Cover not available
Article published In:
Target
Vol. 30:1 (2018) ► pp.137–157

Dubbing vs. subtitling

Complexity matters

ORCID logo | University of Trieste
| University of Trieste | Stockholm University
| University of Trieste | Ca’ Foscari University of Venice
Despite the claims regarding the potential disruptiveness of subtitling for audiovisual processing, existing empirical evidence supports the idea that subtitle processing is semi-automatic and cognitively effective, and that, in moderately complex viewing scenarios, dubbing does not necessarily help viewers. In this paper we appraise whether the complexity of the translated audiovisual material matters for the cognitive and evaluative reception of subtitled vs. dubbed audiovisual material. To this aim, we present the results of two studies on the viewers’ reception of film translation (dubbing vs. subtitling), in which we investigate the cognitive and evaluative consequences of audiovisual complexity. In Study 1, the results show that a moderately complex film is processed effectively and is enjoyed irrespective of the translation method. In Study 2, the subtitling (vs. dubbing) of a more complex film leads to more effortful processing and lower cognitive performance, but not to a lessened appreciation. These results expose the boundaries of subtitle processing, which are reached only when the audiovisual material to be processed is complex, and they encourage scholars and practitioners to reconsider old standards as well as to invest more effort in crafting diverse types of audiovisual translations tailored both to the degree of complexity of the source product and to the individual differences of the target viewers.
Keywords: film complexity, audiovisual translation processing, comprehension, memory, evaluation, subtitling, dubbing
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Background and study motivation
    • 1.2Plan of the studies and hypotheses
  • 2.Study 1
    • 2.1Method
      • 2.1.1Participants
      • 2.1.2Design
      • 2.1.3Materials
        • Video
        • Assessment materials
        • Subtitle-reading check and questionnaire on dubbing and subtitling
        • Measures of comprehension and memory
        • Evaluative measures
        • Cognitive tests: PMA Vocabulary and CPM tests
      • 2.1.4Procedure
    • 2.2Results
      • 2.2.1Subtitle-reading checks and questionnaire on dubbing and subtitling
      • 2.2.2Cognitive measures
      • 2.2.3Evaluative measures
      • 2.2.4PMA vocabulary and CPM tests
    • 2.3Discussion
  • 3.Study 2
    • 3.1Method
      • 3.1.1Participants
      • 3.1.2Video
    • 3.2Results
      • 3.2.1Subtitle-reading checks and questionnaire on dubbing and subtitling
      • 3.2.2Cognitive measures
      • 3.2.3Evaluative measures
      • 3.2.4Vocabulary and CPM tests
    • 3.3Discussion
  • 4.General discussion and conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 5 February 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.16083.per
References (53)
References
Barsam, Richard. 2007. Looking at Movies. An Introduction to Film. New York: Norton & Company.Google Scholar
Carpenter, Patricia A., Marcel Adam Just, and Peter Shell. 1990. “What One Intelligence Test Measures: A Theoretical Account of the Processing in the Raven Progressive Matrices Test.” Psychological Review 971: 404–431. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cary, Edmond. 1960. “La traduction totale.” Babel 6 (3): 110–115. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chiaro, Delia. 2009. “Issues in Audiovisual Translation.” In The Routledge Companion to Translation Studies, edited by Jeremy Munday, 141–165. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Chaume, Frederic. 2013. “The Turn of Audiovisual Translation. New Audiences and New Technologies.” Translation Spaces 21: 105–123. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Danan, Martine. 1991. “Dubbing as an Expression of Nationalism.” Meta 36 (4): 606–614. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Díaz Cintas, Jorge. 2001. La traducción audiovisual: El subtitulado. Salamanca: Ediciones Almar.Google Scholar
Drew, Dan G., and Thomas Grimes. 1987. “Audio-Visual Redundancy and TV News Recall.” Communication Research 14 (4): 452–461. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
