online translation and students

[Lynne deBenedette]

My own understanding of essay writing is that it ought to be a learning
experience for the student as much as an opportunity for assessment, and I
am not inclined to penalize learning.  The issue is being able to verify
that learning is indeed taking place.  In this case there was the student's
use of the word "sharashka"--occurring in the simple sentence "Potom on
rabotal v sharashke"--and then of course the question becomes whether
sharashka has any meaning for the essay-writer beyond "a noun in the
prepositional case designating place of employment"  (his Oxford dictionary
would be of no help).  It was therefore of use to know what English-lang.
website had been read; I was able to confirm that the site gave the Russian
word in italics and explained what it meant.  I still told the student to
look up more info about the word, but at least I knew it would have been
understood to be more than just "where the guy worked".

Lynne
--
Lynne deBenedette
Senior Lecturer in Russian
Brown University / Slavic Languages
20 Manning Walk, Box E
Providence, RI 02912
tel 401-863-7572 or 401-863-2689
fax 401-863-7330
lynne_debenedette at brown.edu
SPRING 2003 Office Hours Tu 2.30-4; We 3.30-5



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