Cover not available
Article published In:
Audiovisual translation in applied linguistics: Educational perspectives
Edited by Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin, Jennifer Lertola and Noa Talaván
[Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts 4:1] 2018
► pp. 129–150

The use of audio description in foreign language education

A preliminary approach

| Imperial College London | University College London
Audio description (AD) is a type of audiovisual translation (AVT) used for making video content accessible to the blind and visually impaired. Over the last decade, the pedagogic potential of AVT in foreign language learning (FLL) has gained increasing recognition by experts. However, AD as a didactic tool in FLL is an innovative area that has received very little attention so far, despite its significant potential for language learners. In addition, many experts in Applied Linguistics have shown a growing interest in the study of fluency, pronunciation and intonation.
With these ideas in mind the author of the present article has carried out a small scale preliminary experiment with university students of Spanish as a foreign language. This article presents the methodological framework of the experiment which includes the instruments for data gathering. Although only six students completed the experiment, their responses were positive and encouraging as they found active AD tasks useful for language learning. It is hoped that the lessons learnt will inform the methodological framework for larger scale studies.
Keywords: audio description, audiovisual translation, oral skills, podcasts, Spanish as a foreign language
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical framework
  • 3.The enhancement of oral skills
    • 3.1Oral fluency
    • 3.2Pronunciation and intonation
  • 4.The study
    • 4.1Context
    • 4.2Methodology
    • 4.3Participants
    • 4.4Procedures
    • 4.5Resources
      • 4.5.1Oral task 1: Podcast
      • 4.5.2Active AD task
      • 4.5.3Assessment rubric
      • 4.5.4Questionnaires
  • 5.Analysis and discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 24 April 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ttmc.00007.nav
References (51)
References
Allen, Virginia. 1971. “Teaching Intonation, from Theory to Practice.” TESOL Quarterly 41: 73–91. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bird, Stephen, and John Williams. 2002. “The Effect of Bimodal Input on Implicit and Explicit Memory: An Investigation into the Benefits of Within-language Subtitling.” Applied Psycholinguistics 23 (4): 509–533. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Borghetti, Claudia. 2011. “Intercultural Learning through Subtitling: The Cultural Studies Approach.” In Audiovisual Translation Subtitles and Subtitling. Theory and Practice, ed. by Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin, Marie Biscio, and Máire Áine Ní Mhainnín, 111–137. Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Borghetti, Claudia, and Jennifer Lertola. 2014. “Interlingual Subtitling for Intercultural Language Education: A Case Study.” Language and Intercultural Communication 14 (4): 423–440. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Borrás, Isabel, and Robert C. Lafayette. 1994. “Effects of Multimedia Courseware Subtitling on the Speaking Performance of College Students of French.” The Modern Language Journal 78 (1): 61–75. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bravo, Conceiçao. 2008. Putting the Reader in the Picture: Screen Translation and Foreign Language Learning. Unpublished PhD diss. Tarragona: Universtat Rovira I.Google Scholar
Burston, Jack. 2005. “Video Dubbing Projects in the Foreign Language Curriculum.” CALICO Journal 23 (1): 72–79.Google Scholar
Caimi, Annamaria. 2006. “Audiovisual Translation and Language Learning: The Promotion of Intralingual Subtitles.” The Journal of Specialised Translation 61: 85–98. Accessed October 30, 2017. [URL].
