Investigating the Adoption of Machine Translation in Foreign Language Learning: The Instructors’ Perspective

Advances in machine translation brought by the use of artificial neural networks and large language models are giving impetus to research and studies on its possible use for educational purposes. In this paper we contribute to the investigation about how this technology can be used to support language learning, particularly, taking into account the instructors’ perspective. Building upon the state of the art in this field, we first conducted an experimental evaluation of machine translation quality and then a survey with language teachers and assistants on their perception of machine translation quality, their opinion about machine translation, and its use in educational activities, with the aim to investigate at what extent this emerging technology can support language learning and possibly be integrated into didactic practices.