CHALLENGES OF REAL-TIME TRANSLATION APPLICATIONS IN ONLINE ACADEMIC DISCUSSIONS: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF SINO–GREEK MASTER’S STUDENTS

Abstract

Real-time machine-translation applications are increasingly used to bridge language gaps in virtual graduate seminars, yet their effectiveness in conveying discipline-specific terminology and nuanced academic discourse remains under-examined. This phenomenological study explores the experiences of two Chinese and two Greek master’s students who participated in a six-month exchange at the School of History and Culture, Southwest University. Data were collected via 60-minute semi-structured interviews and analysis of participant-provided chat-log excerpts from online seminars. Thematic analysis revealed four core challenges: (1) Technical-Term Mistranslation, where specialized historical and cultural vocabulary was inaccurately rendered; (2) Latency and Turn-Taking Delays, which disrupted conversational flow; (3) Loss of Rhetorical and Cultural Nuance, weakening argumentative coherence; and (4) Emotional and Participation Effects, including frustration, reduced confidence, and withdrawal. Participants adopted adaptive strategies—pre-shared glossaries, English code-switching, and peer-clarification requests—to mitigate these issues. Findings highlight critical limitations of current translation tools in high-stakes academic contexts and underscore the importance of instructional best practices (e.g., structured turn-taking protocols, shared discipline-specific glossaries) alongside targeted software enhancements (e.g., improved handling of technical lexicon, optimized real-time processing). These recommendations aim to support more equitable and effective Sino–Greek and broader multilingual online learning collaborations.