Cohen, Louis, Lawrence Manion and Keith Morrison. 2007. Research Methods in Education. London and New York: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Council of Europe. 2001. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. Cambridge, U.K.: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge.Google Scholar
Chiu, Yi-Hui. 2012. “Can Film Dubbing Projects Facilitate EFL Learners’ Acquisition of English Pronunciation?” British Journal of Educational Technology 43 (1): 24–27. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Danan, Martine. 2004. “Captioning and Subtitling: Undervalued Language Learning Strategies.” Meta 49 (1): 67–77. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2010. “Dubbing Projects for the Language Learner: A Framework for Integrating Audiovisual Translation into Task-Based Instruction.” Computer Assisted Language Learning 23 (5): 441–456. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gajek, Elżbieta, and Agnieszka Szarkowska. 2013. “Audiodeskrypcja i napisy jako techniki- uczenia się języka – projekt ClipFlair.” Jezyki Obce w Szkole 02(13), 106–110.Google Scholar
Guillory, Helen Gant. 1998. “The effects of Keyword Captions to Authentic French Video on Learner Comprehension.” CALICO Journal 15 (1–3): 89–109.Google Scholar
Ibáñez Moreno, Ana, and Anna Vermeulen. 2013. “Audio Description as a Tool to Improve Lexical and Phraseological Competence in Foreign Language Learning.” In Translation in Language Teaching and Assessment, ed. by Dina Tsagari and Georgios Floros, 41–63. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Press.Google Scholar
. 2014. “La audiodescripción como recurso didáctico en el Aula ELE para promover el desarrollo integrado de competencias.” In New Directions in Hispanic Linguistics, ed. by Rafael Orozco, 263–292. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Press.Google Scholar
Ibáñez Moreno, Ana, Jordano de la Torre, María, and Anna Vermeulen. 2016. “Diseño y evaluación de VISP, una aplicación móvil para la práctica de la competencia oral.” RIED: Revista Iberoamericana de Educación a Distancia 191: 63–81.Google Scholar
Incalcaterra McLoughlin, Laura. 2009. “Inter-semiotic Translation in Foreign Language Learning. The Case of Subtitling.” In Translation in Second Language Teaching and Learning, ed. by Arndt Witte, Theo Harden, and Alessandra Ramos de Oliveira Harden, 227–244. Oxford: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Incalcaterra McLoughlin, Laura, and Jennifer Lertola. 2014. “Audiovisual Translation in Second Language Acquisition. Integrating Subtitling in the Foreign Language Curriculum.” The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 8 (1): 70–83. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
King, Kathleen P., and Mark Gura. 2007. Podcasting for Teachers: Using a New Technology to Revolutionize Teaching and Learning (Emerging Technologies for Evolving Learners). Charlotte: Information Age Publishing.Google Scholar
Kumai, William. 1996. “Karaoke Movies: Dubbing Movies for Pronunciation.” The Language Teacher Online 20 (9). Accessed October 30, 2017. [URL]
Ladd, D. Robert. 1996. Intonational Phonology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lennon, Paul. 1990. “Investigating Fluency in EFL: A Quantitative Approach.” In Language Learning 40 (3): 387–417. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lertola, Jennifer. 2012. “The Effect of the Subtitling Task on Vocabulary Learning.” In Translation Research Projects, ed. by Anthony Pym, and David Orrego-Carmona 61–70. Tarragona: Universitat Rovira i Virgili.Google Scholar
. 2015. “Subtitling in Language Teaching: Suggestions for Language Teachers.” In Subtitles and Language Learning, ed. by Yves Gambier, Annamaria Caimi, and Cristina Mariotti, 245–267. Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Levis, John M. 1999. “Intonation in Theory and Practice, Revisited.” TESOL Quarterly 331: 37–63. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
López Cirugeda, Isabel, and Raquel Sánchez Ruiz. 2013. “Subtitling as a Didactic Tool. A Teacher Training Experience.” Porta Linguarum 201: 45–62.Google Scholar
