Hi, Florencia.

I am setting up a Spanish grammar review course for use with high school and college students. Would I be able to utilize what you have provided as a general example of ways to use translating tools for assistance in class?

This is what I have for our upper-level composition course. Any course policies have to be in line with the university’s policies, so we cannot say, for instance, that they will receive a 0 (we need to follow the procedure established in the Student Code):

What kind of “outside help” is OK?
While we are not expecting perfection, it is important that the work you turn in be as “polished” as possible. In this course, you are allowed to use only the following resources as outside help with matters of language (accents, grammar, vocab):
• http://www.wordreference.com/
• https://www.linguee.com/
• Microsoft Word Spell Check
• Your instructor

Using any other type of assistance (from any other sites or people) is considered unauthorized help in this course. Alleged academic integrity violations will be handled following the process outlined in the Student Code: http://studentcode.illinois.edu/article1/part4/1-403/

Thank you, Julia! I really appreciate your comment and willingness to reflect.

Thank you for your kind words! I’m so glad you liked it.

Thank you so much!

The last two words you said are the sticking point to me: in practice.
I have yet to see a way to integrate or incorporate them in a way that doesn’t create a loophole for academic integrity, or at the very least, mixed messages (a.k.a., grounds for disputes, at least in higher ed here in the US).
In advanced courses, where learners are there because they want to acquire and communicate in the target language, sure, I can see some use for them. In lower-level courses that students take sometimes reluctantly, and thus want to find the most convenient way of completing assignments, I have my doubts.
And my main concern is: how does using translators foster acquisition? How does it help my students develop communicative ability in the target language? I hear a lot about “bilingual professionals use tools” — yes, but how did they/we become bilingual professionals? We cannot compare novice learners taking courses for a requirement with bilingual professionals. I don’t think both populations use these tools the same way or with the same intent.

As you can tell, I like talking about this topic a lot! I’ll follow you on Twitter, and maybe we can keep the conversation going there.