Machine translation in foreign languagelearning: language learners’ and tutors’perceptions of its advantages anddisadvantages

This paper presents a snapshot of what has been investigated in terms of the relationshipbetween machine translation (MT) and foreign language (FL) teaching and learning. For thispurpose four different roles of MT in the language class have been identified: MT as a badmodel, MT as a good model, MT as a vocational training tool (especially in the form oftranslation memories, pre-editing and post-editing), and MT as a ‘‘CALL tool’’. Subsequently,some of the implications of the use of MT and of free online MT for FL learning are outlinedand discussed along with practical examples for language teaching purposes. Finally, qualitativedata, drawn from our empirical investigation are presented as synthesized findingspertaining to the perceptions of language learners and tutors in relation to the use of MT and,in particular, free online MT as a language tool