Exploring the Impact of Online Translation on Writing Revision among Chinese Non-English Major Students

The present study examined the efficacy of online translation as an auxiliary revision tool for Chinese non-English majors, assessing its influence on writing performance and the students’ perceptions of its role in the revision process. This study employed writing task, questionnaire survey, and semi-structured interview to examine the efficacy of online translation as an auxiliary revision tool for Chinese non-English majors, assessing its influence on writing performance and the students’ perceptions of its role in the revision process. A total of 94 Chinese non-English majors who learn English as a foreign language (EFL) participated in the study. The results indicate that compared with those who revise their texts independently, those Chinese non-English majors who refer to online translation in the process of revision, made significantly more changes at the below-clause and clause and above levels in terms of revision domain, with increased additions and substitutions. Additionally, having access to online translation in the process of revision, Chinese non-English majors significantly increased their text length in final drafts, with decreased error rate, more low-frequency and sophisticated words, and varied lexical choices. Besides, virtually most of the participants use online translation frequently in English writing activities with a generally positive attitude towards the integration of online translation into English writing revision. For English teachers, they can consider allowing students to use online translation in the process of revision and giving students sufficient guidance on how best to realize its fullest potential. For Chinese non-English majors, they’d better keep improving their self-learning ability and double-check the online translation output by using other resources.