Audiovisual Translation in Second Language Acquisition: Integrating Subtitling in the Foreign Language Curriculum

While translation is gradually regaining importance as an effective task in foreign-language (FL) teaching, the challenge for teachers is often to find ways of integrating translation into methodologies which have long since moved away from the grammar-translation method. Subtitling can offer a stimulating addition to more traditional monosemiotic translation tasks, while at the same time facilitating mnemonic retention, helping to raise awareness of cultural and intercultural issues and pragmatic aspects of communication, increasing motivation and enhancing the overall learning experience. This article discusses the use of subtitling in FL teaching and reports on students’ feedback on their subtitling experience. It will first provide an overview of recent literature and developments in this field. The article will then define a theoretical background for the use of subtitling and establish a methodological framework for its introduction in the foreign-language curriculum in third level undergraduate courses. Finally, it will report on a 24-week subtitling module taught annually at the National University of Ireland, Galway between 2009 and 2012 as part of the regular language course for undergraduate students. The responses of 40 students to an evaluation questionnaire on the subtitling module will be presented and discussed.