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Article published In: Translation Spaces
Vol. 14:2 (2025) ► pp.253–276

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“Google Translate is our best friend here”

A vignette-based interview study on machine translation use for health communication

ORCiD logo with link | Leiden University Centre for Linguistics
ORCiD logo with link | University of Groningen
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with Leiden University.

Published online: 4 April 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ts.24040.val
Abstract
This article presents the findings of an in-depth, participant-oriented study using vignette-based interviews to explore migrants’ use of machine translation (MT) in healthcare settings in the Netherlands. Interviewees engaged with a narrative vignette depicting a recently arrived migrant encountering language barriers when reading a vaccination invitation letter, communicating with a health professional at a vaccination center, and answering a health questionnaire. The results show that, while MT is the most commonly used and often first-reported mediation strategy in healthcare contexts, it is not used in isolation. Instead, MT is used alongside other mediation strategies, including seeking support from community members to translate or verify MT-mediated translations and using English for more direct communication. The article discusses these findings in relation to personal and institutional responsibility in healthcare contexts. Drawing from the analysis, the article proposes two recommendations: one relating to MT Literacy training and the other to community-based initiatives.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Previous research on MT use in migratory and healthcare contexts
  • 3.Methods
    • 3.1Data collection
    • 3.2Vignette design
    • 3.3Data analysis
    • 3.4Interviewees
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Mediation strategies
      • MT as the most frequent strategy for communication in healthcare contexts in the Netherlands
      • Asking others to translate or confirm MT-mediated translation
      • Using English to ask for help or search for health information online
    • 4.2Machine translation and user experience
      • MT is easy and handy but not without challenges
    • 4.3Risk, vulnerability and trust
      • The responsibility for communication is shared between migrants and host institutions
    • 4.4Training
      • MT Literacy information can be integrated into existing courses and spaces of everyday life, in the app or online
  • 5.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Note
  • References
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