Use of machine translation in foreign language education

The aim of this study is to explore the attitudes of high school and university students towards the use of machine translation (MT) tools in foreign language learning, as well as the impact of these tools on their motivation and performance. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted among 106 stud...

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Main Author: Blanka Klimova
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Cogent Arts & Humanities
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2025.2491183
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author Blanka Klimova
author_facet Blanka Klimova
author_sort Blanka Klimova
collection DOAJ
description The aim of this study is to explore the attitudes of high school and university students towards the use of machine translation (MT) tools in foreign language learning, as well as the impact of these tools on their motivation and performance. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted among 106 students, with 99 valid responses, representing a diverse group of Czech and international students across different educational levels. The results reveal that Google Translate (GT) is the most popular MT tool, followed by DeepL and ChatGPT, with students primarily using these tools for reading comprehension, grammar checking and writing assistance. Despite concerns regarding overreliance on MT, 61.6% of respondents felt motivated to continue learning foreign languages, though 38.4% reported a decline in motivation. A significant challenge identified was the inability of MT tools to accurately convey cultural nuances and context, with students frequently expressing the need for clearer institutional guidelines on the allowed use of MT in educational settings. Future research should focus on the long-term impact of MT tools on language proficiency and strategies for integrating MT into the curriculum in a way that fosters both technological literacy and critical language skills.
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spelling doaj-art-64acc8e37dad44d9bde91c6b01bd73422025-08-20T02:26:45ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Arts & Humanities2331-19832025-12-0112110.1080/23311983.2025.2491183Use of machine translation in foreign language educationBlanka Klimova0Faculty of Informatics and Management, Department of Applied Linguistics, University of Hradec Kralove, Hradec Kralove, Czech RepublicThe aim of this study is to explore the attitudes of high school and university students towards the use of machine translation (MT) tools in foreign language learning, as well as the impact of these tools on their motivation and performance. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted among 106 students, with 99 valid responses, representing a diverse group of Czech and international students across different educational levels. The results reveal that Google Translate (GT) is the most popular MT tool, followed by DeepL and ChatGPT, with students primarily using these tools for reading comprehension, grammar checking and writing assistance. Despite concerns regarding overreliance on MT, 61.6% of respondents felt motivated to continue learning foreign languages, though 38.4% reported a decline in motivation. A significant challenge identified was the inability of MT tools to accurately convey cultural nuances and context, with students frequently expressing the need for clearer institutional guidelines on the allowed use of MT in educational settings. Future research should focus on the long-term impact of MT tools on language proficiency and strategies for integrating MT into the curriculum in a way that fosters both technological literacy and critical language skills.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2025.2491183MTtoolsforeign languageuniversity educationhigh schoolmotivation
spellingShingle Blanka Klimova
Use of machine translation in foreign language education
Cogent Arts & Humanities
MT
tools
foreign language
university education
high school
motivation
title Use of machine translation in foreign language education
title_full Use of machine translation in foreign language education
title_fullStr Use of machine translation in foreign language education
title_full_unstemmed Use of machine translation in foreign language education
title_short Use of machine translation in foreign language education
title_sort use of machine translation in foreign language education
topic MT
tools
foreign language
university education
high school
motivation
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2025.2491183
work_keys_str_mv AT blankaklimova useofmachinetranslationinforeignlanguageeducation