Audio description as a didactic tool in the foreign language classroom: a pilot study within the TRADILEX project

Abstract

Research on didactic audiovisual translation (AVT) has delivered fruitful results in the last decade and is gaining increasing attention in academia. The term “didactic AVT” was coined by Talaván (2020) to refer to the active application of different AVT modes in the foreign language classroom. Although subtitling and dubbing are the two AVT modes that have traditionally received more attention, research on other less popular modes, such as audio description (AD), subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing (SDH) or voice-over are gaining momentum. In this paper, the results of a pilot study for an AD didactic sequence for the B1 level will be presented. This pilot study has been carried out within the TRADILEX project, a R&D+i project funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (2020-2023), which aims to perform quasi-experimental research to determine the degree of improvement in English as a foreign language (EFL) after the implementation of a methodological proposal that integrates different AVT modes. Using a mixed-method methodology that combines quantitative and qualitative data obtained from different data sources, the preliminary conclusions drawn bring to light that there are signs of improvement in the students’ production skills. This could confirm a possible relationship between the use of AD in the foreign language classroom.