VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HOCHIMINH CITY

UNIVERSITY OFSOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE

INCORPORATING SUBTITLING IN EFL TEACHING:

MERITS, DEFECTS AND IMPLICATIONS

A final paper submitted to the

Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature
in partial fulfillment of the Translation Studies

by
TRAN THI HONG THAM
(TESOL 2016B)

Instructed by
Nguyen Thi Nhu Ngoc, Ph.D.

HO CHI MINH CITY, NOVEMBER 2017

1
I. INTRODUCTION TO SUBTITLING
In recent years, the development of new technologies has led to a greater focus on the
use of audiovisual materials in teaching foreign languages. As a result, teachers are
seeking ways to effectively incorporate such a kind of material into their methodologies,
thanks to the pedagogical benefits brought from its authenticity, and also in terms of
entertainment. One strategy of exploiting audiovisual materials in EFL classroom is
subtitle translation. Subtitling can offer a stimulating addition to more traditional mono-
semiotic 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.
Therefore, this paper is going to give insights into subtitling in EFL classrooms with
reference to its benefits and drawbacks, as well as suggest implications for EFL
teaching.
To deeply understand the benefits that this activity might have when used for teaching
English as a foreign language, firstly, it is a must to explain what subtitling is, and what
its basic principles are.
1.1 What is subtitling?
As Daz-Cintas and Remael (2007, p. 8), subtitling is defined as a translation practice
which consists of presenting a written text, generally on the lower part of the screen,
that endeavors to recount the original dialogue of the speakers, as well as the discursive
elements that appear in the image (letters, inserts, [...]), and the information that is
contained on the soundtrack (songs, voices off). Also, they list a number of
components that make up subtitled programs including the spoken word, the image, and
the subtitles.

1.2 Principles of subtitling

Lencho (2010) names several technical rules governed by the nature of the audiovisual
material, which must all be followed by subtitlers. Firstly, each subtitle must not exceed
2 lines, with the maximum of 40 characters (including spaces, punctuation, etc.) per
line. Moreover, it should appear on the screen for the minimum of three or five seconds
depending on whether the subtitle has one or two lines. Secondly, subtitles, especially

2
very short single-line ones (one or two words, for example) must be visible for at least
one second. On the other hand, the absolute maximum for any subtitle is seven seconds
and it does not matter how long the given subtitle is. Thirdly, it is claimed that there
must not be rapid changes in the tempo of reading individual subtitles. Their duration
on the screen should at least approximately correspond with their length (the number of
characters). Otherwise, it would disrupt the viewers. Fourthly, Lencho says that each
line of a subtitle must be a discrete semantic-syntactic unit, i.e. predicates not separated
from their complements, nouns not separated from their modifiers, prepositions not
separated from their objects, etc. (2010, p. 42). Finally, it is about the relation between
hard cuts and the subtitles. Specifically, the hard cuts, which may involve a change of
either time or place or both, should never be crossed by the subtitles.

II. SUBTITLING AND ITS MERITS AND DEFECTS IN ELT

2.1 Merits
In terms of motivation, the translation of subtitles has brought about positive effects to
language teaching and learning. Zanon (2006) investigated the contribution of
computer-based subtitling to language learning and concluded that subtitling could
motivate learners to appreciate the huge amount of content of the movie that does not
reach the audience when it is presented to them dubbed.
Subtitling also proves to be of greater effectiveness on listening comprehension in
foreign language learning. According to Winke, Gass & Sydorenko (2010), subtitling
is reported to have helped various foreign language learners to increase their attention,
improve processing, reinforce previous knowledge, and analyze language.
More recently, Kratochvlov (2017), in an attempt to find out the advantages and
disadvantages of subtitle translation in teaching English, stated that this approach may
positively contribute to understanding of the differences between the two languages and
boost students development in terms of practicing and fixation of grammar, practicing
and fixation of vocabulary and its enlargement, and accuracy. In addition, the ability to
use English in real-life situations, the development of the mother tongue, translation
skills as such, creative and stylistic use of English, language sensitivity, and the
development of dictionary use are also improved.

3
2.2 Potential defects
One disadvantage suggested by Lunin and Minaeva (2015) is that unless the students
level of English proficiency is high enough, s/he is unable to correlate the oral and
written forms of the words s/he reads. Then the sounds that s/he hears are not chunks of
clearly recognizable elements but rather some vague sound sequence in which s/he
identifies only separate and not very numerous words.
Also, as Kratochvlovs (2017) work suggests, the possible drawbacks of employing
translation of subtitles in teaching English are not viewed as unanimously by the
teachers. It has been found out that the disadvantages of subtitling are mainly concerned
with the time-consuming nature of the activity, the risks related to teachers attitude,
the risks resulting from the lack of knowledge of linguistics in the learners part and the
demanding nature of the activity, interference and word-for-word translation, and
difficult assessment.

III. SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION

3.1 The use of subtitling in the classroom
This part is dedicated to focusing on the possible ways of employing translation of
subtitles in foreign language teaching. First of all, the very initial and most important
task in the procedure is to select the L2 videos/ clips for subtitling activities. With
respect to linguistics, the language of the video clips must be deemed adequate for the
level in question and include known as well as new linguistic elements, because it is
considered that we acquire by understanding language that contains a structure a bit
beyond our current level of competence (i + 1) (Krashen, 1982, p.21). Moreover, the
appropriate audiovisual input was selected from authentic (i.e. not created for didactic
purposes) L2 movies and television series. Therefore, different types of audiovisual
material should be tested in order to find the one most suitable for the subtitling
activities being planned.
After watching the video, there are different options of what can be done next to increase
educational impacts. To check students understandings of the video, the instructor may
play the video again with L2 subtitles and at the same pause the video so students can

4
have opportunities to provide L1 translation. For lower-leveled learners, it is more
suitable if they are allowed to work in group and carry out translation tasks. On the other
hand, higher-leveled learners tend to be more competent to conduct individual
translation works.
To be more practical, the following activities are suggested for the application of
subtitle translation in EFL classroom (see Appendix). They work with subtitles to films,
television series, short stories, documentaries, television advertisements, sitcoms,
movie trailers, songs and educational videos.

3.2 Conclusion
To sum up, the use of audiovisual translation, particularly subtitling, not only acts as a
pedagogical aid that helps to integrate technology in second/ foreign language teaching
and learning, but also contributes to evoke the renewed interest in the using translation
in the language classroom. The ways of employing translation of subtitles in English
lessons are very diverse. It is up to the teacher to accordingly tailor to students interests,
needs as well as their competence to maximize the merits brought by it, and at the same
time minimize any potential drawbacks that it may pose to language teaching and
learning.
Word count (main text): 1,236

REFERENCES
Daz-Cintas, J., & Remael, A. (2007). Audiovisual Translation: Subtitling. Manchester,
UK: St. Jerome Publishing.
Krashen, S. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition. Oxford:
Pergamon.
Kratochvlov, E. (2017). Pedagogical Translation: Possibilities of Using Translation
of Subtitles in EFL (Master's thesis, Masarykova univerzita, 2017). Brno:
Masarykova univerzita.

Lencho, M. (2010). Subtitling for Home and Abroad: How Discourse Markers Calibrate
the Shifting Relationships Between Film and its Audience. In K. Nmokov &

5
 R. Trunk (Authors), Theories in Practice: Proceedings of the First
International Conference on English and American Studies. (1st ed., pp. 41-50).
Zln: Univerzita Tome Bati ve Zln.
Lunin, M. and Minaeva, L. (2015). Translated Subtitles Language Learning Method: A
New Practical Approach to Teaching English. Procedia - Social and Behavioral
Sciences, 199, pp.268-275.
Winke, P., Gass, S., & Sydorenko, T. (2010). The effects of captioning videos used for
foreign language listening activities. Language Learning and Technology, 14
(1), 65-86.
Zanon, N. T. (2006). Using subtitles to enhance foreign language learning. Porta
Linguarum 6. 41-52.

