Subtleties: Some Challenges in Achieving Second Language Fluency using Computer-Aided Translation Tools in Education

DOI

10.2991/racs-15.2016.18How to use a DOI?

Keywords

language learning; machine translation; computeraided translation tools; education; English as an Additional Language (EAL)

Abstract

At every level of education, from early years to postgraduate, students can arrive in the UK (or US) classroom with little or no English language ability. It is impossible for teachers to have knowledge of every first language that students bring into the classroom and thus they may rely on a computeraided translation tool so that their students can have access to the English needed in all subjects across the curriculum. At the same time students need to move from basic English skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing towards the subtleties of academic English which they must achieve in order to reach the UK government’s required standards in English at every level of assessment. Using her extensive knowledge of the challenges that students learning English as an Additional Language (EAL) and their teachers face in the classroom situation and the English needed in assessments, the author will examine possible benefits of computer-aided translation tools such as Google Translate and Talking Pen and outline some of the problems and drawbacks with such tools that create barriers to acquiring full academic fluency and thus pose challenges to future translation tool developers.

Copyright

© 2016, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Dianne Excell
PY  - 2015/11
DA  - 2015/11
TI  - Subtleties: Some Challenges in Achieving Second Language Fluency using Computer-Aided Translation Tools in Education
BT  - Proceedings of the 2015 International Conference on Recent Advances in Computer Systems
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 108
EP  - 113
SN  - 2352-538X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/racs-15.2016.18
DO  - 10.2991/racs-15.2016.18
ID  - Excell2015/11
ER  -