We would like to thank the colleagues from Academic Literacy for their valuable contribution in setting up the comprehension tests. Special thanks to the participants, thank you for your time and contribution to the study.
INTRODUCTION
- Introduction
- Contextualisation
- Languages in education in South Africa
- Attitudes towards African languages
- Language abilities of learners in higher education
- Subtitling as intervention
- Subtitling in the multilingual classroom
- Learning theories guiding subtitles in education
- Central problem statement
- Research question
- Research objectives
- Hypotheses
- Methodology
- Literature review
- Empirical study
- Ethics
- Chapter division
Second, the oral message of the original audiovisual text is also present in the translated product. In addition, participants were informed that their comprehension would be tested, with no details of sesot comprehension.
SUBTITLING IN EDUCATION
Introduction
Definition of subtitling
- Types of subtitles
- Intralingual subtitles defined
- Interlingual subtitles defined
- Subtitle style
Subtitles and theories of learning
- Dual coding theory
- Information delivery hypothesis
- Cognitive theory of multimedia learning
- The dual-channel assumption
- The limited capacity assumption
- The active processing assumption
The effects of subtitles on learning
- The effects of subtitling on language learning
- The effects of subtitling on content learning
Comprehension defined
Reading subtitles
- Reading defined
- Subtitle reading vs static text reading
- Reading proficiency and subtitle reading
Eye tracking as a tool to study subtitle reading
- Definition of eye tracking
- Eye tracking as a tool to study subtitle reading
- Factors that impact eye movements (eye movements explained)
Conclusion
METHODOLOGY
Introduction
The research questions in this study sought to determine the effects of subtitle styles, as well as the effects of the extent to which subtitles are read, on comprehension. For both English and Sesotho, the keyword subtitles will result in improved comprehension due to participants having less content to read, and therefore subtitles may not increase cognitive load as much as full subtitles; and.
Setting
A higher RIDT score, indicating a higher degree to which subtitles were read, will result in improved comprehension. Additionally, there is an overview of eye-tracking technology that was used to determine the extent to which subtitles were read.
Participants
- Participant sampling
- Academic literacy as a grouping variable
- Academic literacy defined
- How is academic literacy tested?
- Access to participants’ TALL results
The researcher therefore had to make provision for the issue of the academic literacy level of the participants. The results of the academic literacy test were important to this study because they were the only available indicators of the participants' academic ability.
Materials used
- Research instruments
- Subtitled video clips
- Video complexity as an indicator of video comparability
- Subtitle creation
- Selection of keywords
- Comprehension tests
- Questionnaire
Each of the video clips was prepared in five conditions: no subtitles (NS), full subtitles English (FSE), full subtitles Sesotho (FSS), keyword subtitles English (KSE) and keyword subtitles Sesotho (KSS). PSYC121 videos, but did not contain the same content as any of the five video clips used in the study. Reading the subtitles is an important consideration if their impact is to be explored.
However, the timing of the pilot proved problematic – the participants who signed up could not complete viewing and answering the comprehension tests, meaning that the entire pilot of these comprehension tests could not be completed in the intended manner. The purpose of the comprehension tests was to investigate whether the different types of subtitle conditions had an influence on the participants' understanding of the content in the clips. Cued recall, on the other hand, involves giving participants a cue to remind them of the answers to the questions asked.
Eye tracking
- Eye-tracking system: iViewX TM RED
- SMI Experiment Center™ 3.5
- SMI BeGaze™ 3.5
- Eye-tracking measures
Participants indicated how often they watch television if the TV programs they watch have subtitles and the language of the subtitles. The device consists of an iViewX workstation, a stimulus display and an eye tracking module. The eye tracking module is located at the bottom of the stimulus screen and uses infrared LEDs to illuminate the eyes (SMI, 2011:168).
This eye tracking system works with a built-in camera that observes and records the eye behavior of the participants. Some participants in his study had a RIDT score of zero for some subtitles. For Matthew, multiple regressions were inevitable as the language of audio and subtitles (English) is an additional language for the participants in his study.
Data collection procedure
This was followed by giving written consent, filling out the consent form and watching two videos. The height of the chair was adjusted accordingly to ensure clear visibility of the participants' eyes and correct placement within the frame of the eye image on the researcher's monitor. The system indicated the type of adjustment that had to be made to properly seat participants in front of the stimulus display.
After calibration, the first session of the experiment began with a two-minute video, which was followed by two video clips with subtitles. All videos were watched and all comprehension questions and questionnaires were completed on the computer screen while the participants' eye movements were recorded by the eye tracker. The presentation of the videos was counterbalanced and randomized, meaning that participants viewed the videos in a different way.
Data analysis
- Participant demographics
- Comprehension tests
- Subtitle reading
- Questionnaire
In the current study, the fixed effects are the different subtitle conditions for the videos, and the random effects are the participants and items (the videos). By using mixed models, the effect of the participants and the video can be taken into account in the analysis; and the subtitle conditions for the variation of data. The averages for the comprehension scores for each video and the subtitle condition were calculated.
These were compared and effect sizes were used to determine whether any practically significant differences were found for different conditions. They were compared and differences were also analyzed in terms of effect sizes to determine the level of practical significance of possible differences observed for different conditions. These differences in means were further analyzed to determine if there were any practically significant differences for the differences in means using effect sizes.
Conclusion
The study used the RIDT and UFMW measures to examine how participants' viewing behavior differed when reading subtitles presented in the different languages and styles; discussion of the individual eye-tracking measures will not be presented. The analysis of the questionnaire data involved reducing the nine questions in Section A to two factors through exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The resulting factors were assessed for validity and reliability, after which comparisons of the means could be performed.
