Audio-visual material can be presented to learners without any subtitles, with native language (L1) subtitles, or with target language (L2) subtitles. Audio-visual material is a frequently used resource for teaching and learning English as an L2 and it provides learners with natural spoken dialog in the target language. However, learners are often exposed to input from the target language outside the school setting through television, movies, newspapers and the internet ( Dahl and Vulchanova, 2014). In the Norwegian context, second language learning typically takes place in schools.
We also found an effect of written L2 skills on performance on both lexical tasks indicative of the role of orthography in vocabulary consolidation. While in the less proficient younger group, vocabulary status best predicted performance on both tasks (vocabulary predicts vocabulary), for the very advanced older group, grammar was a stronger predictor, highlighting the importance of generic language competence and skills in L2 tasks for highly proficient L2 users. The two groups differed also on predictors of performance on the two lexical tasks. The absence of differences in terms of the language of the subtitles in the more advanced group suggests that both intralanguage and interlanguage subtitles can aid target language comprehension in very advanced learners, most probably due to better consolidated vocabulary knowledge in that group. The results from this study suggest that the mere presence of subtitles as an additional source of information enhances learners' comprehension of the plot and content in animated audio-visual material in their L2. We found, however, that native language subtitles impact negatively on performance on the comprehension task. The only long-term effect was found in the word definition task and was modulated by age. Four weeks later the participants responded to a word definition task and a word recall task to investigate potential long-term effects of the subtitles. However, no differences in terms of the language of the subtitles were found in the older and more advanced group. On a comprehension questionnaire conducted immediately after watching the episode positive short-term effects of both native language (L1) and target language (L2) subtitles were found for both age groups. Both age groups were divided into three Conditions, where one group watched an episode of the American animated cartoon Family Guy with Norwegian subtitles, one group with English subtitles, and one group watched the episode with no subtitles. Participants in the study were 49 17-year-old students and 65 16-year-old students, who were all native speakers of Norwegian learning English as an L2 in high school. This study aimed to investigate the effects of subtitles in the context of authentic material on second language comprehension and potentially, second language acquisition for Norwegian learners of English.
Greta Jung, who has dubbed roles for several Korean and Chinese Netflix shows, shared the sentiments of fans who worry that English speakers are watching a watered-down version of “Squid Game.Mila Vulchanova *, Lisa M. While viewers have credited the translated subtitles and English-dubbed versions of “Squid Game” as being more accurate than the closed captions, some Korean speakers feel this highlights a larger historical issue at play. Some studios have opted to use machine translation, which Kripper said isn’t effective compared to using a real translator. Mayer and others online have noted that translation work is often undervalued and that the sheer volume of content makes translation for film and television even more challenging. “I understand there’s a cultural difference and there’s no time to explain things in full, but I saw a lot of people saying, ‘I wish I knew what this meant.’ I think it’s doing a huge disservice to the writer that the translator, of word economy, can’t include these cultural references.”Ĭontestants compete in one of the deadly games in the dystopian Korean survival drama "Squid Game" on Netflix. “I still think there’s so many big things missing from the narrative,” Mayer said.