Standard vs. reversed subtitles:effects on movie comprehension

and lexical retrieval

Dominique Bairstow & Jean-Marc Lavaur

University of Montpellier 3, France.

Because subtitling is nothing else than

a special effect amongst others.

Executed by the master’s hand, it must remain…invisible.

Simon Laks.

Summary of the presentation

• Introduction– Films and subtitles– Subtitled film

comprehension– Subtitled films and

language acquisition

• Experimental study– Aims– Method– Results

• Discussion

Introduction

• Films and subtitles

1895 - black and white pictures1927 - the advent of sound

1932 - and finally colour

=> sound = dialogues = language = problemsAVT techniques: dubbing, subtitling, voice-

over…

Introduction

• Films and subtitles- Nature of the information:

… And its interaction with the viewer’s own knowledge….

Visual Auditory

Non linguistic

Images, sequence of images

Background sounds, music

Linguistic Subtitles, written signs

Dialogues, song lyrics

Introduction

• Films and subtitles- Languages on the screen: One, two or more…

□ Interlingual subtitling: Standard - Original dialogues, subtitles in the native languageReversed - Native language dialogues, foreign subtitles

□ Intralingual subtitling:Both the dialogues and the subtitles are in the same language

□ Double subtitling:In countries where communities speak two languages (or more)

Introduction

• Subtitled film comprehension- Comprehending a film is an amazing feat of neural and

cognitive processingZacks & Magliano, 2011.

- Subtitles lead to an automatic reading behavior even when they are not necessary to the viewer’s comprehension

D’Ydewalle, Praet, Verfaillie & Van Rensbergen, 1991.

- Visual input while language processing is beneficial since it adds to the meaning gained through the auditory input.

Marian, 2009.

Introduction

• Subtitled film comprehension- The addition of unnecessary subtitles produces a loss in

visual processing. Lavaur & Nava, 2007

- Standard subtitles help dialogue processing, while dubbing helps visual processing.

Grignon, Blanc & Lavaur, 2007

- Subtitles help comprehension for low fluency viewers, but hinder the comprehension of high fluency viewers.

Lavaur & Bairstow, 2011

Introduction

• Subtitled film and language acquisition- Interlingual TV is a rich language environment enabling to

learn foreign words.Newman & Koskinen, 1992.

- Intralingual subtitles facilitate language learning by helping visualize what is heard.

Danan, 2004.

- Interlingual subtitles create lexical interference, but intralingual subtitles assist speech learning.

Mitterer & McQueen, 2009.

Experimental study

• Aims

1- Analyzing film comprehension depending on the version of the film;

2- Evaluating the effects on vocabulary recall;

3- Correlating results in order to find which version (and which type of subtitling) is the most efficient for both a high level of comprehension and best vocabulary recall.

Experimental study

• Method- Film extract: Strangers on a train

(A. Hitchcock, 1951)- Versions: Original (English)

Dubbed (French) Standard (English with French subtitles)

Reversed (French with English

subtitles)- Questionnaires: dialogue comprehension

lexical retrieval personal data and translation task

Experimental study

• Method- Sample: 40 native French-speakers from the University

of Montpellier 3 (France).

- Procedure:~ Film (1st viewing)~ Questionnaire (dialogue comprehension)~ Film (2nd viewing)~ Questionnaire (vocabulary recall)~ Personal data questionnaire and translation task.

Experimental study

• Results – Comprehension scores (max. 40)

Significant effect of version on comprehension scores showing:- a lower level of comprehension with the original version- no difference between the dubbed and subtitled versions

Original (English)

Dubbed (French)

Standard (Original,French

subtitles)

Reversed (Dubbed,English

subtitles)

Mean 14.5 32.4 30.4 32.2

SD 1.96 2.84 2.99 2.66

Experimental study

• Results – Vocabulary scores (max. 12)

Significant effect of version on vocabulary recall, showing the best score for reversed subtitling, then standard and original versions, and finally the French version.

Original (English)

Dubbed (French)

Standard (Original,French

subtitles)

Reversed (Dubbed,English

subtitles)

Mean 3.2 1.3 3.3 6.3

SD 0.79 1.60 1.60 1.64

Experimental study

• Global results – (weighted comprehension scores)

The version with reversed subtitles seems to provide the best combination of comprehension and vocabulary recall scores.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Original Dubbed Standard Reversed

Versions

Mea

n s

core

s

Comprehension

Vocabulary

Experimental study

• Detailed vocabulary resultsItems separated into 3 levels:

- Easy: doesn’t necessitate having seen the film

- Equivocal (indefinite): necessitates having seen the film to determine which word fits

- Outdated: necessitates having seen and understood the word in the film

Experimental study

• Detailed vocabulary results

The reversed subtitles provide the best context for memorising vocabulary, especially more complicated or unknown words.

0

0,5

1

1,5

2

2,5

3

3,5

Original Dubbed Standard Reversed

Versions

Mea

n s

core

s

Easy

Equivocal

Outdated

Discussion

• Comprehension- Original version leads to lowest level- Both subtitled versions lead to levels as high as

dubbed version.

• Vocabulary- Dubbed version: some recall (?) - Original and standard subtitling: same amount

of recall- Reversed subtitling: highest level of recall

Discussion

• InterpretationThis study set out to investigate various subtitling

situations to determine which is the most favorable for high comprehension and good lexical retrieval.

Concerning dialogue comprehension, subtitles in general help viewers achieve the same level of comprehension as dubbing.

Concerning vocabulary, reversed subtitles lead to the best memorization of unknown words.

Discussion

• Reversed subtitles

- Results in various studies are contradictory

- Different testing methods

- Results in the present study obtained for low fluency viewers, for a written test only.

Need for further research…

Issues

• ComprehensionFilm comprehension in general needs to be evaluated –

dialogue comprehension was high, but what about visual elements and inferences?

• Vocabulary / LearningVocabulary was tested straight after viewing, but how long

can it be remembered for?Can other variables be combined to enhance the effects?

Directing the viewers’ attention, inducing a deeper level of processing, giving specific tasks or using specific retrieval tasks…

Thank you!