Speech-to-Text Translation in the Classroom with Ukrainian Adolescent Refugees in Spain

Following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, thousands of Ukrainian children were enrolled in schools across European countries. In Spain, the vast majority of these children had no prior knowledge of Spanish. The objective of this study is to evaluate whether the language barrier can be reduced through the use of real-time transcription and speech-to-text translation technology during classroom lessons. Two classroom activities were conducted: the reading of a fable and the delivery of a brief lecture on neuroscience. These activities were performed simultaneously with two groups: students fluent in Spanish (n = 23) and Ukrainian students with no knowledge of Spanish (n = 19). Using PowerPoint365, the teacher's spoken words were transcribed and translated into Russian in real time and projected onto a screen. Comprehension of the fable and the lecture was assessed through content-specific questionnaires. The Ukrainian group's scores were lower than those of the Spanish group. However, the Ukrainian students' scores were significantly higher than those of a control group of 13 children who completed the same test without prior exposure to the content of the fable or the lecture. Additionally, a qualitative analysis was conducted based on the testimonies of 4 teachers who have routinely used this method with their students. The findings reveal that transcription and translation technology improves classroom comprehension for Ukrainian students with no prior knowledge of Spanish under regular classroom conditions.