Key findings, analysis and recommendations that have emerged from a research project, ‘Using Human Language
Technology to enhance academic integrity, inclusivity, knowledge exchange, student diversity and retention’ at the University of
South Australia conducted in 2019 are discussed in this article. The primary purpose of the project was to address some of the
challenges and opportunities afforded by increasing student and teacher diversity at a predominantly English-medium Australian
university through newly enhanced human language translation technology (HLT) also known as machine translation (MT). This
technology is frequently used for the translation of human language, and it falls under the umbrella of Artificial Intelligence
(AI) technologies. From the institution’s perspective, key aims of the project were to contribute to the university’s Digital
Learning Strategy priorities and core values embedded in a structural transformation of the university. These include integrity,
accountability, diversity, social justice, engagement and collaboration. The researchers’ objectives focussed on multilingual
pedagogies using HLT to support knowledge exchange (transknowledging), and translanguaging for all students. These disrupt
inequitable hierarchies, and position bi-/multilingual students as valuable resources for monolingual staff and students.
Over the last decade, a troubling positioning of the linguistic expertise of multilingual international and domestic students in English medium higher education in Australia has prompted a longitudinal series of small-scale reflexive classroom-based studies. These explore the relationship between students’ multilingual capabilities, the academic English required for successful completions, and students’ agency and wellbeing. At first it seemed that this was primarily a matter of linguistic diversity and language repertoire; however, it soon became clear that it related to what lay beneath language, and that the ways of knowing (epistemology), being (including wellbeing) and believing (including worldviews) are often obscured in conventional approaches to university teaching and learning. This is particularly within education systems built upon a belief that western/northern knowledge systems are those that carry most value, and that languages from Europe, particularly English, best serve all students. We found during this sequence of studies that the use of translation and knowledge exchange are two key cognitive and linguistic processes that increase students’ academic proficiency in their home language and English. More than this, they were consistently connected to students’ sense of identity as valuable carriers of knowledge that could enrich their own learning and that of their peers in higher education (Heugh, Li, & Song, 2017; Li et al., 2016).
References
Arkoudis, S., Yu, X., Baik, C., Borland, H., Chang, S., Lang, I., Lang, J., Pearce, A., & Watty, K.
(2010) Finding common ground: Enhancing interaction between domestic and international student: Guide for academics. ALTC.
AT Kearney Inc.
(2015) Global economic outlook. Beyond the New Mediocre?AT Kearney Global Business Policy Council, AT Kearney.
Chang, L-C.
(2021) Bi-/multilingual students’ use of machine translation to facilitate English academic writing in the postgraduate study through English. Paper presented at UniSA Education Futures HDR Forum, 11 November.
Chang, L-C.
Forthcoming). Investigation of post-editing of machine translation (PEMT) in advancing reading and writing capability of English and Chinese language learners in higher education (PhD dissertation). University of South Australia.
Cooper, B., & Morrell, R.
(Eds.) (2014) Africa-centred knowledges: Crossing fields and worlds. James Currey, & Boydell & Brewer.
Division of Education, Arts and Social Sciences (Div-EAS)
(2019) The English Language and Intercultural Learning and Teaching (ELILT) Framework. University of South Australia.
El-Banna, A. I., & Naeem, M. A.
(2016) Machine translation as a model for overcoming some common errors in English-into-Arabic translation among EFL University freshmen. Retrieved on 16 June 2022 from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED580942.pdf
(2016) Students’ multilingual resources and policy-in-action: An Australian case study. Language and Education, 30(4), 298–316.
French, M., & Armitage, J.
(2020) Eroding the monolingual monolith. Australian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 3(1), 91–114.
Hammond, C. D., & Keating, A.
(2018) Global citizens or global workers? Comparing university programmes for global citizenship education in Japan and the UK. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 48(6), 915–934.
Heugh, K.
(2015) Epistemologies in multilingual education: Translanguaging and genre – Companions in conversation with policy and practice. Special issue of Language and Education. 29(3), 280–285.
Heugh, K.
(2017) Translation and multilingual education. In R. K. Agnihotri, A. S. Gupta, & A. L. Khanna (Eds.), Trends in language teaching (pp. 19–30). Orient BlackSwan.
Heugh, K.
