Cover not available

Article published In: Translation Spaces
Vol. 14:2 (2025) ► pp.331–354

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB
authorization required

The use of machine translation as a multilingual communication strategy

The case of Ukrainian war refugees in Czechia

ORCiD logo with link | Masaryk University
ORCiD logo with link | Masaryk University
Published online: 28 October 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ts.24047.aga
Abstract
This exploratory study investigates the use of online translation tools by Ukrainian war refugees in Czechia as a key multilingual communication strategy during their initial months of displacement, particularly in the absence of interpreters. The study aims to identify conceptual lenses that can guide further research on this strategy within translation studies. We explore the constitutive factors shaping communication mediated by machine translation (MT), the perceived benefits and drawbacks of MT use, and the contexts in which MT is deliberately avoided. Our findings suggest that MT use by displaced persons can be examined through concepts such as translational agency, power, national identity, and translational assimilation and accommodation. Practical implications include integrating MT tools into refugee language education, organizing MT literacy trainings for displaced persons and aid providers, and developing guidelines supporting multilingual communication in migration crises as part of state translation policy.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • A brief overview of literature on the use of MT by displaced persons
  • Data collection and participants
  • Results
    • Constitutive factors of MT-mediated communication
      • Addressers, addressees, and mediators
      • Context and contact
      • Code
      • Message
    • Perceived benefits and drawbacks of MT use
    • The non-use of MT
  • Discussion
  • Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (44)
References
Baynham, Mike, and Tong King Lee. 2019. Translation and Translanguaging. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Berbyuk Lindström, Nataliya, Sylvana Sofkova Hashemi, Lorna Bartram, and Linda Bradley. 2017. “Mobile Resources for Integration: How Availability Meets the Needs of Newly Arrived Arabic-Speaking Migrants in Sweden.” In CALL in a Climate of Change: Adapting to Turbulent Global Conditions — Short Papers from EUROCALL 2017, edited by Kate Borthwick, Linda Bradley, and Sylvie Thouësny, 40–45. [URL]. [URL].
Burke, Lauren, Anastasia Stroubolis, Catherine Nzuki, and Erol Yayboke. 2022. Ukrainian Refugees: Forced Displacement Response Goes Fully Digital. Center for Strategic and International Studies. Accessed August 8, 2024. [URL]
Ciribuco, Andrea, Federico M. Federici, and Lorenzo Guadagno. 2024. “Migrants, Multilingual Communication and Cascading Crises: Intersections of Languages, Policies, Modes.” In The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Migration, edited by Brigid Maher, Loredana Polezzi, and Rita Wilson, 87–102. Taylor & Francis Group. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ciribuco, Andrea, Pilar Luz Rodriguez, and Iryna Andrusiak. 2024. Language and Migration in Rural Areas: Experiences of Migrants and Refugees with Language Learning and Use in Ireland’s Rural Communities. University of Galway.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cronin, Michael. 2006. Translation and Identity. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Čeňková, Ivana. 2023. “The War in Ukraine Completely Transformed the Czech Republic and Prague, or The Wave of Solidarity and Volunteer Assistance to Ukrainian Refugees Still Continues.” In Traducción e interpretación en los servicios públicos (TISP) en transición [Public Service Interpreting and Translation (PSIT) in Transition], edited by Carmen Valero Garcés, 27–37. Editorial Universidad de Alcalá.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dlubalová, Klára. 2022. “Měsíc ruské agrese, měsíc pomoci Ukrajině [A month of Russian aggression, a month of aid to Ukraine].” Ministerstvo vnitra České republiky (MVČR). Accessed April 24, 2025. [URL]
Dobrovolskyi, Danylo, Mykhailo Mishchenko, and Olga Pyshchulina. 2022. Ukrainian Refugees at the Border: the First Experience of Communication (March–May 2022). Razumkov Centre. Accessed August 8, 2024. [URL]
Jakobson, Roman. 1987. “Linguistics and Poetics.” In Language in Literature, 62–94. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kaufmann, Katja. 2018. “Navigating a New Life: Syrian Refugees and Their Smartphones in Vienna.” Information, Communication & Society 21 (6): 882–898. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kinnunen, Tuija, and Kaisa Koskinen. 2010. “Introduction.” In Translator’s Agency, edited by Tuija Kinnunen, and Kaisa Koskinen, 4–10. Tampere University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kiss, Nadiya. 2025. “Translanguaging of Ukrainian Forced Migrants in Germany and Scenarios of Ukrainian–Russian Bilingualism Dynamics in the Diaspora.” In Languages and Cultures in Times of War, edited by Halyna Shumytska, and Alex Krouglov, 208–225. Uzhhorod National University. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Klimešová, Magdaléna, Jiří Šatava, and Michal Ondruška. 2022. Situace uprchlíků z Ukrajiny [Situation of refugees from Ukraine]. Ministerstvo práce a sociálních věcí (MPSV). Accessed August 8, 2024. [URL]
