Google Translate and Biliterate Composing: Second‐Graders' Use of Digital Translation Tools to Support Bilingual Writing

Abstract

Research is needed exploring how teachers and students in Englishmedium schools transform classrooms to welcome and value bilingualism and biliteracy. This article draws on social literacies and placed resources perspectives to explore how one classroom of second-grade students used Google Translate as a tool to support their biliterate composing. Constant comparative analyses revealed three patterns related to students' use of this tool. Students used Google Translate to support their inclusion of bilingual text and to interact with peers. They also negotiated limitations around the use of Google Translate. Examples of each pattern are used to illustrate how students interactionally engaged with this tool, using it to position themselves as bilingual authors and language learners, and grappling with material and ideological baggage (e.g., standardized language ideologies) the tool brought to the classroom. Implications for educators working in similar contexts are discussed, including how the use of digital translation tools can foster students' bilingual writing by offering in-the-moment spelling and vocabulary support. Further discussion includes how the use of Google Translate might contribute to shifting monoglossic classroom ideologies towards ones that value multilingualism.

A Systematic Review of Machine-Translation-Assisted Language Learning for Sustainable Education

“…It served as an essential survival tool for pupils to communicate with their teachers and peers [1]. Many studies also indicated that machine translation acted as a language learning resource [35,38]. It was instrumental for students in gaining knowledge, including vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and spelling [4,27,33,38].…”

“…These resulted in little trust in machine translation. On the other hand, students may become overdependent on the machine output and accept it without postediting [33,35], suggesting a lack of critical analytic skills [40]. In this case, they would develop bad habits and become less motivated and enthusiastic to learn [39].…”

“…In this case, they would develop bad habits and become less motivated and enthusiastic to learn [39]. Occasionally, translation tools failed to identify languages because they do not take a standardized form, e.g., in the case of Tagalog [35]. Technical issues [41,42] and cheating [33,36] were also responsible for students' negative attitudes.…”

“…Some integration procedures can be identified when teachers attempt to incorporate MT into their curriculum, as presented in Figure 2. Language teachers firstly presented and introduced MT tools to students by identifying the role of these tools in class and constructing affordances of them [35], or by discussing with students the associated ethical issues, advantages, and pitfalls [4]. After the introduction, teachers did demonstrations and instructed students in the use of MT tools [7,29,35].…”

“…Language teachers firstly presented and introduced MT tools to students by identifying the role of these tools in class and constructing affordances of them [35], or by discussing with students the associated ethical issues, advantages, and pitfalls [4]. After the introduction, teachers did demonstrations and instructed students in the use of MT tools [7,29,35]. Ensuring that students were capable of utilizing translation tools, teachers could instruct students to complete tasks and assignments individually [46] or collaboratively [42].…”