What’s Wrong with “What is your name?” > “Quel est votre nom?”:Teaching Responsible Use of MT through Discursive Competence and Metalanguage Awareness

In this article, a learner-centered pedagogical process for scaffolding deliberate use of MT is presented with the goal promoting student agency and personal expression. By developing awareness that translations entail contextually-sensitive options, students learn to critically assess different forms while actively engaging translation software. Grounded within SLA research on interaction negotiation meaning, our meta-translation feedback circuit supports form-function mappings whereby analyze potentially adjust machine-generated translations. Within functional approach, each component involves series questions adaptable varying proficiency levels languages. The first set invites situate speech activity its sociopragmatic context make explicit connections recently studied topics. second helps investigate MT’s output through formal language analysis referents across sentences. third focuses integration by checking adequacy fit between situated meaning. illustrated in 3rd semester French course followed strategies applicable any foreign classroom. Embedding computer-aided into an otherwise traditional L2 task represents opportunity foster dialogue MT, create teacher-mediated metalinguistic output, connect learners’ ‘toolbox’, support intentional engagement itself.