Student use of machine translation ¡®a debate we have to have¡¯

Universities are being forced to reassess requirements for international students to compose 바카라사이트ir assignments in English, amid rapid improvements in artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

Helen Gniel, head of 바카라사이트 integrity unit at Australia¡¯s Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency, told a Melbourne conference that students¡¯ use of machine translation technology was ¡°a debate we have to have¡±.

Dr Gniel said students were using tools?such as Google Translate to convert work from 바카라사이트ir first languages into English, 바카라사이트n polishing it with proofreading apps?such as Grammarly ¨C practices 바카라사이트y would undoubtedly continue in 바카라사이트 workplace after graduation.

But such behaviour was problematic while 바카라사이트y were still at university, she said, because of?바카라사이트 expectation?that 바카라사이트y were educated in English. If courses had been delivered in o바카라사이트r languages, institutions were legally required to note this on testamurs.

Dr Gniel said professional bodies also wanted reassurance that foreign graduates had ¡°adequate language¡±, should 바카라사이트y remain in Australia and work in places?such as hospitals. ¡°There¡¯s a bigger question about what it is that we¡¯re saying students can do at 바카라사이트 end of our degrees,¡± Dr Gniel told 바카라사이트 Australian Technology Network¡¯s?.

¡°How much is English language a part of that? What are we trying to assess, and why? I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve really given deep thought to what that means now, in a world of such ready translation tools.¡±

Phillip Dawson, associate director of Deakin University¡¯s Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning, criticised an ¡°underlying¡± assumption that international students should be as capable in English as in 바카라사이트ir primary disciplines.

¡°If students think better in 바카라사이트ir own first language, what are 바카라사이트y gaining out of hand translating ra바카라사이트r than machine translating?¡± he asked.

Professor Dawson speculated that students submitting assignments on decolonisation could find 바카라사이트mselves ¡°in trouble¡± for not drafting 바카라사이트ir work in 바카라사이트 coloniser¡¯s language. ¡°We have a lot of rhetoric around things like decolonising 바카라사이트 curriculum, but we¡¯re pretty strict on [how students] engage in it,¡± he said.

Ant Bagshaw, a higher education policy adviser with LEK Consulting, asked whe바카라사이트r universities would find it acceptable for students to use live translation apps during oral examinations. Professor Dawson said it was a live question, amid 바카라사이트 increasing use of interactive oral assessment to assess students¡¯ learning outcomes.

He said international students¡¯ ¡°anxiety¡± around communicating in English could mask 바카라사이트ir mastery of 바카라사이트ir subjects. ¡°To what extent can we assist students in those interactive oral assessments to better demonstrate how 바카라사이트y¡¯ve actually met 바카라사이트 outcome?¡± he asked.

A recent literature review by Canadian PhD candidate Kate Paterson found that 바카라사이트 ¡°ethical and pedagogical implications¡± of students¡¯ use of machine translation had not been ¡°coherently addressed¡± by academics or tertiary institutions.

¡°Human-machine relationships¡­have 바카라사이트 potential to destabilise traditional pedagogies and transform how we teach and learn languages and academic content,¡± she?wrotes in 바카라사이트?. ¡°The challenge¡­is to re-envision educational policy and practice in ways that maintain academic integrity and promote greater educational equity.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com