d’Ydewalle, Géry, Johan Van Rensbergen, and Joris Pollet. 1987. “Reading a Message when the Same Message is Available Auditorily in Another Language: The Case of Subtitling.” In Eye Movements: From Psychology to Cognition, edited by J. Kevin O’Regan and Ariane Lévy-Schoen, 313–321. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
d’Ydewalle, Géry, and Johan Van Rensbergen. 1989. “Developmental Studies of Text-Picture Interactions in the Perception of Animated Cartoons with Text.” In Knowledge Acquisition from Text and Pictures, edited by Heinz Mandl and Joel R. Levin, 233–248. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
d’Ydewalle, Géry, and Ingrid Gielen. 1992. “Attention Allocation with Overlapping Sound, Image, and Text.” In Eye Movements and Visual Cognition: Scene Perception and Reading, edited by Keith Rayner, 415–427. New York: Springer-Verlag. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
d’Ydewalle, Géry, and Wim De Bruycker. 2007. “Eye Movements of Children and Adults while Reading Television Subtitles.” European Psychologist 121: 196–205. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
fsoesch. 2013 (May, 11). “Analyzing TV Series and Their Narrative Complexity.” Final Report. [URL]
Ghia, Elisa. 2012. Subtitling Matters. New Perspectives on Subtitling and Foreign Language Learning. Oxford: Peter Lang. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gottlieb, Henrik. 1994. “Subtitling: People Translating People.” In Teaching Translation and Interpreting 2: Insights, Aims, Visions, edited by Cay Dollerup and Anne Lindegaard, 261–274. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2004. “Language-Political Implications of Subtitling.” In Topics in Audiovisual Translation, edited by Pilar Orero, 83–100. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Grimes, Tom. 1991. “Mild Auditory-Visual Dissonance in Television News May Exceed Viewer Attentional Capacity.” Human Communication Research 18 (2): 268–298. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hinkin, Michael P., Richard J. Harris, and Andrew T. Miranda. 2014. “Verbal Redundancy Aids Memory for Filmed Entertainment Dialogue.” The Journal of Psychology 148 (2): 161–176. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kilborn, Richard. 1993. “‘Speak My Language’. Current Attitudes to Television Subtitling and Dubbing.” Media, Culture and Society 15 (4): 641–660. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Klein, Richard A., et al. 2014. “Investigating Variation in Replicability: A ‘Many Labs’ Replication Project.” Social Psychology 45 (3): 142–152. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Koolstra, Cees M., Allerd L. Peeters, and Herman Spinhof. 2002. “The Pros and Cons of Dubbing and Subtitling.” European Journal of Communication 17 (3): 325–354. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kothari, Brij, and Tathagata Bandyopadhyay. 2014. “Same Language Subtitling of Bollywood Film Songs on TV: Effects on Literacy.” Information Technologies & International Development 10 (4): 31–47.Google Scholar
Kruger, Jan-Louis, Esté Hefer, and Gordon Matthew. 2014. “Attention Distribution and Cognitive Load in a Subtitled Academic Lecture: L1 vs. L2.” Journal of Eye Movement Research 7 (5): 1–15.Google Scholar
Lang, Annie. 1995. “Defining Audio/Video Redundancy from a Limited-Capacity Information Processing Perspective.” Communication Research 22 (1): 86–115. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2000. “The Limited Capacity Model of Mediated Message Processing.” Journal of Communication 50 (1): 46–70. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lang, Annie, Seth Geiger, Melody Strickwerda, and Janine Sumner. 1993. “The Effects of Related and Unrelated Cuts on Television Viewers’ Attention, Processing Capacity, and Memory.” Communication Research 20 (1): 4–29. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lang, Annie, Paul Bolls, Robert F. Potter, and Karlynn Kawahara. 1999. “The Effects of Production Pacing and Arousing Content on the Information Processing of Television Messages.” Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 43 (4): 451–475. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lang, Annie, Shuhua Zhou, Nancy Schwartz, Paul Bolls, and Robert F. Potter. 