Language(s)

German

Learner level

Intermediate

Institution

Foreign Language Centre, University of Exeter

Name(s)

Objectives

The project aimed to provide students with the experience of a commercial machine translation application programme and to introduce them to the principles of producing a professional evaluation of an MT package as might be required in the workplace.

Implementation

Students were expected to research the secondary literature on MT evaluation, to determine the parameters of their evaluation, to demonstrate extensive knowledge of the components of MT packages, and in particular to compare the capabilities of stand-alone systems with those available on the web.

Outcome

A total of 28 students participated and explored MT from various points of view, including its suitability for certain text types and for use within restricted text domains; evaluations considered aspects such as pre- and post-editing, the critieria of linguistic accuracy, intelligibility and comprehensibility, and the use of controlled languages to enhance MT output. Overall, students covered a wide range of evaluation criteria and considered various language translation pairs.

Evaluation

It became clear from the project that MT provides and an appropriate, demanding and enjoyable means of enhancing students' awareness of differences between text types and between commercial and literary translation. Returned evaluation forms indicated that students found the task stimulating and relevant to their future career prospects. From a tutor's point of view, it is also clear that many students need to do more to equip themselves with the appropriate linguistic apparatus in order to evaluate text types and to be more aware of the use of language at the workplace. Many students found the very existence of web-based MT novel and benefited from the explicit comparison between customisable and bespoke systems.

Project url

N/A