Machine translation: Turkish–English bilingual speakers’ accuracy detection of evidentiality and preference of MT

Abstract

Abstract Machine translation (MT) is the automated process of translating text between different languages, encompassing a wide range of language pairs. This study focuses on non-professional bilingual speakers of Turkish and English, aiming to assess their ability to discern accuracy in machine translations and their preferences regarding MT. A particular emphasis is placed on the linguistically subtle yet semantically meaningful concept of evidentiality. In this experimental investigation, 36 Turkish–English bilinguals, comprising both early and late bilinguals, were presented with simple declarative sentences. These sentences varied in their evidential meaning, distinguishing between firsthand and non-firsthand evidence. The participants were then provided with MT of these sentences in both translation directions (Turkish to English and English to Turkish) and asked to identify the accuracy of these translations. Additionally, participants were queried about their preference for MT in four crucial domains: medical, legal, academic, and daily contexts. The findings of this study indicated that late bilinguals exhibited a superior ability to detect translation accuracy, particularly in the case of firsthand evidence translations, compared to their early bilingual counterparts. Concerning the preference for MT, age of acquisition and the accuracy detection of non-firsthand sentence translations emerged as significant predictors.