Using Jupyter notebooks as didactic instruments in translation technology teaching

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper intends to illustrate the didactic potential of Python-based Jupyter notebooks in teaching translation technology, machine translation in particular, to translation students. It discusses the basic makeup of Jupyter notebooks and shows how these notebooks can be set up for students who have had little to no prior exposure to the Python programming language. Then, the paper discusses the general didactic benefits of Jupyter notebooks for both students and lecturers in a translation studies context. It shows how students can interact with these notebooks, which translation technological and translation-oriented natural language processing (NLP) concepts can be taught using them and to what extent interaction with these notebooks can help students understand, in a very general way, some basic principles of (NLP-oriented) Python programming. Finally, the paper presents the results of a pilot study on the use of Jupyter notebooks in a machine translation course in an MA programme in specialised translation.