Visualizing Differences in Syntactic Rules by Externalizing a Rule-Based Translation Process for Supporting English-Japanese Mutual Translation Learning

Abstract

One of the major difficulties in the initial stages of learning English and Japanese is the difference in the syntactic rules of English and Japanese respectively. This study aims to externalize these differences and makes them learnable. Although rule-based translation is inferior to statistical translation in terms of translation accuracy, it has the advantage that the process is interpretable to people. In this study, we utilize this point for beginning learners, and design and develop a system that lets learners experience the model, aiming to promote their understanding of Japanese to English and English to Japanese translation. The system was used on a trial basis with university students and English teachers to confirm its availability. This paper reports on the results of in-class use of the system by high school students, which verified certain effects.