Machine translation literacy: a panorama of practices at Swiss universities and implications for language teaching

Abstract

This short paper presents the quantitative results of an online survey of Swiss university students and staff on their use of Machine Translation (MT). The analysis of the 3,713 responses throws light on the context, purposes, degree of successive revisions, and ethical considerations surrounding the use of MT. With regards to language teachers and students, the quantitative data allows us to draw three preliminary conclusions: MT is a well-established but unspoken practice in Swiss universities, MT is not seen as an alternative to language learning, and MT is seen and already being used as a tool to improve language skills.