The use of Google Translate as an ICT tool in web-based collaborative writing: Self-reported accounts of EFL learners
Abstract
This study is about an investigation of Turkish high school English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners' self-reported accounts of the use of Google Translate (GT) as an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tool in a web-based collaborative writing (CW) activity. Two groups of three EFL learners (16 years) were involved in a CW task in English outside the classroom setting in a Facebook group over 7 weeks.
Data were gathered from 4 group interviews and 54 online written researcher-participant chats. As participants in two groups discussed in a written way how to undertake their CW task, we also collected 2,069 discussion threads from both groups.
The findings of the study revealed that participants who reported that they were not confident with their English knowledge used GT in the pre-writing stage and sought assistance from their peers to revise the translated text. This study provides some useful insights for researchers and EFL teachers about which and how ICT tools were used during the web-based CW.