In addition, questionnaire data from section B of the questionnaire was analyzed using the calculation of frequencies. This chapter discussed the research methodology, which included descriptions of the setting and participants, instrument design, and an overview of how data were collected and analyzed. The next chapter discusses the results of the analyzes that were performed using data from the comprehension test scores, the degree of subtitle reading scores, and the task load questionnaire.
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Participant biographical information
- Age and gender
- Place of origin
- Participants’ language profiles
- Prior exposure to learning content
- Conclusion on participant biographical information
The impact of subtitles on comprehension
- Performance in the comprehension test
- Comparisons of the comprehension test means for videos
- Comparisons of the comprehension test means for video conditions
- Conclusion on comprehension scores for videos and subtitle conditions
Subtitle reading behaviour
- The Unique Fixations per Mean Word (UFMW)
- Comparisons of the UFMW means for the videos
- Comparisons of the UFMW means for the subtitle conditions
- The Reading Index for Dynamic Texts (RIDT)
- Comparisons of the RIDT means for the videos
- Comparisons of the RIDT means for the subtitle conditions
- Conclusion regarding the effect of subtitle language and style on the extent
Questionnaire data
- Questionnaire 1: user experience
- Exploratory Factor Analysis
- Factor Reliability Test
- Comparisons of the questionnaire factors
- Questionnaire 2: Participants’ experience of subtitling in general
- General television viewing habits
- Perceptions of subtitles in the educational context
- Preferred subtitle type
- Subtitle condition that would be recommended
- Conclusion on participant perception of subtitling in general
Data Correlations
Data Correlations
- Correlations between the data regardless of the subtitle conditions
- Correlations between comprehension and extent of subtitle reading
- Correlations between comprehension and the two questionnaire factors
- Correlations between subtitle reading and the two questionnaire factors
- Correlations between the content and subtitle factors
- Conclusion on data correlations
- Correlations between the data according to the subtitle conditions
- Correlations between comprehension and subtitle reading according to the
- Correlations between comprehension and the two questionnaire factors
- Correlations between the extent of subtitle reading and the two
- Correlations between the content and subtitle factors according to the
- Conclusion regarding the data correlations
Conclusion
CONCLUSION
Introduction
Subtitles in South Africa are mainly used in the entertainment industry and the common language is English. However, subtitles can be a valuable teaching tool, especially interlingual subtitles, given that despite South Africa's multilingualism, most students learn in EAL. This study aimed to investigate the effect of English and Sesotho subtitles, presented as full or keyword subtitles, on comprehension in an academic context.
Overview of the study
The studies discussed in Chapter 2 examined subtitles presented in different languages and styles to consider the impact of subtitles on comprehension. Regarding language, studies have shown that intralingual subtitling did not improve performance on comprehension tests (Kruger & Steyn, 2014; Lacroix, 2012; Mayer, Lee & Peebles, 2014). Similarly, studies focusing on the impact of interlingual subtitles on comprehension did not find statistical significance (Latifi et al., 2011; Mahlasela, 2012; Kruger, 2013; Kruger et al., 2014).
The current study sought to explore a different style of subtitling and examine its influence on comprehension. Some studies found no significant difference between the effect of keyword subtitles and no subtitles on comprehension (Guillory, 1998; Kikuchi 2003; Montero Perez et al., 2013; Montero Perez et al., 2014b; Bensalem, 2016). Other studies found that keyword subtitles have a positive impact on comprehension (Rooney, 2011; Behroozizad & Majidi, 2015).
Summary of findings
- Summary of findings for the effect of subtitle language on comprehension
- Summary of findings for the effect of subtitle style on comprehension
- Summary of findings for the extent of subtitle reading
- Summary of findings for the questionnaires
- Questionnaire 1: user experience
- Questionnaire 2: Participants’ experience of subtitling in general
The effect sizes of the difference between the RIDT scores of the English full and keyword subtitles demonstrate a large, practically significant difference. In terms of the UFMW, both the English full and keyword subtitles showed negative correlations between comprehension and extent of reading subtitles. Regarding the content factor, different results were found for the interaction between the five videos and the caption conditions.
The effect sizes of the differences in perceptions between the different subtitle conditions indicate that in terms of language, the content was. In terms of style, keyword subtitles were perceived as more difficult, although practical significance was found in the effect sizes of the difference between full Sesotho subtitles and keyword only subtitles. According to the mean scores for this factor, full English subtitles were perceived.
Limitations
Additionally, Questionnaire 2 of this study asked participants which caption conditions they would recommend for education. In terms of language, participants would recommend English subtitles and in terms of style, they would recommend full subtitles. From the findings of the questionnaires, it can be concluded that there is a role for subtitles in education.
However, participants were not asked to motivate their answers, this would be an important aspect to investigate in future studies. Another limitation is that the participants use the subtitles in an artificial setting that does not reflect a natural learning process. Providing participants with this option and other innovative solutions may result in more use of subtitles.
Recommendations for future research
Another option could be to allow participants to be more actively involved by allowing them to rewind videos if they need to go back to audio or subtitles.
Conclusion
One of the questions was for the participants to identify their preferences regarding the different subtitling conditions in the study. Report of the Ministerial Advisory Panel on the Development of African Languages in Higher Education. Your name will not be used or indicated anywhere, and the findings of the project will be published in no.
You will receive a flash drive at the end of the second session as a token of appreciation for your time. The data will be stored in a code-encrypted folder on a computer in a locked room at the Vaal Triangle Campus of NWU. You will receive a token of appreciation for your time at the end of the second session.
