Do students and staff at Swiss universities use machine translation (MT) in completing their work or studies? The answer is probably “yes,” at least according to the results of our large-scale survey that we conducted among staff and students at all Swiss universities in 2021 and 2022. From the answers provided by the more than 6,500 respondents, we learned that many of them use MT for different purposes in a variety of contexts. Since our survey, the use of MT has continued to spread.

But have university staff and students ever really thought about how they use MT? How much do they actually know about how MT works, what it is and what it is not? Are they aware of the risks and challenges as well as the ethical and social responsibilities involved in using MT? And how can it be meaningfully integrated into language learning?

The results of our survey and the subsequent workshops at Swiss universities held between 2022 and 2024 reveal that there is a clear need among Swiss university staff and students to develop machine translation literacy, i.e. the ability to engage with MT in an informed and critical manner. To support them in doing so, we have created the following three videos. Each video lasts approximately five minutes and builds on the previous one. We therefore recommend that you watch the videos in chronological order.

What do you know about machine translation and how it works? Watch this video to find out more.

Do you know the best way to use machine translation? It's not as simple as you might think! Watch this video to find out more.

Have you ever thought about the risks and ethical aspects of machine translation? Watch this video to find out more. 

“Using machine translation is easy; using it critically requires some thought.”
Bowker, Lynne. 2020. Machine translation literacy instruction for international business students and business English instructors. Journal of Business & Finance Librarianship 25(1–2). 28. 

As part of the Digital Literacy in University Contexts project, we worked on AI-based technologies for the reception and production of texts in academic contexts. We offer students, teachers and writing consultants tutorials, services and good practices that support the reflective use of AI for text reception and production in academic contexts.

• Sara Cotelli (Co-Project Manager)
  (University of Neuchâtel, Language Centre)
• Alice Delorme Benites
  (ZHAW, IMK Institute of Multilingual Communication)
• Maureen Ehrensberger-Dow
  (ZHAW, IMK Institute of Multilingual Communication)
• Mara Haller
  (BFH, School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences HAFL)
• Caroline Lehr (Co-Project Manager)
  (ZHAW, IMK Institute of Multilingual Communication)
• Hasti Noghrechi
  (University of Neuchâtel, Language Centre)
• Romina Schaub-Torsello
  (ZHAW, IMK Institute of Multilingual Communication)
• Elizabeth Steele (Co-Project Manager)
  (BFH, Bilingualism and Multilingualism Office)
• Elana Summers
  (ZHAW, IMK Institute of Multilingual Communication)
• Mattia Turra
  (ZHAW, IMK Institute of Multilingual Communication)