Prof. Carmen Muñoz: With or without subtitles?
EIM-AFC III Multingual Teachers' Day
Carmen Muñoz: With or without subtitles? The benefits of watching TV series
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| Prof. Carmen Muñoz: Opening plenary at the EIM III Jornades Multilingües |
Multimodality
Multimodal input is the process of receiving information through multiple channels of perception. According to Paivio (1990), two different, but connected, representations of the same information can help memorization. Language input supported by corresponding images can avoid ‘cognitive overload’ and allow the learner make full use of working memory to process the information received (Sweller, 1994). As Mayer (2009) summarises neatly: we learn better from a combination of words and images than from words alone.Carmen explained that Language Acquisition (greatly summarised), involves the processes of:
- Exposure to new information (input)
- Noticing new linguistic elements, e.g. lexical items
- Storing these new elements in working memory (which has a very limited capacity, which is why it can be ‘overloaded’)
- If acquisition is successful: integration into long-term memory
Multimodal input has at least 5 characteristics which make it interesting for language learning. It is (or can be):
1. Comprehensible
Krashen’s comprehension hypothesis proposed that we can only learn what we understand. Multimodality e.g. the combination of audio + images + text (subtitles in L1 or L2) makes the input more comprehensible.
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| Comprehensible input |
2. Authentic
It is a challenge to use authentic material in class. Using subtitled TV series means being able to provide an authentic source of comprehensible input, without having to simplify the text, adapted to suit learner’s level by use of subtitles in L1 or L2.
3. Relevant
With such a wide choice of material available, programmes can be chosen to suit learner’s age, cognitive maturity, personal interests and preferences. Nowadays so-called ‘edutainment’ combines entertainment and educational content.
4. Motivating
Increasingly, for younger generations of learners, screens are replacing books. Anyone involved in ELT in our context (Barcelona, Spain), and many others, will have noticed how much our younger learners’ listening skills have improved over the last 10 years or so, undoubtedly as a result of watching TV series in the original language via streaming services.
5. Unlimited
If learners are limited only to the ‘drip-feed’ distribution of classroom input (Stern, 1985) once or twice a week, progress will obviously be limited. Usage-based theories of language acquisition (Ellis, 2009) suggest that the intensity of repeated exposure to structures and lexis is crucial in the acquisition process. For example, it is necessary to know 3,000 word families to understand spoken discourse, and 8-9,000 word famílies to follow written discourse with ease. While Krashen advocates increased exposure through extensive reading, this may be more realistically substituted by extensive viewing nowadays.
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| Extensive reading or extensive viewing? |
The use of subtitles
With or without subtitles?
Learners are already watching large amounts of input in the TL, but curiously, many believe watching without subtitling is the best way to learn. The research findings strongly contradict this. Subtitles facilitate learning. Studies have shown improvement, principally in vocabulary and listening comprehension, but more recently in pragmatics, grammatical structure, motivation and reduction of anxiety (see slide below for references).
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| With or without subtitles? |
Subtitles in L1 or L2?
L2 (TL) subtitles provide greater input, because the learner is also reading, as well as listening. However, the key factor is learners’ level of proficiency. As this is unmodified, authentic material, a minimum level is necessary to deal with subtitles in the L2 (TL). Therefore, for lower levels, it is better to watch with L1 (translated) subtitles, and progress to L2 when the learner has reached a critical, threshold level and gained confidence (this differs with each individual, but probably B1+). Eye-tracking studies show that, at lower levels, learners don’t even bother to read the subtitles if they are in L2. In contrast, L1 subtitles have been shown to distract students at higher levels, as they have to juggle too many processes.