(2018) Multilingualism, diversity and equitable learning: Towards crossing the ‘abyss’. In P. Van Avermaet, S. Slembrouck, K. Van Gorp, S. Sierens, & K. Marijns (Eds.), The multilingual edge of education (pp. 341–367). Palgrave Macmillan.
Heugh, K.
(2021) Southern multilingualisms, translanguaging and transknowledging in inclusive and sustainable education. In P. Harding-Esch & H. Coleman (Eds.), Language and the sustainable development goals (pp. 33–43). British Council.
Heugh, K., French, M., Arya, V., Billinghurst, N., Pham, M., Tudini, E., Nichols, J., Viljoen, J-M., & Tippett, N.
(2020) Using human language technology to enhance academic integrity, inclusivity, knowledge exchange, student diversity and retention: Report 2 Main Findings, Analysis and Recommendations. CRESI, UniSA Education Futures.
Heugh, K., Li, X., & Song, Y.
(2015) The English language Project: Study 1 2014 ‘The English Language Project’. University of South Australia.
Heugh, K., Li, X., & Song, Y.
(2017) Multilingualism and translanguaging in the teaching of and through English: Rethinking linguistic boundaries in an Australian University. In B. Fenton-Smith, P. Humphries, & I. Walkinshaw (Eds.), English medium instruction in higher education in Asia-Pacific: Issues and challenges from policy to pedagogy (pp. 259–279). Springer.
Hu, R., & Trenkic, D.
(2019) The effects of coaching and repeated test-taking on Chinese candidates’ IELTS scores, their English proficiency, and subsequent academic achievement. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 24(10), 1486–1501.
Hurtado, S., & Ruiz Alvarado, A.
(2013) Diversity in teaching and learning: Affirming students as empowered learners. Diversity and Democracy, 16(3), 127–155.
Introna, L. D., & Hayes, N.
(2011) On sociomaterial imbrications: What plagiarism detection systems reveal and why it matters. Information and Organization, 21(2), 107–122.
Leask, B., & Wallace, J.
(2011) Learning and teaching across cultures. Good Practice Report. Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.
Li, X., Heugh, K., O’Neill, F., Song, Y., Scarino, A., & Crichton, J.
(2016) Developing English language and intercultural learning capabilities: Case Study 1 The English language project. Research Centre for Languages and Cultures, University of South Australia.
Manzoor, M., & Vimarlund, V.
(2018) Digital technologies for social inclusion of individuals with disabilities, Health Technology, 8, 377–390.
(2016) A double-edged sword: The merits and the policy implications of Google Translate in higher education. European Journal of Higher Education, 6(4), 387–401.
Munkova, D., Hajek, P., Munk, M., & Skalka, J.
(2020) Evaluation of machine translation quality through the metrics of error rate and accuracy. Procedia Computer Science, 171, 1327–1336.
Nallaya, S., Heugh, K., Fazakerley, R., French, M., & O’Neill
(2019) English language, intercultural learning and knowledge exchangeexecutive summary – Study 3. University of South Australia.
O’Neill, F., Scarino, A., Crichton, J., Heugh, K., & Li, X.
(2016) Developing English language and intercultural learning capabilities: Case Study 2 The intercultural learning project. Research Centre for Languages and Cultures, University of South Australia.
Reding, V., & Figel, J.
(2006) Preface. In G. Lazzari & V. Steinbiss, Human language technologies for Europe. ITC IRST/TC-Star project report.
Rochecouste, J., Oliver, R., Mulligan, D., & Davies, M.
(2010) Addressing the ongoing English language growth of international students. Final Report. Australian Learning and Teaching Council.
Sawir, E., Marginson, S., Deumert, A., Nyland, C., & Ramia, G.
(2008) Loneliness and international students: An Australian study. Journal of Studies in International Education, 12(2), 148–180.
Stroud, C., & Heugh, K.
(2011) Language education. In R. Mesthrie (Ed.), Cambridge handbook of sociolinguistics (pp. 413–429). Cambridge University Press.
(2019) Language and literacy skills of home and international university students: How different are they, and does it matter?Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 22(2), 349–365.
Van Rensburg, A., Snyman, C., & Lotz, S.
(2012) Applying Google Translate in a higher education environment: Translation products assessed. Southern African linguistics and Applied Language Studies, 30(4), 511–524.
Viljoen, J.-M., Arya, V., & Miller, E.
(2020) An investigation of international undergraduate students’ wellbeing & sense of belonging at the University of South Australia: research report. University of South Australia.
