INTRODUCTION
This article aims at understanding strategies involved in reading academic texts in English as a L2 /FL. Specifically, we focus on reading comprehension when a text is read either utilizing Google translator or not. Some circumstances contribute to this research. First, the importance of cognitive strategies and reading, a relatively recent research that has proven to be effective to explain the reading process. Also, we briefly describe the area of Machine translation, since the use of Google translator is used as a support strategy. This investigation analyses the possibilities of using Google translator as a support tool for reading in a L2. The research was conducted based on data collected at the English Language Institute (ELI) at the University of Pittsburgh. Ten participants participated and all of them were speakers of other mother languages other than English. The study is divided into four sections. The first one deals with the concept of reading comprehension and its cognitive underpinnings. In the second section we discuss the role cognitive strategies play while one is reading. What we want to understand is how these strategies are used when the reader either uses Google translator or not. Furthermore, we want to know to what extent a poor translation is capable of enhancing understanding. The third section of this paper presents how the instruments were conducted, so it has a focus on the methodology used. The goal is to evaluate how those students whose L1 is not English understand a text read either with Google or without it. Finally, the last section concludes the work analyzing data collected.