Koehn, Philipp. 2010. Statistical Machine Translation. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Leurs, Koen, and Sandra Ponzanesi. 2024. “Doing Digital Migration Studies: Introduction.” In Doing Digital Migration Studies, edited by Koen Leurs, and Sandra Ponzanesi, 17–42. Amsterdam University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Liebling, Daniel J., Michal Lahav, Abigail Evans et al. 2020. “Unmet Needs and Opportunities for Mobile Translation AI.” In: Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1–13. Association for Computing Machinery. Accessed September 19, 2024. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lo, Siowai. 2024. “The Effects of NMT as a De Facto Dictionary on Vocabulary Learning: a Comparison of Three Look Up Conditions.” Computer Assisted Language Learning 1–21. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mahroug, Naoual, and Yasmine Bouagga. 2020. “Demander l’asile dans sa langue [Applying for asylum in your own language].” Plein Droit 124 (1): 15–18. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Maryns, Katrijn, Philipp Sebastian Angermeyer, and Mieke Van Herreweghe. 2021. “Introduction: Flexible Multilingual Strategies in Asylum and Migration Encounters.” The Translator 27 (1): 1–11. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mazhak, Iryna, Ana Carolina Paludo, and Danylo Sudyn. 2023. “Self-Reported Health and Coping Strategies of Ukrainian Female Refugees in the Czech Republic.” European Societies 26 (2), 411–437. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Molchan, Maria, and Ivana Čeňková. 2023. “Professional Community Interpreting in a Turbulent World: A Necessity or a Luxury?” Bridge: Trends and Traditions in Translation and Interpreting Studies 4 (1): 109–122.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
MVČR. n.d. “Statistika v souvislosti s válkou na Ukrajině — archiv [Statistics related to the war in Ukraine — archive].” Ministerstvo vnitra České republiky (MVČR). Accessed October 12, 2023. [URL]
Norton, Bonny. 1995. “Social Identity, Investment, and Language Learning.” TESOL Quarterly, 29 (1): 9–31. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
O’Brien, Sharon, and Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow. 2020. “MT Literacy — A Cognitive View.” Translation, Cognition & Behavior 3 (2): 145–164. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Paseková Jelínková, Libuše. 2022. “Jazykové centrum pomáhá Ukrajině kurzy češtiny [Language Centre helps Ukraine with Czech language courses].” Univerzita Pardubice. Jazykové centrum. Accessed April 24, 2025. [URL]
Piccoli, Vanessa. 2022. “Plurilingualism, Multimodality and Machine Translation in Medical Consultations.” Translation and Interpreting Studies 17 (1): 42–65. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pięta, Hanna, and Susana Valdez. 2024. “Migration and Translation Technologies.” In The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Migration, edited by Brigid Maher, Loredana Polezzi, and Rita Wilson, 434–450. Taylor & Francis Group. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Polezzi, Loredana. 2012. “Translation and Migration.” Translation Studies 5 (3): 345–56. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Popel, Martin, Jindřich Libovický, and Jindřich Helcl. 2022. “CUNI Systems for the WMT 22 Czech–Ukrainian Translation Task.” In Proceedings of the Seventh Conference on Machine Translation (WMT), edited by Philipp Koehn, Loïc Barrault, Ondřej Bojar et al., 352–357, United Arab Emirates (Hybrid). Association for Computational Linguistics. [URL]
Pym, Anthony. 2011. “What Technology Does to Translating.” Translation & Interpreting 3 (1): 1–9.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ricart Vayá, Alicia, and Miguel Ángel Jordán Enamorado. 2022. “Traducción automatica y crisis humanitaria: Análisis de la eficacia de Google Translate en la comunicación con refugiados ucranianos en España [Automatic translation and humanitarian crisis: Analysis of the effectiveness of Google Translate in communication with Ukrainian refugees in Spain].” Tradumàtica: Tecnologies de la traducció 201: 96–114. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Richards, Jack C., and Richard Schmidt (eds). 2002. Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics. Pearson Education.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rozmysłowicz, Tomasz. 2023. “The Politics of Machine Translation. Reprogramming Translation Studies.” Perspectives 32 (3): 493–507. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Synková, Magdalena. 2022. “Ukrajinští uprchlíci přeplnili kurzy češtiny. Mluvit se naučí za rok, říká lingvistka [Ukrainian refugees have flooded Czech language courses. They will learn to speak within a year, says linguist].” Aktuálně.cz. Accessed April 24, 2025. [URL]
UNHCR. 2024. “Ukraine Refugee Situation.” Operational Data Portal. Accessed August 8, 2024. [URL]
Valdez, Susana, Ana Guerberof-Arenas, and Kars Ligtenberg. 2023. “Migrant Communities Living in the Netherlands and Their Use of MT in Healthcare Settings.” In Proceedings of the 24th Annual Conference of the European Association for Machine Translation, edited by Mary Nurminen, Judith Brenner, Maarit Koponen et al., 325–334. European Association for Machine Translation. [URL]
Vieira, Lucas Nunes. 2024. “Machine Translation and Migration.” In The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Migration, edited by Brigid Maher, Loredana Polezzi, and Rita Wilson, 221–234. Taylor & Francis Group. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vollmer, Stefan. 2018. “Syrian Newcomers and their Digital Literacy Practices.” Language Issues 28 (2): 66–72.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wolf, Michaela. 2011. “Mapping the Field: Sociological Perspectives on Translation.” International Journal of the Sociology of Language 2071: 1–28. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yamada, Masaru. 2020. “Language Learners and Non-Professional Translators as Users.” In The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Technology, edited by Minako O’Hagan, 183–201. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zymnin, Anatoliy, Mariusz Kowalski, Michalina Sielewicz et al. 2022. Ukrainian Refugees in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Romania. EWL S.A., Uniwersytet Warszawski. Accessed August 8, 2024. [URL]
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue