The use of machine translation in L2 education: Japanese university teachers’ views and practices
Louise Ohashi · 2022
Machine Translation (MT) is receiving increasing attention within language education due to both its affordances and the potential it offers for academic misconduct. To understand more about teachers’ views and practices, a survey was conducted with 153 foreign language (L2) educators who teach at Japanese universities. The survey examined their; (1) use of MT to assist with L2 reading, writing, speaking, and listening, both personally and in their courses; (2) views on MT in language education; and (3) knowledge of how to help students use MT effectively and their willingness to learn about this. The results indicated that most teachers supported the use of MT as a learning tool, but many had concerns over its misuse. Few felt they had enough knowledge to guide students toward effective use and the vast majority wanted to learn more about how to do so. These findings highlight a need for teacher support and underscore the necessity of more research and workplace discussions on the integration and regulation of MT within L2 education.