelli Kureth, Sara, Delorme Benites, Alice, Haller, Mara, Noghrechi, Hasti, Steele, Elizabeth

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 nontranslators 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.

2022, Cotelli Kureth, Sara, Delorme Benites, Alice, Lehr, Caroline, Steele, Elizabeth

This short paper presents the quantitative results of an online survey of Swiss university students and staff on their use of Machine Translation (MT). The analysis of the 3,713 responses throws light on the context, purposes, degree of successive revisions, and ethical considerations surrounding the use of MT. With regards to language teachers and students, the quantitative data allows us to draw three preliminary conclusions: MT is a well-established but unspoken practice in Swiss universities, MT is not seen as an alternative to language learning, and MT is seen and already being used as a tool to improve language skills.