1. Standard vs. reversed subtitles:
effects on movie comprehension
and lexical retrieval
Dominique Bairstow
& Jean-Marc Lavaur
University of Montpellier 3, France.

2. Because subtitling is nothing else than
a special effect amongst others.
Executed by the master’s hand, it must remain…
invisible.
Simon Laks.

3. Summary of the presentation
• Introduction
– Films and subtitles
– Subtitled film comprehension
– Subtitled films and language
acquisition
• Experimental study
– Aims
– Method
– Results
• Discussion

4. Introduction
• Films and subtitles
1895 - black and white pictures
1927 - the advent of sound
1932 - and finally colour
=> sound = dialogues = language = problems
AVT techniques: dubbing, subtitling, voice-over…

5. Introduction
• Films and subtitles
- Nature of the information:
… And its interaction with the viewer’s own knowledge….
Visual Auditory
Non
linguistic
Images, sequence of
images
Background sounds,
music
Linguistic Subtitles, written
signs
Dialogues, song lyrics

6. Introduction
• Films and subtitles
- Languages on the screen: One, two or more…
□ Interlingual subtitling:
Standard - Original dialogues, subtitles in the native language
Reversed - Native language dialogues, foreign subtitles
□ Intralingual subtitling:
Both the dialogues and the subtitles are in the same language
□ Double subtitling:
In countries where communities speak two languages (or more)

7. Introduction
• Subtitled film comprehension
- Comprehending a film is an amazing feat of neural and cognitive
processing
Zacks & Magliano, 2011.
- Subtitles lead to an automatic reading behavior even when they
are not necessary to the viewer’s comprehension
D’Ydewalle, Praet, Verfaillie & Van Rensbergen, 1991.
- Visual input while language processing is beneficial since it adds to
the meaning gained through the auditory input.
Marian, 2009.

8. Introduction
• Subtitled film comprehension
- The addition of unnecessary subtitles produces a loss in visual
processing.
Lavaur & Nava, 2007
- Standard subtitles help dialogue processing, while dubbing
helps visual processing.
Grignon, Blanc & Lavaur, 2007
- Subtitles help comprehension for low fluency viewers, but hinder
the comprehension of high fluency viewers.
Lavaur & Bairstow, 2011

9. Introduction
• Subtitled film and language acquisition
- Interlingual TV is a rich language environment enabling to learn
foreign words.
Newman & Koskinen, 1992.
- Intralingual subtitles facilitate language learning by helping
visualize what is heard.
Danan, 2004.
- Interlingual subtitles create lexical interference, but intralingual
subtitles assist speech learning.
Mitterer & McQueen, 2009.

10. Experimental study
• Aims
1- Analyzing film comprehension depending on the
version of the film;
2- Evaluating the effects on vocabulary recall;
3- Correlating results in order to find which
version (and which type of subtitling) is the most
efficient for both a high level of comprehension
and best vocabulary recall.

11. Experimental study
• Method
- Film extract: Strangers on a train
(A. Hitchcock, 1951)
- Versions: Original (English)
Dubbed (French)
Standard (English with French subtitles)
Reversed (French with English subtitles)
- Questionnaires: dialogue comprehension
lexical retrieval
personal data and translation task

12. Experimental study
• Method
- Sample: 40 native French-speakers from the University
of Montpellier 3 (France).
- Procedure:
~ Film (1st viewing)
~ Questionnaire (dialogue comprehension)
~ Film (2nd
viewing)
~ Questionnaire (vocabulary recall)
~ Personal data questionnaire and translation task.

13. Experimental study
• Results – Comprehension scores (max. 40)
Significant effect of version on comprehension scores showing:
- a lower level of comprehension with the original version
- no difference between the dubbed and subtitled versions
Original
(English)
Dubbed
(French)
Standard
(Original,
French subtitles)
Reversed
(Dubbed,
English subtitles)
Mean 14.5 32.4 30.4 32.2
SD 1.96 2.84 2.99 2.66

14. Experimental study
• Results – Vocabulary scores (max. 12)
Significant effect of version on vocabulary recall, showing the best score
for reversed subtitling, then standard and original versions, and
finally the French version.
Original
(English)
Dubbed
(French)
Standard
(Original,
French subtitles)
Reversed
(Dubbed,
English subtitles)
Mean 3.2 1.3 3.3 6.3
SD 0.79 1.60 1.60 1.64

15. Experimental study
• Global results – (weighted comprehension scores)
The version with reversed subtitles seems to provide the best
combination of comprehension and vocabulary recall scores.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Original Dubbed Standard Reversed
Versions
Meanscores
Comprehension
Vocabulary

16. Experimental study
• Detailed vocabulary results
Items separated into 3 levels:
- Easy: doesn’t necessitate having seen the film
- Equivocal (indefinite): necessitates having seen the
film to determine which word fits
- Outdated: necessitates having seen and understood
the word in the film

17. Experimental study
• Detailed vocabulary results
The reversed subtitles provide the best context for memorising
vocabulary, especially more complicated or unknown words.
0
0,5
1
1,5
2
2,5
3
3,5
Original Dubbed Standard Reversed
Versions
Meanscores
Easy
Equivocal
Outdated

18. Discussion
• Comprehension
- Original version leads to lowest level
- Both subtitled versions lead to levels as high as dubbed
version.
• Vocabulary
- Dubbed version: some recall (?)
- Original and standard subtitling: same amount of recall
- Reversed subtitling: highest level of recall

19. Discussion
• Interpretation
This study set out to investigate various subtitling
situations to determine which is the most favorable for
high comprehension and good lexical retrieval.
 Concerning dialogue comprehension, subtitles in
general help viewers achieve the same level of
comprehension as dubbing.
 Concerning vocabulary, reversed subtitles lead to the
best memorization of unknown words.

20. Discussion
• Reversed subtitles
- Results in various studies are contradictory
- Different testing methods
- Results in the present study obtained for low fluency viewers,
for a written test only.
 Need for further research…

21. Issues
• Comprehension
Film comprehension in general needs to be evaluated – dialogue
comprehension was high, but what about visual elements and
inferences?
• Vocabulary / Learning
Vocabulary was tested straight after viewing, but how long can it be
remembered for?
Can other variables be combined to enhance the effects?
 Directing the viewers’ attention, inducing a deeper level of
processing, giving specific tasks or using specific retrieval
tasks…

22. Thank you!