The Impact of Electronic vs. Human Observer Feedback on Improving Teaching of Translation Skills to Iranian EFL Students

In the area of teaching translation, investigating the effectiveness of technological solutions in developing translation skills is both timely and in demand. As the first step, one can try to explore feedback generated by machines compared to humans. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of electronic feedback provided by the designed translation software on the translation skills of Iranian EFL students compared to the feedback given by an expert human observer. To this end, 60 intermediate male and female students were selected as participants after the administration of Oxford Placement Test (OPT), followed by a translation skill test as pretest and posttest. The analysis of the pretest and posttest data revealed that after receiving the two types of feedback, both groups performed significantly better on posttest. Further analysis of the data, however, indicated that sustained electronic observer feedback was superior to human observer feedback in terms of developing translation skills. It can be discussed that taking advantage of an efficient electronic tool which enjoys the potential of providing some feedback would drive the focus away from the repetitive mistakes and frees up the time and focus on students’ personal problems. The findings may have implications for translation education, training, and practice.