The GenderQueer Test Suite

Steinunn Rut Friidhriksdóttir


Abstract
This paper introduces the GenderQueer Test Suite, an evaluation set for assessing machine translation (MT) systems’ capabilities in handling gender-diverse and queer-inclusive content, focusing on English to Icelandic translation. The suite evaluates MT systems on various aspects of gender-inclusive translation, including pronoun and adjective agreement, LGBTQIA+ terminology, and the impact of explicit gender specifications.The 17 MT systems submitted to the WMT24 English-Icelandic track were evaluated. Key findings reveal significant performance differences between large language model-based systems (LLMs) and lightweight models in handling context for gender agreement. Challenges in translating the singular “they” were widespread, while most systems performed relatively well in translating LGBTQIA+ terminology. Accuracy in adjective gender agreement is quite low, with some models struggling particularly with the feminine form.This evaluation set contributes to the ongoing discussion about inclusive language in MT and natural language processing. By providing a tool for assessing MT systems’ handling of gender-diverse content, it aims to enhance the inclusivity of language technology. The methodology and evaluation scripts are made available for adaptation to other languages, promoting further research in this area.
Anthology ID:
2024.wmt-1.26
Volume:
Proceedings of the Ninth Conference on Machine Translation
Month:
November
Year:
2024
Address:
Miami, Florida, USA
Editors:
Barry Haddow, Tom Kocmi, Philipp Koehn, Christof Monz
Venue:
WMT
SIG:
Publisher:
Association for Computational Linguistics
Note:
Pages:
327–340
Language:
URL:
https://aclanthology.org/2024.wmt-1.26
DOI:
Bibkey:
Cite (ACL):
Steinunn Rut Friidhriksdóttir. 2024. The GenderQueer Test Suite. In Proceedings of the Ninth Conference on Machine Translation, pages 327–340, Miami, Florida, USA. Association for Computational Linguistics.
Cite (Informal):
The GenderQueer Test Suite (Friidhriksdóttir, WMT 2024)
Copy Citation:
PDF:
https://aclanthology.org/2024.wmt-1.26.pdf