The educational use of subtitled video materials in foreign language instruction [Articol]

Abstract

Being regarded as a highly specific means enabling the acquisition of the receptive skills, subtitling is gaining acceptance among educators and learners. Accordingly, teachers consider that it plays a significant role in shaping students’ success, irrespective of their language capacity.Extensive arguments can be put forward to prove that Subtitled Video Materials (SVMs) are key instruments that influence positively the FL learning process, motivating the students and language instructors to diversify their repertoire. The purpose of the present article is to clarify the assumption that using SVMs enhance students’ language skills leading to substantial progress. Whereas today there are many tools that assist educators in designing SVMs, only a few have become popular. Given the great diversity of educational IT platforms, it is of paramount importance to examine what approaches in the English language teaching are most appropriate and effective nowadays. Hence, it is imperative to examine what changes occur in the developing and using SVMs and how they eventually affect the final outcomes.