Exploring the Potentials of Intralingual Subtitling in Second Language Learning: An Experimental Study with EFL University Students

Abstract

In the last two decades, Audiovisual Translation (AVT) studies have become of interest for Second Language Acquisition (SLA) researchers, particularly regarding the use of subtitles in language learning activities. This paper will present an experiment aimed at investigating the role of subtitled 'input enhancement' in SLA. The study involved a group of Italian native students of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) from Milan University. They were exposed to a video with three different subtitling techniques (interlingual subtitles, intralingual subtitles, and enhanced intralingual subtitles), and they were asked to perform a proficiency test immediately after the exposure to the video. The study showed that visual enhancements in the subtitled input improve learners’ noticing process of language features, thus facilitating short-term vocabulary acquisition. The results proved that future SLA and AVT cross-studies should focus on input enhancement in the subtitles to improve learners’ noticing process of language features in the input.