Why My Students Use Google Translate (and, yours should too)

Welcome back CEFR Barrie Regional colleagues! I really should be engaged in about four different start up prep tasks right now, but thought I would take the time (procrastinate) to add some content to this blog. CEFR Regional Team, thanks for giving us an outlet for sharing “big ideas”. I look forward to seeing where the blog goes this school year.

The first week of school I am showing (or, reviewing with) my students how to use handheld devices to support their language learning. And, the first app I will ask them to download is Google Translate (GT). In my class, it not only drives language learning, but is the centerpiece to students learning how to learn and being cognisant of their learning. As importantly, for me,GT is a pedagogical touchstone. How students use this one tool in my classroom lets me know if I am sticking to the evidence-based principles of effective L2 pedagogy (CEFR). Let me explain.

Four years ago, all I knew about language translating software and websites was that students could input text in their native language, click a button, and have an assignment written in something resembling French. The nonsensical word order and erudite grammar was always a dead give away, and, the only thing more reliable than my ability to detect translated work, was another transgression coming across my desk (cart) within a week. I forbade its use.

Three years ago, I discovered that GT was available as an app for handheld devices. Since my last run-in with GT, it had evolved. It now allowed one to speak in one's native language, and provided an oral translation. No text. Moreover, a subsequent function was added which permitted one to simply point the camera at text in one language and displayed it on screen in an L2! CLICK HERE to see a video of it in action.

My students now had access to a tool that enhanced and accelerated their learning AND their metacognition. For example, one of the first tasks I assigned to students was to pair up with someone, learn how to say something (anything) in French, using the voice to voice function, record themselves saying it (NOT reading it), and come show me. The result was a pedagogical masterpiece worthy of a TPA (the old kind, where you could be “excellent”). Students learning what they wanted to learn (being themselves in French), coming to see me for feedback (while smiling!) and then going off to learn more without me telling them to! All the while, students were honing their skills, deciding on strategies that allowed them to learn oral first and only, and discarding unproductive habits.

A variety of high needs in a classroom tend to produce in one an “innovate or die” mindset. I found the GT Camera translate function to be vital in engaging struggling readers in tasks they would otherwise be disengaged (or, disengage themselves) from. I simply added the camera, imperfect as it can sometimes be, to their list of reading strategies. Essentially, the instruction is something like, “point your camera at this and see if you can figure out what it’s saying”. Its output gave enough cues to allow (and, engage) a student in the process of making meaning individually, or as part of a group. Scaffolding!

I no longer have students write things before they learn to say them, and I no longer have students read from a page pretending like they’ve learned how to say something. GT has fit into this new, and, I think, realistic paradigm. If something is handed in to me now, which I judge to be “not their work” (like the GT generated hot mess of yore), it more likely means something has to change about what I asked that student to do, or what that student expected L2 learning to be. Of which, both can and should take ownership. In this way, all tech integration, not only the GT tool, makes CEFR ideas a tangible reality in our classrooms.    

If you got this far, please take the time to respond in the comments and tell me what you think. If you have an idea to share, consider writing your own blog post.Imagine if we all did one of these!

This post was written by Philippe Croteau.

About Philippe: Usually teaches grades 6,7 and 8 Core French in SCDSB public schools and loves it. He has a Twitter @pcroteauirt, where his opinions are his own. Philippe thinks F/E dictionaries are better than Word Reference and Bon Patron, because at least the dictionary will allow you to not learn French in the event of a power outage or Zombie apocalypse. He learned what adverbs were in University, and probably didn’t know what adjectives were, really, until teacher’s college. Speaks Japanese (B1), German (A1) on top of the usual ones. Also, he enjoys long walks on beaches and ice cream.