THE ROLE OF DUBBING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING:

FIRST INSIGHTSJosé Javier Ávila & Noa Talaván

Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED)

SO-CALL-ME (M.E.C.) FFI 2011-29829

Introduction

Audiovisual Translation in foreign language learning Subtitles as a support (Ghia, 2012) Subtitling as an active task (Talaván, 2013)

Until now AVT in language learning has mainly focused on the benefits of subtitling to enhance various communicative skills and activities.

Innovative use of dubbing to enhance oral skills The pedagogical use of dubbing (revoicing) offers

multiple possibilities, almost all skills can be involved

The possibilities of dubbing

The audiovisual text (dimension to exploit- soundtrack) Monologues Dialogue exchanges and songs

Communicative activities Speaking production (fluency, natural pronunciation and

speed of speech) Oral comprehension (the original or their classmates’ work) Writing production (register, style, cohesion, coherence,

etc.) Reading comprehension (script)

Methodological framework

Short video clips (1-3 minutes) Selection criteria: relevance, interest, the number of characters

involved, the type of situation contained, the type of language presented (to be exploited in class as a follow-up)…

Choice of language combination L1-L2 L2-L2 Music-L2 (audiodescription)

The task Warm-up - dubbing - follow-up

Methodological framework…

Possible software Windows Movie Maker CLIPFLAIR

Dubbing / voice-over / audiodescription REVOICING

Accesibility and social networks Taking learning beyond the educational context

Task sample (language lab)STEP TASKWarm-up (10 minutes) Introducing new vocabulary, getting background information

to understand the clip, etc.Viewing the video(1-3 minute video)

Students take notes to get the general messages (so that they can later use them to work on their own scripts)

Working on the script for dubbing (in pairs /groups)(15 minutes)

Students work on their notes (they can also watch the video as many times as they need or use the script provided by the teacher) to create a draft of the text they will then have to record (synchronizing their voices with the images)

Dubbing(15 minutes)

Individual dubbing with Windows Movie Maker or via a CLIPFLAIR activity

Follow-up 1(5 minutes)

Sharing the final videos (or at least a representative sample)

Follow-up 2(10 minutes)

Working on pronunciation, exploiting the corresponding linguistic content through integrated skills, role-play, etc.

Previous research Duff (1989) Using technological tools, dealing with language production and cooperating with peers Kumai (1996) Improve phonetic competence, intonation, and speed, via the attempt to reproduce

native utterances Burston (2005) Improve not only listening, reading, writing and speaking skills, but also to foster

advanced grammar and vocabulary acquisition Wagener (2006) Improve listening, vocabulary, and autonomous learning skills, focusing on consecutive

interpretation rather than on actual synchronization Danan (2010) Vocabulary acquisition; speaking fluency and pronunciation; fun activity fostering

creativity and initiative Chiu (2012) Avoid mispronunciation, improve fluency and intonation Talaván (2013) Subtitling and dubbing combined: improvement of general speaking skills (C1

students)

The experiment Aims:

Assessing the validity of dubbing and subtitling combines to improve both written and oral productions skills

Participants: Experimental group:

20 students from English Advanced Level (C1) 26 students from English Studies Degree (General Translation course)

Control Group: 28 following the regular course, randomly assigned

Profile of the participants (Level C1 students): Graduate, non-formal/formal training, having lived in English

speaking country, familiar with audiovisual material in English, preferring subtitled material over dubbed, no previous experience in dubbing, in need to improve speaking skills

The experiment… Resources :

4 pre-edited video clips from Todo es Mentira(Fernández Armero,1994), graded in increasing difficulty Specific software:

Windows Movie Maker to dub videos DivXLand Media Subtitler to subtitle videos

Virtual community (aLF platform) Procedures:

STEP TASKPre-Q and pre-T Fill in the pre-questionnaire and hand in the oral /written pre-test.Collaborative translation 1(days 1-4/ +- 2 hours work)

Collaborative draft for dubbing (chats / forums / videoconference).

Central task 1: Dubbing(Days 5-6/ 1 hour work approx.)

Individual dubbing with Windows Movie Maker using the same draft, sharing the final video and voting for a representative version.

Collaborative translation 2(days 7-8/ 1 hour work approx.)

Collaborative draft for subtitling (chats / forums / videoconference).

Central task 2: Subtitling(Days 9-10/ 1 hour work approx.)

Individual subtitling with DivXLand Media Subtitler using the same draft, sharing the final video and voting for a representative version.

Post-Q and post-T Fill in the post-questionnaire and hand in the oral/written post-testFinal session Group videoconference to present the results of the work and draw some

conclusions out of the experience

Students’ sample

Dubbed video

CONCLUSIONS

Dubbing and revoicing have a lot to offer Other skills Other language combinations Long-term results Different levels (beginners?)

In an audiovisual world…AVT rules In a dubbing country, students know what needs to be

done, and they don’t consider it learning: it is about performing real tasks that you can use and ‘share’ in the real world (learning and living on the move)

José Javier Ávila & Noa TalavánUniversidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED)

THANK YOU!

SO-CALL-ME (M.E.C.) FFI 2011-29829