L2 Learners’ Strategies for Using Machine Translation in Narrative Writing

This study explores how four female Mandarin Chinese-speaking L2 learners at a U.S. university engage with machine translation (MT) in English writing and develop strategies to navigate its affordances and limitations.The participants completed both MT-assisted and non-MT-assisted writing tasks.Using Activity Theory as a framework, the study qualitatively examines how MT functions as a mediating artifact, shaping students' writing processes through technological affordances, academic expectations, and individual agency.The findings reveal that while most students used MT for grammar and lexical choice, one student critically assessed its limitations and actively sought alternative strategies, such as peer feedback and writing center support.The findings underscore the varied and strategic ways L2 learners engage with MT and highlight how contradictions in its use can foster meaningful adaptation.This study contributes to a deeper understanding of digital mediation in L2 writing and offers pedagogical implications for integrating MT to support learner autonomy and metalinguistic awareness. , . .(Activity Theory) , . , , , . , . , .