EFL Students’ Perceptions and Use of Google Translate in Afghanistan

Abstract

Google Translate (GT) is widely used by EFL learners around the world. The current study examined the use of GT by EFL learners from Afghanistan. The author used a survey questionnaire to collect data from 132 randomly selected students from a public university in northeastern Afghanistan. They used descriptive and inferential statistics to analyze the data. The findings showed that the vast majority of the participants sometimes and often used GT, and they had positive attitudes towards it. The majority of them believed that GT helped them do their writing assignments, improve their vocabulary, understand reading passages and gain translation skills. They were aware of drawbacks of GT and believed that GT led to dependence, laziness and it demotivated students to learn vocabulary. They used GT for a number of reasons including lack of confidence in their own translation, saving time and convenience. Furthermore, EFL students often used GT to look up words, terminologies, collocations and idioms and to translate phrases, sentences, paragraphs and essays. The study showed that students’ gender had a significant impact on their attitudes towards GT but not on their use. The study recommends EFL teachers to provide their students with instructions on proper use of Google Translate.