2000. “The Effects of Edits on Arousal, Attention, and Memory for Television Messages: When an Edit is an Edit Can an Edit be Too Much?” Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 44 (1): 94–109. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lang, Annie, Satoko Kurita, Ya Gao, and Bridget Rubenking. 2013. “Measuring Television Message Complexity as Available Processing Resources: Dimensions of Information and Cognitive Load.” Media Psychology 16 (2): 129–153. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Li, Yili. 2000. “Linguistic Characteristics of ESL Writing in Task-Based E-Mail Activities.” System 28 (2): 229–245. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lomheim, Sylfest. 1999. “The Writing on the Screen. Subtitling: A Case Study from Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK), Oslo.” In Word, Text and Translation, edited by Gunilla Anderman and Margaret Rogers, 190–207. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Marleau, Lucien. 1982. “Les sous-titres … un mal nécessaire.” Meta 27 (3): 271–285. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
MCG (Media Consulting Group). 2007. Study on Dubbing and Subtitling Needs and Practices in the European Audiovisual Industry. Final report. European Commission, Directorate-General Education and Culture.Google Scholar
. 2011. Study on the Use of Subtitling. The Potential of Subtitling to Encourage Foreign Language Learning and Improve the Mastery of Foreign Languages. Final report. European Commission, Directorate-General Education and Culture.Google Scholar
Monaco, James. 2009. How to Read a Film. Movie, Media and Beyond. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Murphy, John J. 2007. Me and You and Memento and Fargo. New York: Continuum. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Orrego-Carmona, D. 2015. The Reception of (Non)Professional Subtitling. PhD diss. Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona.Google Scholar
Pashler, Harold, and Eric-Jan Wagenmakers. 2012. “Editors’ Introduction to the Special Section on Replicability in Psychological Science: A Crisis of Confidence?” Perspectives on Psychological Science 7 (6): 528–530. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pavesi, Maria. 2005. La traduzione cinematografica. Roma: Carocci.Google Scholar
Perego, Elisa, Fabio Del Missier, Marco Porta, and Mauro Mosconi. 2010. “The Cognitive Effectiveness of Subtitle Processing.” Media Psychology 13 (3): 243–272. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Perego, Elisa, Fabio Del Missier, and Sara Bottiroli. 2015. “Dubbing and Subtitling in Young and Older Adults: Cognitive and Evaluative Aspects.” Perspectives: Studies in Translatology 23 (1): 1–21. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Perego, Elisa, David Orrego-Carmona, and Sara Bottiroli. 2016. “An Empirical Take on the Dubbing vs. Subtitling Debate: An Eye Movement Study.” Lingue e Linguaggi 191: 255–274.Google Scholar
Raven, John C. 1995. Manual for the Coloured Progressive Matrices (revised). Windsor: NFRE-Nelson.Google Scholar
Reid, Helene. 1978. “Subtitling: The Intelligent Solution.” In Translating, a Profession, edited by Paul A. Horguelin, 420–428. Paris: FIT.Google Scholar
Scott, Mike. 2009. Wordsmith Tools. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Szmrecsányi, Benedikt M. 2004. “On Operationalizing Syntactic Complexity.” In Le poids des mots. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Textual Data Statistical Analysis, edited by Gérard Purnelle, Gérard Fairon, and Anne Dister, 1032–1038. Louvain-la-Neuve: Presses Universitaires de Louvain.Google Scholar
Thurstone, Thelma Gwinn, and Louis Leon Thurstone. 1963. Primary Mental Ability. Chicago, IL: Science Research Associates.Google Scholar