Luoma, Sari. 2004. Assessing Speaking. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Martín Álvarez, Francisco J. 2014. El Podcasting en la Enseñanza de las Lenguas Extranjeras. Unpublished PhD Diss. Madrid: Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia.Google Scholar
Montero Perez, Maribel, Peters Elke, Clarebout Geraldine, and Piet Desmet. 2014. “Effects of Captioning on Video Comprehension and Incidental Vocabulary.” Language, Learning and Technology 18 (1): 118–141.Google Scholar
Navarrete, Marga. 2013. “El Doblaje como Herramienta de Aprendizaje en el Aula de Español y desde el Entorno de ClipFlair.” MarcoELE 161: 75–87. Accessed October 30, 2017. [URL]
Noels, Kimberly A. 2001. “Learning Spanish as a Second Language: Learners’ Orientations and Perceptions of Their Teachers’ Communication Style.” Language Learning 51 (1): 107–144. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Martínez Martínez, Silvia. 2012. “La Audiodescripción (AD) como Herramienta Didáctica: Adquisición de la Competencia Léxica.” In Traducir en la Frontera, ed. by Susana Cruces, Maribel Del Pozo, Ana Luna, and Alberto Álvarez, 87–102. Granada: Atrio.Google Scholar
Riggenbach, Heidi. 2000. Perspectives on Fluency. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Robson, Colin. 2002. Real Word Research: A Resource for Social Scientists and Practioner-Researchers. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar
Sánchez-Requena, Alicia. 2016. “Audiovisual Translation in Teaching Foreign Languages: Contributions of Revoicing to Improve Fluency and Pronunciation in Spontaneous Conversations. ” Porta Linguarum 261: 9–21.Google Scholar
Segalowitz, Norman. 2010. Cognitive Bases of Second Language Fluency. New York: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Snyder, Joel. 2013. Audio Description: Seeing with the Mind’s Eye: A Comprehensive Training Manual and Guide to the History and Applications of Audio Description. Unpublished PhD diss. Barcelona: Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona.Google Scholar
Talaván, Noa. 2006a. “Using Subtitles to Enhance Foreign Language Education.” Porta Linguarum 61: 41–52.Google Scholar
. 2006b. “The Technique of Subtitling for Business English Communication.” RLFE (Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos) 11/121: 313–346.Google Scholar
. 2007. “Learning Vocabulary through Authentic Video and Subtitles.” TESOL-SPAIN Newsletter 311: 5–8.Google Scholar
2010. “Subtitling as a Task and Subtitles as Support: Pedagogical Applications.” In New Insights into Audiovisual Translation and Media Accessibility, ed. by Jorge Díaz Cintas, Ana Matamala, and Josélia Neves, 285–299. Amsterdam: Rodopi. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2011. “A Quasi-Experimental Research into Subtitling and Foreign Language Education.” In Audiovisual Translation Subtitles and Subtitling. Theory and Practice, ed. by Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin, Marie Biscio, and Máire Áine Ní Mhainnín, 197–217. Oxford: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
2013. La subtitulación en el aprendizaje de lenguas Extranjeras. Barcelona: Octaedro.Google Scholar
Talaván, Noa, and Pilar Rodríguez-Arancón. 2014. “The Use of Reverse Subtitling as an Online Collaborative Language Learning Tool.” The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 8 (1): 84–101. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Talaván, Noa, and José Javier Avila-Cabrera. 2014. “First Insights into the Combination of Dubbing and Subtitling as L2 Didactic Tools.” In Subtitles and Language Learning, ed. by Yves Gambier, Annamaria Caimi, and Cristina Mariotti, 149–172. Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Talaván, Noa, Elena Bárcena, and Álvaro Villarroel. 2014. “Aprendizaje colaborativo asistido por ordenador para la transferencia de las competencias mediadora y lingüístico-comunicativa en inglés especializado.” In Digital Competence Development in Higher Education: An International Perspective. ed. by María Luisa Pérez Cañado, and Juan Raáez Padilla, 87–106. Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Talaván, Noa., Pilar Rodríguez-Arancón, and Elena Martín-Monje. 2015. “The Enhancement of Speaking Skills Practice and Assessment in an Online Environment.” In Tendencias en Educación y Lingüística, ed. by Lucía P. Cancelas y Ouviña, and Susana Sánchez Rodríguez, 329–351. Cádiz: Editorial GEU.Google Scholar
