Exploring Foreign Language Students’ Perceptions of the Guided Use of Machine Translation (GUMT) Model for Korean Writing

This study examines students’ perceptions of the Guided Use Machine Translation (GUMT) model and their GUMT’s impact on foreign language (FL) writing. Adapted from O’Neill (2016, 2019b), GUMT activities were developed implemented in an upper-elementary Korean as a FL course at large southwestern U.S. university. At beginning semester, students received instructional session how to use machine translation (MT) effectively first step GUMT. The included 1) potential strengths weaknesses two online MT platforms, Google Translate Papago; 2) combined other resources (e.g., image news searches) enhance awareness pragmatic issues related output. Throughout applied writing assignments wrote reflections practice. Students also continuous feedback instructors use. Analyses pre- post-surveys indicate that played important role fostering strategies improving confidence self-perceptions fluency