Business French and Translation in the Era of Google Translate: Variations on the Action-based Approach in Language Courses

Abstract

In this article we outline our practices for the inclusion of electronic translation devices in specialized French language courses and reflect upon the changing landscape of language teaching. We describe how the use of Google Translate can increase students' awareness of linguistic, stylistic, and cultural differences in our culturally and linguistically diverse clasrooms. Although we characterize our didactic approach as action based, we differenciate our use of this approach from its common use in general language courses and point out the usefulness of intellectualizing it based on our use of Google Translate in work-place-oriented courses. Furthermore, we use our experience with action based approaches and translation devices to answer the following questions: why are students still learning languages; what are the language skills that they are interested in; and what is the role of a teacher in this new world of quasi-magic linguistic tools.