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The Korean Association for the Study of English Language and Linguistics
[ Article ]
Korea Journal of English Language and Linguistics - Vol. 25, No. 0, pp.1232-1256
ISSN: 1598-1398 (Print) 2586-7474 (Online)
Print publication date 31 Jan 2025
Received 05 Aug 2025 Revised 22 Aug 2025 Accepted 26 Aug 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15738/kjell.25..202508.1232

번역기를 활용한 고쳐쓰기 활동이 초등 영어 학습자의 쓰기 능력, 자기주도적 학습 및 인식에 미치는 영향

고수현 ; 안경자
The effects of revision activities using machine translation on elementary English learners’ writing ability, self-directed learning, and perceptions.
Koh, Suhyeon ; Ahn, Kyungja
(1st author) Teacher, Seoul Sinwol Elementary School Tel: 02-2699-4785 ksuhyeon2306@gmail.com
(corresponding author) Professor, Dept. of English Education, Seoul National University of Education Tel: 02-3475-2565 kjahn@snue.ac.kr


© 2025 KASELL All rights reserved
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

This study aims to examine the effects of revision activities using a neural machine translation (NMT) tool on elementary students’ English writing skills, self-directed learning competence, and perceptions of using NMT in their writing. Over a 15-week period, 20 sixth-grade students at an elementary school in Seoul participated in a 39 writing sessions. The writing process consisted of three stages: pre-writing in L1, English composition, and post-writing (revising by comparing the translation output with their own writing, followed by reflection). Data were collected through pre- and post-writing assessments, a self-directed learning inventory, perception surveys, and interviews. The data were mainly analyzed quantitatively, with supplementary qualitative analysis. The findings revealed three key outcomes. First, the revision activity significantly improved overall writing fluency and content development, especially among mid- to lower-level learners, while spelling and expression accuracy also showed gradual progress. However, grammatical accuracy did not improve consistently and even declined for some high-level learners. Second, self-directed learning notably increased, particularly in areas such as planning, interest, and perceived learning value, supported by the task’s structured process and iterative feedback. Lastly, students’ perceptions of the NMT tool shifted from a passive aid to an active self-monitoring resource, fostering their critical use and strategic engagement. This study offers meaningful insights into the pedagogical use of NMT tools in elementary English writing instruction.

Keywords:

artificial neural network machine translation, translator, elementary English, writing instruction, self-directed learning

Acknowledgments

This paper is based on the first author’s master’s thesis.

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