MTrill · Machine Translation Impact on Language Learning

Machine Translation Impact on Language Learning

The MTRILL project aimed at investigating the impact of popular web-based machine translation systems (MT) on the cognitive processing of English as a second language. The research was motivated by the observation that students of English as a second language are using MT as a tool to support their English learning, due to the easy access to the systems through applications on their phones which provide instant translations for the input entered either by voice, text or image. In the proposed research, the general question raised was: Would the interaction with the output of the MT result in changes in the cognitive processing of English as a second language, reflected by the learning of structures seen in the output of the MT? To pursue the project’s goals, the researcher implemented two laboratory studies in which participants recruited were tested whether they would be primed by the MT output, i.e., whether the MT system would be capable of influencing the language behaviour of participants. The results of the studies implemented have shown that participants are influenced by the MT systems as they change their linguistic behaviour when speaking in English after exposure to the English syntactic structures seen on the MT output, even if there is an alternative preferred syntactic structure participants can use. The experiments have also revealed that participants trust the MT systems and that this trust can result in implicit (unconscious) learning of a challenging structure in English through the MT output. Furthermore, results of the experiments revealed that changes in linguistic behaviour triggered by the MT output can be elicited irrespective of the MT users’ English proficiency level. Thus, these experiments allowed the researcher to shed light on issues involving the cognitive impact of MT systems on second language processing with a focus on English as a second/foreign language (L2). The results achieved with the research are important because they reveal the impact of the language technologies on language learning and on human language behaviour. Furthermore, they have the potential to be exploited by language teachers and tutors willing to understand the benefits of including MT systems in the workflow of their language classes. In addition to the pedagogical benefits, the results of this research can be exploited by system developers in the field of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) when designing language learning tools, as the results show which properties of the tools have the potential to positively impact language learning.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз