Impact of Self-Efficacy and Purpose on the Usage Behavior of a Machine Translator in English Learning

Abstract

As machine translation becomes increasingly prevalent among English language learners, its potential impact on learning outcomes requires careful examination. While it is still too early to fully assess the long-term effects on students' academic performance and English proficiency, there is a need to explore the relationship between the use of machine translation and its underlying factors. Previous research indicates that learners who exhibit high self-efficacy and have specific learning objectives tend to adopt strategies that involve deeper cognitive processing, which eventually leads to higher academic performance. This study examines the effects of self-efficacy and learning objectives across four key dimensions to assess machine translation usage behavior. Usage frequency serves as an indicator of introduction of a machine translator, while perceived benefits reflect the orientation of its usage. Additionally, editing behavior and the number of words input into the machine translator are analyzed to gauge the level of cognitive processing involved. The findings suggest that self-efficacy significantly influences usage frequency and perceived benefits among learners with low self-efficacy, whereas learning objectives have a stronger impact on those with high self-efficacy. Furthermore, those with high self-efficacy showed the tendency to choose the usage behavior which involves a deeper level of processing.