The Perils and Potential Benefits of Machine Translation in Transnational Higher Education

Abstract

Machine translation has recently improved dramatically in accuracy, convenience, and accessibility, and while it has been widely adopted, it remains far from perfect. This chapter considers the perils and potential benefits of machine translation in English-medium of instruction transnational higher education. The perils of machine translation in this context are that it can stunt language learning and cause miscomprehension; it problematizes authorship; it facilitates novel forms of plagiarism; and it can hurt transnational higher education institutions' reputations and devalue their degrees. The potential benefits of machine translation are that it can aid reading comprehension, raise writing level, and help student retention; it provides an opportunity for critically engaging with digital technology and its appropriate use; and it facilitates instruction and research beyond instructor and student language competencies, which can broaden and transnationalize the often Americentric and Eurocentric content of transnational higher education.