Handle, but
handle with care: Google Translate in EAP
Klaus Mundt - University of Nottingham
Mike Groves - University of Bath
Outline
Assumptions
Abilities
Google Translate in EAP?
Options & Opportunities
Assumptions
- The system is used by students
- The system remains free and easily
accessible
- The more it is used, the better it will get
- The integrative/instrumental motivation
distinction applies
Some examples of student writing
-
First of all, the exam will increase the stress level of students. But, at the
same time it is also able to train students to become more focussed,
disciplined and confident.
-
From kindergarten to high school, students memorize and understand the
subject. Furthermore, students will not understand and they are
embarrassed to ask questions to the teacher.
-
Examination also bring disadvantages as they create a generation of
passive and hinder students' ability to think critically and creatively.
Some examples of published writing
-
Starting from this reference to the importance of the textual paradigm for
Geertz in conflict with Ricœur, it is interesting to watch for an
understanding of the mutual influence of these two authors that there are
more detailed references to Geertz in the writing.
-
For a compatibility of Heidegger's Contributions with today's questions of
meaning and performative Processes of self-interpretation, Rüdiger
Rimpler recently suggested to draw on studies from the field of
performativity research.
-
How could we turn into ethnography script, then did enact script, then think
about it, then go back to fuller ethnography, then make a new script, then
act it again? This interpretive circulation between data, practice, theory,
and more data - a kind of hermeneutical Catherine wheel, if you like Provides a merciless critique of ethnography (Turner 1979).
Some other examples of student
writing
-
Early age , the students were taught to learn in order to achieve excellent
results by their parents , but in reality, not so easy to accept.
-
I think a person is not necessarily all abilities and talents can only be
identified in an exam or in the decision.
-
Since the Tang imperial examination system since the continuous
development and improvement examination system testing students'
learning abilities to become an integral part.
Some other examples of published
writing
-
Return' is understood to mean no identity and thus substitutability, but a
"Angelegtsein". Rimpler did not mention despite its cross-references the
"contributions" to Heidegger's earlier and later writings and lectures this
aspect.
-
Both for different reasons, inside of which you have the feeling, however,
found a common theme, as setting out the course which takes my essay.
-
The philosophy must therefore as a bridge between the world of healthy
human intellect, moral values ​and opinions, and the world of general
knowledge are introduced again to make the emblem of postmodernism
and what has become his motto, can be controlled: "[... ] facts are there
not, only interpretations "(Nietzsche 1981ff., XII / 315).
Method
Corpus of translated student writing by Malay
and Chinese speakers
Coded according to framework adapted from
Ferris et al (2013)
VT
Verb tense
COM
Comma
VF
Verb phrase
SP
Spelling
WF
Word form
AP
Apostrophe
ART
Article
SS
Sentence structure
PL
Plural
MW
Missing word
AGR
Agreement
REF
Pronoun reference unclear
PREP
Preposition
PRO
Pronoun incorrect
WO
Word order
RO
Run on
WW
Wrong word
FRAG
Fragment
WC
Word choice
UNCLEAR
Unclear
Error distribution (cf Groves & Mundt, 2015)
Script
Language
Words
Sentences
Errors
Errors/100
words
1
Malay
555
33
26
4.7
2
Malay
460
42
23
5
3
Malay
508
28
28
5.51
4
Chinese
443
11
51
11.5
5
Chinese
301
12
28
9.3
So what can it do?
Can
Cannot
At times, write in generally clear language
Write polished English
Convey meaning, with some grammatical
errors
Write completely correct English
Align to a generally academic/formal style
Align itself to academic conventions
Select appropriate lexis
Build argument
Handle some idiomatic turns/fixed
expressions, depending on language pair
(need some evidence for this, perhaps from
German?)
Translate all idiomatic language
Create appropriate text structure
What we think this means..
Google can translate - but not perfectly (unsurprising - MT
generally require post-editing )
(Austermühl, 2011)
But it is not about perfection, it is about whether it can do
better than the low-proficiency student.
If a student is motivated solely by the qualification, why
would they not use this?
Can we use it?
Academic writing is about communication, not ‘native-ness’ or impeccable
accuracy (cf CEFR), and the insistence on ‘standard’ English is questionable
(cf Kachru, 2009; Phillipson, 1992).
Will “Googlish” become a codified dialect? How should the Academy react to
this?
