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Article published In: Decolonising or Recolonising?: Generative AI through the eyes of applied linguists, language teachers, and learners
Edited by Toni Dobinson, Julian Chen and Carly Steele
[Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 47:3] 2024
► pp. 309–339

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The use of Google Translate for language learning in emergency forced displacement contexts

Ukrainian adult learners of English in Australia

ORCiD logo with link | Curtin University
 | The University of Newcastle
 | Delaware State University
 | Curtin University
Published online: 6 January 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.24098.bog
Abstract
This paper explores the use of Google Translate (GT) by displaced people (DPs) from Ukraine in Australia and English language educators supporting learners from refugee backgrounds in the context of decolonizing language learning. The survey and interviews with DP participants revealed that GT provides them with a sense of confidence and freedom, inclusion and value following their emergency evacuation from the war. Significantly, the learners’ use of GT suggests high levels of metalinguistic awareness and digital literacy, and they contested the dominance of ‘privileged’ language varieties in machine translation applications. Their use of GT also promoted wider understanding of multilingual learners in educational settings. The educator interviews provided insights into their goals for supporting learners in (re)settlement and their contrasting views regarding the potential for GT to play a role in language learning. A critical discussion of different ways that learners and educators perceive tools such as GT provides insights into the complexities of the use of machine translation in language teaching and learning.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Context and positionality
  • 3.Literature review
    • 3.1The potential role of machine translation in decolonising language classrooms
    • 3.2Machine translation for language learning and teaching in emergency displacement contexts
  • 4.Methodology
    • 4.1Participants
    • 4.2Ethical considerations
    • 4.3Data analysis
  • 5.Findings: Learner experiences
    • 5.1Survey summary
    • 5.2Interview insights
      • 5.2.1Google Translate as a means of freedom, confidence, and inclusion
      • 5.2.2Strategic uptake and metalinguistic awareness
      • 5.2.3Learner proficiency in digital literacy and awareness about multilingual learners
      • 5.2.4Problematising linguistic dominance in machine translation
  • 6.Findings: Insights from educators
    • 6.1Selective use of Google Translate in the classroom
    • 6.2Concerns about communicative flow and learner autonomy
    • 6.3Mitigating language learning anxiety
  • 7.Discussion
    • 7.1Using Google Translate in language learning and teaching
    • 7.2Decentralising language learning spaces
    • 7.3Expanding pathways to language proficiency
    • 7.4Critiquing representation
    • 7.5Recommendations for language teaching theory and practice
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Note
  • References
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