Van de Poel, Marijke, and Géry d’Ydewalle. 2001. “Incidental Foreign-Language Acquisition by Children Watching Subtitled Television Programs.” In (Multi)Media Translation. Concepts, Practices, and Research, edited by Yves Gambier and Henrik Gottlieb, 259–273. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vanderplank, Robert. 2010. “Déjà vu? A Decade of Research on Language Laboratories, Television and Video in Language Learning.” Language Teaching 43 (1): 1–37. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Van Lommel, Sven, Annouschka Laenen, and Géry d’Ydewalle. 2006. “Foreign-Grammar Acquisition while Watching Subtitled Television Programmes.” British Journal of Educational Psychology 76 (2): 243–258. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Winke, Paula, Susan Gass, and Tetyana Sydorenko. 2013. “Factors Influencing the Use of Captions by Foreign Language Learners: An Eye-Tracking Study.” The Modern Language Journal 97 (1): 254–275. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wissmath, Bartholomäus, David Weibel, and Rudolf Groner. 2009. “Dubbing or Subtitling? Effects on Spatial Presence, Transportation, Flow, and Enjoyment.” Journal of Media Psychology 21 (3): 114–125. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wissmath, Bartholomäus, and David Weibel. 2012. “Translating Movies and the Sensation of ‘Being There’.” In Eye Tracking in Audiovisual Translation, edited by Elisa Perego, 277–293. Roma: Aracne.Google Scholar
Cited by (17)

Cited by 17 other publications

İyilikci, Elvan Arıkan, Arife Demirel, Fatma Işık & Osman İyilikci
2024. How do sound and color features affect self-report emotional experience in response to film clips?. Current Psychology 43:11 ► pp. 10185 ff. DOI logo
Riniolo, Todd C. & Lesley J. Capuana
2022. Directly comparing subtitling and dubbing using Netflix: Examining enjoyment issues in the natural setting. Current Psychology 41:7 ► pp. 4252 ff. DOI logo
Sulaiman AlSuhaim, Dana
2022. A Descriptive Analysis of Non-obligatory Shifts in Three Disney Animated Films Dubbed into Modern Standard Arabic. SSRN Electronic Journal DOI logo
Valdeón, Roberto A
2022. Interdisciplinary approaches to journalistic translation. Journalism 23:7 ► pp. 1397 ff. DOI logo
Van Hoecke, Senne M., Iris Schrijver & Isabelle S. Robert
2022. Preparing and comparing subtitles for quasi-experimental and experimental research in audiovisual translation studies. Translation Spaces 11:1 ► pp. 113 ff. DOI logo
Mahmood Hashemian & Maryam Farhang-Ju
2021. Analysis of Translation of Audiovisual Humor in Iranian Series. International Journal of Research in English Education 6:1 ► pp. 64 ff. DOI logo
Liao, Sixin, Lili Yu, Erik D. Reichle & Jan-Louis Kruger
2021. Using Eye Movements to Study the Reading of Subtitles in Video. Scientific Studies of Reading 25:5 ► pp. 417 ff. DOI logo
Szarkowska, Agnieszka, Breno Silva & David Orrego-Carmona
2021. Effects of subtitle speed on proportional reading time. Translation, Cognition & Behavior 4:2 ► pp. 305 ff. DOI logo
Szkriba, Sonia
2021. Senior Citizens as an Underresearched Age Group of Audiovisual Translation Users. Półrocznik Językoznawczy Tertium 6:2 ► pp. 170 ff. DOI logo
Wu, Zhiwei & Zhuojia Chen
2021. A systematic review of experimental research in audiovisual translation 1992–2020. Translation, Cognition & Behavior 4:2 ► pp. 281 ff. DOI logo
Sánchez-Mompeán, Sofía
2020. Introduction: Unhiding the Art. In The Prosody of Dubbed Speech, ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Sánchez-Mompeán, Sofía
2023. Engaging English Audiences in the Dubbing Experience: A Matter of Quality or Habituation?. Íkala, Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura 28:2 ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Şendurur, Emine, Berrin Doğusoy & Neslihan Yondemir Çalişkan
2020. Investigation of non-native learners’ informal learning processes from cognitive-load theory perspective. Interactive Learning Environments 28:1 ► pp. 95 ff. DOI logo
Szarkowska, Agnieszka & Lidia Bogucka
2019. Six-second rule revisited. Translation, Cognition & Behavior 2:1 ► pp. 101 ff. DOI logo
Szarkowska, Agnieszka & Olivia Gerber-Morón
2019. Two or three lines: a mixed-methods study on subtitle processing and preferences. Perspectives 27:1 ► pp. 144 ff. DOI logo
Szarkowska, Agnieszka, Olivia Gerber-Morón & David Orrego-Carmona
2018. Viewers can keep up with fast subtitles: Evidence from eye movements. PLOS ONE 13:6 ► pp. e0199331 ff. DOI logo
Stragà, Marta, Fabio Del Missier, Francesco Marcatto, Donatella Ferrante & Xuchu Weng
2017. Memory underpinnings of future intentions: Would you like to see the sequel?. PLOS ONE 12:4 ► pp. e0176624 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 10 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.