Innovation in Language Learning

Subtitling has been shown to be a useful didactic tool in foreign language teaching. However, the combination of subtitling and an aligned parallel corpus has not been found. In this talk we present the results of a teaching innovation project conducted at the University of Valladolid (Spain), which is based on two main resources: (1) subtitling and (2) the use of an aligned parallel corpus. First, the students are asked to subtitle 10 minutes of a TV programme episode using Aegisub (for which they receive basic training). In the first activity, they have to add the original subtitles and then, in a second activity, they have to add the translation of the subtitles. Later, they have to refer to the corpus created, which includes the alignment of the official English and Spanish subtitles, in order to compare it with their own subtitles, and we discuss the differences in a focus group. In the first activity, students work mainly on listening comprehension and the teacher takes the opportunity to give some notions on pronunciation. The second activity is designed to enable students to extend their vocabulary and to reinforce grammatical expressions and structures – the teacher takes advantage of this phase to clarify grammatical doubts. Finally, discussing the differences identified in a focus group is challenging as it requires students to reflect on the subtle nuances of some expressions. The results observed are very positive and encouraging. They show that both subtitling and the use of the corpus motivate the students and allow them to learn in a more intuitive and enjoyable way.