MT Input
MT Input
What students put into MT tools
Across all the participants in our study, students most often input words into MT tools. They less often put in phrases. And least often put in whole sentences.
Across all the participants in our study, students most often input words into MT tools. They less often put in phrases. And least often put in whole sentences.
Importantly, students often tied their use of MT to instructor policies, such as only using MT for words.
Importantly, students often tied their use of MT to instructor policies, such as only using MT for words.
"My teachers are always like “do not use [Google Translate]. It's not going to be right.” So instead of even risking it, I always just try and do it like what I have learned. Because at the end of the day, they [teachers] say, ‘you'd probably be—Like your grade would be punished more if you use Google Translate versus what I taught you, even if it's not correct.’ So that's, that's why I do it [use Google Translate] word for word."
-Eliza, student of French
Unfortunately, however, machine translation tools often need more than a single word to produce accurate translations. As a result, using "MT as a dictionary" often leads to inappropriate or incorrect language, as is the case in this example from a student of Spanish.
Unfortunately, however, machine translation tools often need more than a single word to produce accurate translations. As a result, using "MT as a dictionary" often leads to inappropriate or incorrect language, as is the case in this example from a student of Spanish.