Addressing MT literacy in a specialized translation class : an experimental study

Pisanski Peterlin, Agnes (author), Mikolič Južnič, Tamara (author)

The use of MT tools is typically covered in translation technology courses, but with the significant advances in AI-based MT and the ubiquitous presence of MT tools, issues relating to MT inevitably also arise in practical translation classes. This paper focuses on exploring how MT literacy can be incorporated into a specialized translation class. By contrasting trainee translators’ performance in post-editing and translation, the study examines which aspects of MT literacy emerge as particularly relevant. In addition, the participants’ views on the post-editing and translation assignments are compared. The results reveal that while MT output can be useful to trainee translators faced with a demanding source text, the benefits of MT tools coexist with challenges. Addressing issues relating to comprehension, terminology and rhetoric, five aspects of MT literacy that need to be addressed in a specialized translation class are identified. The findings suggest that the integration of MT literacy into specialized translation courses is crucial for successful use of MT tools in translation.

• Language: English
• Keywords: MT literacy, AI-based MT, specialized translation, AI literacy, translator training
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 01.01.2026
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 1-16
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-180115
• UDC: 81'25
• ISSN on article: 1585-1923
• DOI: 10.1556/084.2025.01340
• COBISS.SI-ID: 269933315
• Publication date in RUL: 03.03.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Across languages and cultures
• Shortened title: Across lang. cult.
• Publisher: Akadémiai Kiadó
• ISSN: 1585-1923
• COBISS.SI-ID: 25255778

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
• Description: A creative commons license that bans commercial use, but the users don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: pismenost za strojne prevajalnike, strojni prevajalniki na osnovi UI, strokovno prevajanje, izobraževanje prevajalcev

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P6-0215-2019
• Name: Slovenski jezik - bazične, kontrastivne in aplikativne raziskave

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P6-0446-2024
• Name: Teoretično, opisno in uporabno prevodoslovje