Graduate STEM Student Perspectives and Implementation of Machine Translators in South Korea

Abstract

As technology advances, and more students have constant access to cell phones, laptops and tablets inside the classroom, the use of machine translation (MT) by language learners will continue to rise. Therefore, in order for instructors to better design courses they should strive to understand how students are using machine translation, as well as student attitudes towards this technology. This present study examined the perspectives of South Korean graduate students at a science and technology university towards the usage of MT in relation to academic settings. This study featured a survey of 100 participants, and found positive correlations between the use of translators on written assignments, important academic work such as theses, as well as a proclivity to use machine translation to support completion of daily academic tasks. Students also showed a strong belief that MT has overall benefits as a language learning tool. As a result of this study, language teachers may consider incorporating MT education within their second language curriculum.