UKM ESL Undergraduate Students’ Perceptions of Using Google Translate when Reading English Academic Text: Values and Challenges

Abstract

Reading skill is one of the essential language skills in language learning, especially for the English as a Second Language (ESL) learners in higher education. The integration of Google Translate acts as a learning tool that helps ESL learners in reading English academic text. This study aims to identify UKM ESL undergraduate students’ perceptions on values and challenges of using Google Translate when reading English academic texts. This study employed a mixed-method research design by using questionnaires and interview sessions to collect the data. 375 respondents participated in a questionnaire, and 6 participants participated in interview sessions. The findings revealed that Google Translate helps the students to provide very quick translations for texts and saves time, meet all their needs in terms of translating from English to their native languages and vice versa, and enhance their understanding when reading English academic texts. However, Google Translate provides inaccurate or inappropriate meanings of words, contextual misunderstandings and error connections as the difficulties faced by the students. This study shows that Google Translate is a useful tool that acts as a learning aid for the students in their studies. Therefore, this study has significant implications for ESL students, where Google Translate assists them in understanding English academic text, and for translation developers to enhance the functionality and accessibility of Google Translate to provide accurate outcomes.