Senior High School Students' Perceptions on the Role of Google Translate in English Learning Aid

Abstract

Google Translate (GT) as one of the products provided by Google has become a popular translation tool for language students. As English is still considered a foreign language in Indonesia, many Indonesian students use GT to help them in learning English. This tool tends to help the students to get the translation quickly and easily. Therefore, this study was employed to investigate senior high school students' perceptions on the role of Google Translate in English learning aid. This study employs a survey method. The survey was chosen because this study considered the time and pandemic situation. To collect the information by using a questionnaire and to follow up with interviews for more in-depth data. The involvement of both data from the survey and those from the interview is to obtain more dependable information concerning students' perception toward Google Translate in English learning aid. This study was intended to answer these questions: (1). What are the perceptions of senior high school students about the role of Google Translate in English learning aid? (2). How is the role of Google Translate in higher student level, middle student level, and lower student level? Furthermore, this study followed up the result of the questionnaire by interviewing 3 out of those 18 participants, which represents 3 levels of students: higher student, middle student, and lower student. To collect the data questionnaire was distribute use Google Form media with multiple-choice items, and Whatsapp media to collect interview data. The findings reveal that most of the students in eleventh Bahasa MA ALITTIHAD agreed that Google Translate was easy to use, it was helpful, and gave advantages for their English learning aid for all levels. And students agreed that Google Translate could help them in learning English and they have willing in using Google Translate as an alternative way to learn English because GT can be used not only for translating but also be used to learn sounds or pronunciation. GT is often used to help the process of translating from English to Indonesian. students must understand the system working of GT is word by word, so they can overcome their weaknesses and produce an accurate translation they must correct by paying attention to grammar and word choice.