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| Subtitles in L1 or L2? |
Subtitled TV Series
The aim of the SUBTiLL (Subtitles in Language Learning) project, supervised by Carmen, was to look at the results of different type of viewing: TED talks, TV series, etc. Studies have shown that TV series are a source of comprehensible input and can facilitate acquisition of vocabulary (see references on slide below). TV series were found to contain lots of repetition, equivalent in viewing terms to Krashen’s ‘narrow reading’: reading books in the same genre, by the same author, so the learner becomes familiar with the style and typical language. In TV series, viewers become familiar with characters and can predict how they will react, even the language they will use in certain situations, which considerably facilitates comprehension. |
| Watching TV series |
In this research project, interventions were carried out with learners in 6º de primaria (6th grade), 2º de ESO (8th grade) and 4º de ESO (10th grade), comparing groups watching series with or without explícit instruction of target items and watching series in L1 or L2. Results indicate that the potential change from subtitles in L1 to L2 seems to happen around 8th grade (12-13 year olds, A2-B1 level)
A similar experiment was conducted with groups of university students, this time comparing L2 subtitles with no subtitles. The groups watching with subtitles performed better, and the group with instruction outperformed the group without instruction.
Eye-tracking tests were carried out with three different age groups (see below)
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| Groups in eye-tracking study |
Eye-tracking monitors the number and duration of ‘fixations’ (the time the eye lingers over a particular word). The study found that the lower level / younger learners had more fixations, indicating a greater degree of cognitive difficulty. Unlike reading, there was no difference in the duration of fixation between subtitles in L1 or L2. The learner quickly recognised that they didn’t know the word, and moved on. There was also found to be great diversity within each group: some learners pay great attention to subtitles, while some don’t look at them at all.
Conclusions
All the groups felt they had learned more in this process than in a ‘normal’ class, especially vocabulary, but also some grammatical structures. They further claimed that they had improved their listening skills in general and the ability to distinguish between accents. Participants reported finding the activities fun and motivating and they paid more attention. Furthermore, they felt their anxiety had reduced and they were more confident in their listening skills
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| Conclusions |
In terms of the impact of the study, the learners expressed increased awareness of the benefits of watching with subtitles and expressed the intention of continuing the habit at home. One of the objectives of the study was to promote subtitles over the predominant ‘dubbing culture’ in Spain. Given a choice, most adults would not go to see a subtitled film at the cinema. After an intervention of this type even pupils as young as 6º de Primaria (6th grade), expressed a preference for subtitled TV series (see slide below). However, the project started before Netflix was introduced into Spain, about 2 years ago, which seems to have prompted a dramatic change in viewing habits.
The subtitles could be considered as a form of ‘input enhancement’, the process by which target language is highlighted to make it more noticeable and memorable for the learner. The subtitles can be manipulated to increase the size of the font or change the colour of certain words to make these more salient.
In the long, slow process of learning a language, perception of progress is very important, and the gradual transition from watching with subtitles in L1 to subtitles in L2 can make this progress more noticeable.
Pedagogical implications
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| Classroom implications |
- Multimodal material is highy adaptable to context, level and individual preferences
- Sense of progress is highly motivating
- The use of strategies inside class to watch series and learn from them can be transmitted to out-of-class learning, furthering the agency and autonomy of the learner.
- Endless opportunities for learning. The teacher is the key to demonstrating and promoting the benefits of watching with subtitles for both deliberate and incidental learning, e.g. by highlighting strategies or using ‘flipped classroom’ techniques.
References
Ellis, Nick C. (2009). Optimizing the input: Frequency and in Usage-based and Form-focussed Learning. In M. H. Long; C. Doughty (Eds.), Handbook of Language Teaching (pp. 139-158). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.Krashen, S. (1981). Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning. New York:
Prentice-Hall.
Mayer, R. E. (2009). Multimedia learning (2nd ed.). New York, NY, US: Cambridge University Press.
Paivio, A. (1990) Mental Representations: A Dual Coding Approach. Oxford University Press
Stern, H. H. (1985) The time factor and compact course development. TESL Canada Journal, 3, 13-27.
Sweller, J. (1994). Cognitive load theory, learning difficulty, and instructional design. Learning and Instruction, 4(4), 295-312.
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