As more educational institutions around the world are attracting international students, it means classrooms are getting more multilingual than ever. To help students adjust, teachers have been responsible for providing the best education despite the potential language barrier. While there are many ways to achieve this, technology has offered many routes, as software solutions facilitate communication and cooperation. When it comes to translation software, only some of them can claim to provide high quality for free. However, this is what Google Translate does. So, make sure to read this article until the end for the most comprehensive tips on using Google Translate for effective teaching in a multilingual classroom.
4 Ways To Use Google Translate In The Classroom For ELL Students
ELL stands for English-Language Learner and is often used to describe students learning English as a second language. This is unlike ESL, English Second Language students who are being taught in English. As a teacher in a classroom of ELL students, you’ll want to use Google Translate when it comes to these four areas:
- Assignments
- Voice Translations
- Class Engagement
- Collaboration
Assignments
Teachers can effectively use Google Translate for assignments. Learning a new language is hard at first. However, Google Translate makes things easier by offering fast and reliable translations. As a teacher, you can give students assignments that require them to translate texts into English. Then, have your students use Google Translate to evaluate themselves. This is an excellent idea because the students will see how good the software is and be encouraged to use it daily.
Modern digital solutions for translations are very qualitative, but they are not applicable in every case. When dealing with more complex texts like research paper writing, it is a good idea to pay for research papers at TopEssayWriting instead. This website offers student-friendly prices on all of their academic writing services. Their writers are reliable, and their writing quality is superb. While Google Translate is good for getting the literal meaning behind words, TopEssayWriting will help students write meaningful essays that will boost their grades.
Voice Translations
If you are teaching a classroom full of ELL students, there’s a good chance some of them might come from different parts of the world and thus speak different languages. This can put you in a tough position as a teacher, especially if you aren’t familiar with that many languages. To ensure no one feels left behind, it can be a good idea to have your voice communications translated using the Google Translate app. It’s a very convenient process allowing two people to have a nice, free-flowing conversation. Of course, there can be errors sometimes, which is why using Google Translate in business, law, or medical fields is not a great idea. Instead, you better use human translation services. However, when it comes to its use in the classroom, it makes a lot of sense to try Google Translate.
Class Engagement
Even the most interesting topics can get boring after a while. This is why it’s essential to work on class engagement. You might be wondering how to achieve this when teaching English. However, Google Translate has many fun features to take advantage of. For instance, you can get live translations of images with Google Translate. So, you can task the class with understanding the meaning of specific images by taking pictures or downloading content off the internet and having Google Translate work its magic.
Collaboration
You can get more students to learn about each other and foster unity through class activities. For example, the Google Translate conversation feature means students can converse in their native tongues. While they learn English together, this is a great way for students to learn and understand each other better. Students could work together and cooperate efficiently with this digital solution. When such collaboration takes place, students can not only learn together but also work on shared projects in their free time, which someday may turn into a business venture. If such a thing were to happen, they would want to leverage the IsAccurate list of the best patent translation services. This way, they can ensure their mutual inventions are well-translated.
Key Takeaways
Google Translate is a free translation tool every classroom needs. It’s easy to use and creates many opportunities to collaborate and improve engagement. So, as a teacher, you’ll definitely want to comb through this article to find ideas on how to use this tool in your classroom.