Talaván, Noa, and Jennifer Lertola. 2016. “Active Audiodescription to Promote Speaking Skills in Online Environments.” Sintagma, Revista de Lingüística 271: 59–74.Google Scholar
Wagener, Debbie. 2006. “Promoting Independent Learning Skills Using Video on Digital Laboratories.” Computer Assisted Language Learning 191: 279–286. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by (15)

Cited by 15 other publications

Hermosa-Ramírez, Irene & Nina Reviers
2024. From accessibility to inclusion in the theatre: exploring the spectrum between traditional audio introductions and mainstream theatre podcasts. Universal Access in the Information Society 23:2 ► pp. 561 ff. DOI logo
Talaván, Noa & Antonio-Jesús Tinedo-Rodríguez
2024. Didactic Audiovisual Translation and Teacher Training: A Preliminary Approach. In The Palgrave Handbook of Multilingualism and Language Varieties on Screen, ► pp. 553 ff. DOI logo
Torralba, Gloria & Lucía Pintado Gutiérrez
2024. Integración curricular de la audiodescripción y la mediación en la enseñanza del español. Journal of Spanish Language Teaching 11:1 ► pp. 101 ff. DOI logo
Yan, Jackie Xiu & Kangte Luo
2024. Assessment criteria in audio describer training: An investigation of learner perceptions in a university interpreting programme in Hong Kong of China. Interpreting and Society 4:1 ► pp. 26 ff. DOI logo
Bolaños García-Escribano, Alejandro & María del Mar Ogea Pozo
2023. Didactic audiovisual translation. Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts 9:2 ► pp. 187 ff. DOI logo
Fernández-Costales, Alberto , Noa Talaván & Antonio J Tinedo
2023. Didactic audiovisual translation in language teaching: Results from TRADILEX. Comunicar 31:77 DOI logo
Manfredi, Marina, Catia Nannoni & Rosa Pugliese
2023. Audiovisual translation and media accessibility in language learning contexts. Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts 9:2 ► pp. 143 ff. DOI logo
Navarrete, Marga
2023. Training the trainer. Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts 9:2 ► pp. 216 ff. DOI logo
Tinedo-Rodríguez, Antonio Jesús
2023. uso de PSeint para el desarrollo integrado del pensamiento computacional, de las destrezas lingüísticas y de inglés para fines específicos en entornos basados en traducción audiovisual didáctica. redit - Revista Electrónica de Didáctica de la Traducción y la Interpretación :17 ► pp. 37 ff. DOI logo
Plaza Lara, Cristina & Carolina Gonzalo Llera
2022. Audio description as a didactic tool in the foreign language classroom: a pilot study within the TRADILEX project. DIGILEC: Revista Internacional de Lenguas y Culturas 9 ► pp. 199 ff. DOI logo
Fernández-Costales, Alberto
2021. Audiovisual translation in primary education. Students’ perceptions of the didactic possibilities of subtitling and dubbing in foreign language learning. Meta 66:2 ► pp. 280 ff. DOI logo
Schaeffer‐Lacroix, Eva
2021. Integrating corpus‐based audio description tasks into an intermediate‐level German course. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 31:2 ► pp. 173 ff. DOI logo
Vermeulen, Anna & María Ángeles Escobar-Álvarez
2021. Audiovisual translation (dubbing and audio description) as a didactic tool to promote foreign language learning. Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts 7:1 ► pp. 86 ff. DOI logo
McLoughlin, Laura Incalcaterra & Susanna Nocchi
2020. Analysing Solved and Unresolved Issues of an AVT Collaborative Task Through the Lens of Activity Theory: Implications for Task Design. In The Palgrave Handbook of Audiovisual Translation and Media Accessibility [Palgrave Studies in Translating and Interpreting, ], ► pp. 593 ff. DOI logo
Talaván, Noa
2020. The Didactic Value of AVT in Foreign Language Education. In The Palgrave Handbook of Audiovisual Translation and Media Accessibility [Palgrave Studies in Translating and Interpreting, ], ► pp. 567 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 29 september 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.