APPENDICES
Activity 1
Film, TV series, or other video:
Shrek (film)
(Both children and adults enjoy this film. It contains a high number of metaphors and
references to American culture.)
Aims and objectives of the activity:
Diversifying the lessons, showing pupils a particular example of how they may work
on their English in an enjoyable way in their free time
Duration:
5-6 lessons (1 lesson = 45 minutes) either several consecutive lessons or a particular
day of the week (e.g. every Thursday)
General instructions:
Translate the given subtitles. Groups/ Pairs work on the handouts.
Form of translation:
Orally on the spot
Patterns of interaction:
Whole class work, group work/ pair work (handouts)

6
Length of the translated part(s):
Individual sentences throughout the whole film
Procedure:
1. Students are given handouts and watch a part of the film with English subtitles.
2. After watching the whole part the teacher goes back and pauses the video at moments
when there are rather difficult passages.
3. Students are asked to translate these subtitles. There may be a discussion.
4. They work in groups/pairs on the handouts which contain exercises focused on
particular language issues appearing in that part of the film.
Use of dictionary:
Smartphone applications
Following the rules for subtitling:
No rules for subtitling are followed.
Teachers role:
Gives instructions, leads the discussion, offers his/her opinion, corrects mistakes
Comments:
Advantages: informality of the activity itself and the language in the film,
entertainment, repeating some utterances a number of times which leads to more
effective acquisition of that particular part of language, songs in the film help
remembering.
Disadvantages: a time-consuming activity (the time becomes shorter with older pupils
who have higher level of English proficiency).

Activity 2
Film, TV series, or other video:
Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone (film)
Aims and objectives of the activity:
Complex practicing of English, diversifying the lessons, getting to know British culture
and the world of Harry Potter
Duration:
A part of a lesson

7
General instructions:
Repeat the given expression in English and compare it with its Vietnamese translation.
Try to translate the given Vietnamese subtitles back into English.
Form of translation:
Orally on the spot
Patterns of interaction:
Whole class work
Length of the translated part(s):
Individual phrases and expressions
Procedure:
1. Pupils watch the film with Vietnamese subtitles.
2. The teacher pauses the video when there is an interesting translation.
3. Pupils repeat the given English expression and compare it with the Vietnamese
translation.
4. At the end, pupils are asked to translate particular Vietnamese subtitles back into
English.
Use of dictionary:
Smartphone applications
Following the rules for subtitling:
No rules for subtitling are followed.
Teachers role:
Chooses sequences for translation, repeats expressions, corrects mistakes, chooses the
best translation
Comments:
This activity is usually used as a reward for students.

Activity 3
Film, TV series, or other video:
TED lecture (educational video)
Aims and objectives of the activity:
Learning subtitling

8
Duration:
A 1-week seminar
General instructions:
(Not specified)
Form of translation:
On a computer using a subtitling program
Patterns of interaction:
Pair work
Length of the translated part(s):
The whole video
Procedure:
1. The first two days of the seminar are dedicated to theoretical background. Students
learn about difficulties in translation, such as translating false friends, idioms, tenses,
condensed sentences etc.
2. Students are divided into pairs. They translate a TED lecture an educational video
on translation and learning languages. They discuss their ideas.
3. The teacher gives feedback to the students.
Use of dictionary:
Online dictionaries
Following the rules for subtitling:
(Not specified)
Teachers role:
Leads the seminar
Comments:
The material for translation needs to be chosen adequately to the students age and level
of English.
Disadvantage: Students have tendencies to be impatient when they are supposed to do
detailed work, search for the best translation, correct their mistakes and search in
dictionaries. They may also lack sufficient language skills both in English and
Vietnamese.