Processing of native and foreign language subtitles in films: an eye tracking study
Foreign language (FL) films with subtitles are becoming increasingly popular, and many European countries use subtitling as a cheaper alternative to dubbing. However, the extent to which people process subtitles under different subtitling conditions remains unclear. In this study, participants watch...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
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Cambridge University Press
2014
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2653/ |
| _version_ | 1848790840478007296 |
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| author | Bisson, Marie-Josée van Heuven, Walter J.B. Conklin, Kathy Tunney, Richard J. |
| author_facet | Bisson, Marie-Josée van Heuven, Walter J.B. Conklin, Kathy Tunney, Richard J. |
| author_sort | Bisson, Marie-Josée |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Foreign language (FL) films with subtitles are becoming increasingly popular, and many European countries use subtitling as a cheaper alternative to dubbing. However, the extent to which people process subtitles under different subtitling conditions remains unclear. In this study, participants watched part of a film under standard (FL soundtrack and native language subtitles), reversed (native language soundtrack and FL subtitles), or intralingual (FL soundtrack and FL subtitles) subtitling conditions while their eye movements were recorded. The results revealed that participants read the subtitles irrespective of the subtitling condition. However, participants exhibited more regular reading of the subtitles when the film soundtrack was in an unknown FL. To investigate the incidental acquisition of FL vocabulary, participants also completed an unexpected auditory vocabulary test. Because the results showed no vocabulary acquisition, the need for more sensitive measures of vocabulary acquisition are discussed. Finally, the reading of the subtitles is discussed in relation to the saliency of subtitles and automatic reading behavior. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T18:19:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-2653 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T18:19:00Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-26532020-05-04T20:14:59Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2653/ Processing of native and foreign language subtitles in films: an eye tracking study Bisson, Marie-Josée van Heuven, Walter J.B. Conklin, Kathy Tunney, Richard J. Foreign language (FL) films with subtitles are becoming increasingly popular, and many European countries use subtitling as a cheaper alternative to dubbing. However, the extent to which people process subtitles under different subtitling conditions remains unclear. In this study, participants watched part of a film under standard (FL soundtrack and native language subtitles), reversed (native language soundtrack and FL subtitles), or intralingual (FL soundtrack and FL subtitles) subtitling conditions while their eye movements were recorded. The results revealed that participants read the subtitles irrespective of the subtitling condition. However, participants exhibited more regular reading of the subtitles when the film soundtrack was in an unknown FL. To investigate the incidental acquisition of FL vocabulary, participants also completed an unexpected auditory vocabulary test. Because the results showed no vocabulary acquisition, the need for more sensitive measures of vocabulary acquisition are discussed. Finally, the reading of the subtitles is discussed in relation to the saliency of subtitles and automatic reading behavior. Cambridge University Press 2014-03 Article PeerReviewed Bisson, Marie-Josée, van Heuven, Walter J.B., Conklin, Kathy and Tunney, Richard J. (2014) Processing of native and foreign language subtitles in films: an eye tracking study. Applied Psycholinguistics, 35 (2). pp. 399-418. ISSN 0142-7164 http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9176469&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S0142716412000434 doi:10.1017/S0142716412000434 doi:10.1017/S0142716412000434 |
| spellingShingle | Bisson, Marie-Josée van Heuven, Walter J.B. Conklin, Kathy Tunney, Richard J. Processing of native and foreign language subtitles in films: an eye tracking study |
| title | Processing of native and foreign language subtitles in films: an eye tracking study |
| title_full | Processing of native and foreign language subtitles in films: an eye tracking study |
| title_fullStr | Processing of native and foreign language subtitles in films: an eye tracking study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Processing of native and foreign language subtitles in films: an eye tracking study |
| title_short | Processing of native and foreign language subtitles in films: an eye tracking study |
| title_sort | processing of native and foreign language subtitles in films: an eye tracking study |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2653/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2653/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/2653/ |