audiovisual translation and movies: a survey on translation students’ attitudes towards subtitling

The use of audiovisual translation (avt) in language learning environments has recently been maximized thanks to the technological innovations that have revolutionized the media industry. among the commonly practiced modes of avt such as dubbing and subtitling, the latter has grabbed pedagogical attention. however, little attention has been paid to subtitling as dubbing is the predominant mode of avt in iran. this study is an attempt to investigate the students’ attitudes towards subtitling as a mode of avt. this research was conducted at kashmar higher education institute where eighty six undergraduate students majoring in english translation participated. the findings of study indicate that although a marked discrepancy between the english and persian subtitle preferences is not seen, english subtitles are preferred because the participants want to understand the dialogues and see spellings. in order to understand the persian meanings of the words they hear, persian subtitles are preferred. the study came to conclusion that subtitled movies can be regarded as effective pedagogical tools which are capable of improving students’ progress in learning language skills. therefore, the findings of this study should encourage the curriculum developers and instructional designers in iran to update methods of language teaching so that audiovisual materials in general and subtitled movies in particular are more included in teaching and learning programs