The Use of Online Translation and Other Computer-based Writing Strategies in Spanish as a Foreign Language

Abstract

This study examines the use of ICT among 57 Swedish students of Spanish as a foreign language while writing four essays on computers, half of them with free access to the Internet. Their attitudes towards the use of technologies were clarified in interviews and a written survey. The writing strategies employed were captured with screencasts, which revealed an extensive use of online translation. The students –well aware of the limitations of the technologies– resorted to several strategies to check and improve the translations, and proved quite capable of using technology to produce texts quickly, albeit with important deficiencies in terms of grammar, syntax and readability. The errors also point to important gaps in many students’ metalinguistic knowledge, which restrain or prevent not only a proper use of technologies, but also the possibility to produce a coherent text. The results indicate the need for a better knowledge of grammar, syntax and vocabulary for students to be able to use the technology to its fullest.