If our job is to move beyond simple language teaching towards an ill-defined
standard, and to help students align to the deeper norms of academia, why not
use this?
How can we do this?
At the institutional level
As EAP providers/practitioners
➢ accept that students (esp. of lower language proficiency)
will use this technology (cf Ho, Anderson & Leong, 2010)
➢ probably depending on the balance between ‘literacy’ and
‘language’ focus on EAP programmes
➢ ‘legalise’ it as facilitating tool/legislate it
➢ be aware of its strengths and weaknesses
➢ advise students accordingly
At the classroom level
➢ develop students’ critical language awareness (cf
Fairclough, 1989)
➢ facilitate generation of knowledge of the interrelation of
language, meaning & academic conventions through
exploratory analysis (noticing)
➢ collaboration/negotiation with peers & tutors
➢ develop students’ declarative & procedural knowledge (cf
O’Malley & Chamot, 1990) of English through targeted postediting activities
Critical language and meaning
awareness
Malay expert writing:
Menurut Elith dan Garwood (2001), afiniti logam berat terhadap bahan organik dan hasil
penguraiannya adalah sangat penting bagi mengkaji ciri-ciri bahan surih dalam sesebuah sistem
akuatik.
Google Translate:
According Lith and Garwood (2001), affinity to heavy metals and organic matter decomposition result
is very important to study the characteristics of trace elements in an aquatic system.
Human translation:
According to Elith and Garwood (2001), the affinity of heavy metals towards organic matter and the
result/product of its decomposition are very important to study the characteristics of trace elements in
a specific aquatic system.
Accuracy, clarity, style & convention
Translated from German student writing:
The fact that the cities most affected by the crisis calls for the focus of the crisis
remedy programs to urban spaces at first glance. However, it must be clear that
rural areas require further support. In addition, it should be noted that a difference
between poverty before and after the crisis is. The crisis caused by the poverty
resulting from the shock of the galloping inflation and the increase in consumer
prices, while poverty sits from the period before the crisis deeper. Consequently, it
is also important to adapt the measures to be taken, because the long-term poor is
not helpful in the countryside with crisis remedy programs alone. Also one must not
forget that, even though the cities were harder hit by the crisis, the majority of the
poor live in rural areas remains.
error
awkward phrasing
quite general absence of hedging
At the individual level
➢ alleviate some of the pressures of L2 text production
○ the translation can be the ‘skeleton’ to work on
➢ reflective practice
○ What can I already do? What do I need to improve? Using
feedback/feed forward & growing knowledge to inform practice.
➢ empowerment through self-directed and pre- or post-editing activities
○ taking charge through targeted code- & course switching (Lea & Street,
1998)
➢ confidence building
○ beating the machine; the machine as facilitator
Concluding remarks - EAP Praxis
➢ scaffolded approach
➢ favouring learning over teaching - empowering the student
➢ developing language & deeper literacy in tandem (form & function)
➢ demonstrating tutor’s own literacy
➢ adds to our credibility
References
Abdullah, M.H., Saad, S., Palanisamy, K. (2007) ‘Taburan Logam Berat (Cd dan Pb) Dalam Sedimen Teluk Menkabong, Sabah’. Borneo
Science 20(1), 40-49
Austermühl, F. (2001) Electronic Tools For Translators. Manchester: St. Jerome Publishing
Fairclough, N. (1989) Language and Power. London: Longman
Ferris, D., Liu, H., Sinha, A., Senna, M. (2013) Written corrective feedback for individual L2 writers. Journal of Second Language Writing 22 (3),
307-329
Groves, M., Mundt, K. (2015) ‘Friend or Foe? Google Translate in Language for Academic Purposes’. English for Specific Purposes (37), 112121
Ho, C., Anderson, K., Leong, A. (eds.) (2010) Transforming Literacies and Language: Multimodality and Literacy in the New Media Age. London:
Continuum
Kachru, B. (2009) ‘World Englishes and Culture Wars’. in The Handbook of World Englishes. ed. by Kachru, B., Kachru, Y. and Nelson, C.
Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 446-471
Lea, M., Street, B. (1998) ‘Student Writing in Higher Education: An Academic Literacies Approach’. Studies in Higher Education, 23(2), 157-172
O’Malley, J.M., Chamot, A.U. (1990) Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Phillipson, R. (1992) Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press