English Students’ Perceptions of Using Machine Translation Yandex Tools in Final Project Writing
Abstract
The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly machine translation (MT), is having a major impact on the academic writing practices of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students. The purpose of this study was to investigate British students' perceptions of using machine translation tools, specifically Yandex Translator, when creating their final projects. A qualitative descriptive design was used in this study with 8th-semester students of the English program at the University of Negeri Semarang. Data were collected using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. The results showed that students generally have positive attitudes toward machine translation tools, as they are practical, accessible, and effective in supporting academic writing. Students used machine translation tools to translate vocabulary, improve grammar, understand academic references, rephrase texts, and organize ideas more effectively. The results also showed that machine translation tools improve students' confidence and writing performance. However, a number of issues have been identified, including contextual inaccuracies, word-for-word translation, and students' overreliance on tools, which can reduce students' independent writing and critical thinking skills. Despite these limitations, students find machine translation tools useful if used critically and responsibly. This study concludes that machine translation tools play an important role in supporting EFL students' academic writing, especially during the completion of their final projects, but human evaluation is still required to maintain translation accuracy and academic quality.
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References
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.31004/jele.v11i3.2626
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