Abstract:

Translating apps (TAs) or online machine translators (OMTs) have become an inseparable part of the everyday lives of those who travel or communicate with people from other cultures. Their free availability via computers, tablets and smartphones made it convenient for language students to use them as resources for their independent language learning. Paradoxically, they are not an everyday occurrence in foreign language classes. The main reason seems to be the fact that many foreign language teachers look at the integration of translating apps into classes suspiciously as "an easier and shorter way" of acquiring new vocabulary which diminishes learners activity. Some teaching professionals even see translating apps as a means of cheating.

Although TAs and OMTs were not designed with language learning in mind, they found their way into learning processes and teachers should pay attention to the ways how the students use them independently and what pedagogical implications this may have in the language class.

The paper presents partial results of the research project KEGA 019TTU-04/2021 Integrating new digital tools into philological research and education sponsored by the Slovak Ministry of Education. It explores the experience of future teachers of English as a second language with the use of various translation apps and their personal preferences. It also studies preservice teachers´ attitudes towards their use in foreign language classrooms. No significant differences in opinions were identified between the respondents from various countries or between opinions of future primary English teachers and future secondary English teachers.

The research results showed a growing popularity of TAs among teacher trainees. The data which were collected through an online questionnaire administered in 3 Central European countries (Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland) among 366 respondents showed that preservice teachers are experienced in using translation apps, however, their range was not very wide. TAs are the third most frequently used tool for learning new vocabulary (after bilingual dictionaries and online dictionaries) with nearly three-quarters of respondents using them during their own English language learning. During their university study, all teacher trainees use machine translators, of which more than 96% are used to working with Google Translate. The vast majority of respondents are aware of the fact that online machine translations are not accurate and they do not rely on them absolutely. When evaluating the quality of translators, teacher trainees were generally satisfied with translations of single words, with their satisfaction gradually decreasing with the increasing length of translated chunks (the longer phrases, the lesser satisfaction). Contemporary teacher trainees manifested a significantly positive attitude towards integrating the translating apps into foreign language learning while marking vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar as the most affected areas. Based on their experience, only a small part of respondents saw TAs as a threat to effective foreign language learning. This knowledge, in our opinion, opens new opportunities for instructing students how to use translation applications and online machine translators properly to aid their learning instead of replacing it.

Keywords:

Translating apps, online machine translations, foreign language learning, teacher trainees.