Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Machine Translation

Author(s):  
Harold Somers
2022 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-137
Author(s):  
Jian Wang ◽  
Xinli Ke

Although there is a great demand for machine translation (MT) among language learners, its potentials as a computer-assisted language learning aid remain under-explored. Against this backdrop, this study adopted a mixed research method and conducted a semester-long empirical investigation into how EFL learners in mainland China used MT to assist their writing, whether MT helped improve their writing competence and how they perceived MT in EFL writing instruction. The major findings comprise: 1) By using MT students made more lexical and grammatical changes in essay revision; 2) MT helped improve the learners’ overall writing competence, and particularly had a greater effect on writing accuracy and lexical complexity than on other dimensions; 3) Students generally held a positive attitude towards incorporating MT into EFL writing instruction.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramia DIRAR SHEHADEH MUSMAR

Integrating scaffolding-learning technologies has been recognized for its potential to create intellectual and engaging classroom interactions. In the United Arab Emirates, having language teachers employ computers as a medium of new pedagogical instrument for teaching second languages generated the idea of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) as a medium of an innovative pedagogical instrument for facilitating and scaffolding language learning, with an aspiration that it will lead to improved English language attainment and better assessment results. This study aims at investigating the perspectives of students and teachers on the advantageous and disadvantageous impacts of CALL on learning and teaching English as a second language in one public school in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. The results show that CALL has a facilitating role in L2 classroom and that using CALL activities is advantageous in reducing English learning tension, boosting motivation, catering for student diversity, promoting self-directed language learning and scaffolding while learning English. The results additionally report that numerous aspects like time constraints, teachers’ unsatisfactory computer skills, insufficient computer facilities, and inflexible school courses undesirably affect the implementation of CALL in English classrooms. It is recommended that further studies should be undertaken to investigate the actual effect of CALL on students’ language proficiency. 


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