Cover not available

Article published In: Audiovisual translation in the age of streaming
Edited by Jinsil Choi, Kyung Hye Kim and Jonathan Evans
[Target 35:3] 2023
► pp. 354–377

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB
authorization required

Bilingual subtitling in streaming media

Pedagogical implications

ORCiD logo with link | Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Published online: 23 May 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.00013.gou
Abstract
This article explores bilingual subtitling, a relatively under-researched mode of audiovisual translation, and its role in the ever-evolving landscape of global media streaming. Originally used for cinema productions in officially bilingual countries and international film festivals, bilingual subtitling has now resurfaced as a response to the growing affordances of streaming media. This article investigates the proliferation of bilingual subtitling tools and practices in different contexts, from PC-based tools and Chrome extensions that add bilingual subtitle features to streaming platforms (Netflix, YouTube) to amateur (optionally bilingual) subtitling streaming services (Viki Rakuten), video sharing websites (Bilibili), and online channels with open bilingual subtitles embedded in their videos (Easy Languages). Bilingual subtitling is further promoted as a pedagogical tool for foreign-language learning that matches the expectations of contemporary learners, especially ‘digital natives’ who have grown up with new online modalities. The conventional ways in which audiences used to engage with audiovisual content have, arguably, been superseded as streaming platforms that offer an abundance of options in terms of language and content are gradually reshaping viewing patterns. Shifting away from long-established patterns of passive TV consumption, this article also sets out to present online collaborations and initiatives that seek to incorporate bilingual subtitles in language learning while promoting the active participation of the audience within the emerging media streaming landscape.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Bilingual subtitling
    • 2.1Mapping different practices through time
    • 2.2Pedagogical implications
  • 3.Bilingual subtitling tools
    • 3.1Online and PC-based platforms
    • 3.2Chrome app extensions
  • 4.Bilingual subtitling and YouTube channels
  • 5.Conclusion and suggestions for further research
  • Notes
  • References
References (60)
References
Athens Epidaurus Festival. 2023. “Athens Epidaurus Festival 2021.” Accessed March 30, 2023. [URL]
Anikina, Oksana V., and Elena V. Yakimenko. 2015. “Edutainment as a Modern Technology of Education.” In Proceedings of The International Conference on Research Paradigms Transformation in Social Sciences 2014 (RPTSS-2014), edited by Igor Ardashkin, Anna Bogdan, and Nikita Martyushev, special issue of Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 1661: 475–79. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Atmaja, Andes Surya. 2017. Participatory Culture between Producer, Co-Producers and Community on YouTube Channel Easy Languages. MA thesis. Lund University.
Ayten, Adem, Sema Bulat, and Elif İnceidmail. 2019. “A Study of Generation Z Viewing Habits in Context of Uses and Gratification Theory: The Protector Netflix Series Case.” In Communication and Technology Congress 2019, edited by Deniz Yengin and And Algun, special issue of The Turkish Online Journal of Design, Art and Communication, CTC: 1–11. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Battaglio, Stephen. 2016. “ESPN Targets Latino Viewers with a New Bilingual Sports Show.” Los Angeles Times. September 19, 2016. [URL]
Bird, Stephen A., and John N. Williams. 2002. “The Effect of Bimodal Input on Implicit and Explicit Memory: An Investigation into the Benefits of Within-Language Subtitling.” Applied Psycholinguistics 23 (4): 509–533. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bogucki, Łukasz. 2020. A Relevance-Theoretic Approach to Decision-Making in Subtitling. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bookbox YouTube Channel. 2023. “About Us.” Accessed March 30, 2023. [URL]
Burgess, Jean, and Joshua Green. 2018. YouTube: Online Video and Participatory Culture. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chang, Suhsun. 2006. “The Interaction Between Schemata and Subtitles.” Journal of National Taipei University of Technology 39 (1): 209–228.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chen, Xijinyan. 2022. “Taboo Language in Non-Professional Subtitling on Bilibili.com: A Corpus-Based Study.” Languages 7 (2): 1–21. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Díaz Cintas, Jorge, and Aline Remael. 2021. Subtitling: Concepts and Practices. 1st ed. Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ding, Ning, Zhimiao Yang, Sida Li, and Ailing Zhang. 2021. “Where Translation Impacts: The Non-Professional Community on Chinese Online Social Media – A Descriptive Case Study on the User-Generated Translation Activity of Bilibili Content Creators.” Global Media and China 6 (2): 171–190. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dios, Patricia Sotelo, and Xavier Gómez Guinovart. 2012. “A Multimedia Parallel Corpus of English-Galician Film Subtitling.” In 1st Symposium on Languages, Applications and Technologies (SLATE ’12), edited by Alberto Simöes, Ricardo Queirós, and Daniela da Cruz, 255–266. Trier: Dagstuhl Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dowdy, Heather. 2022. “Celebrating Global Accessibility Awareness Day With Expanded Languages, Screenings and a New Collection.” Netflix. May 19, 2022. [URL]
Dwyer, Tessa. 2012. “Fansub Dreaming on ViKi: ‘Don’t Just Watch but Help When You Are Free.’” The Translator 18 (2): 217–243. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2016. “Welcome to Viki! Fansubbing and Media Change.” Media Commons. February 12, 2016. [URL]
. 2017. Speaking in Subtitles: Revaluing Screen Translation. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2019. “Audiovisual Translation and Fandom.” In Pérez-Gonzàlez (2019, 436–452). Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Easy Languages YouTube Channel. 2023. “About Us.” Accessed March 30, 2023. [URL]
Fernández-Costales, Alberto. 2017. “Subtitling in CLIL: Promoting Bilingual Methodologies through Audiovisual Translation.” In Educación bilingüe: Tendencias educativas y conceptos clave = Bilingual Education: Educational Trends and Key Concepts, edited by María Elena Gómez Parra and Richard Johnstone, 185–96. Madrid: Ministerio de Educación.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fox, Wendy. 2016. “Integrated Titles: An Improved Viewing Experience?” In Eyetracking and Applied Linguistics, edited by Silvia Hansen-Schirra and Sambor Grucza, 5–30. Berlin: Language Science Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gambier, Yves. 2013. “The Position of Audiovisual Translation Studies.” In The Routledge Handbook of Translation Studies, edited by Carmen Millán and Francesca Bartrina, 45–59. Abingdon: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
García, Boni. 2017. “Bilingual Subtitles for Second-Language Acquisition and Application to Engineering Education as Learning Pills.” Computer Applications in Engineering Education 25 (3): 468–479. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gottlieb, Henrik. 2004. “Subtitles and International Anglification.” Nordic Journal of English Studies 3 (1): 219–230. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gouleti, Aikaterini, Giorgos Dimitriadis, and Michalis Kokonis. 2020. “Exploring the Educational Potentials of Language Learning with Netflix Tool: An Eye-Tracking Study.” Ex-Centric Narratives: Journal of Anglophone Literature, Culture and Media 41: 113–136.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Guy, Kelly. 2022. “How Generation Z Became Obsessed with Subtitles.” The Telegraph. July 24, 2022. [URL]
Hao, Tao, Huixiao Sheng, Yuliya Ardasheva, and Zhe Wang. 2021. “Effects of Dual Subtitles on Chinese Students’ English Listening Comprehension and Vocabulary Learning.” The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher 311: 529–540. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hu, Brian. 2014. “Defenders of the Palace: Chinese-Language Movie Theaters and the Fight over Semi-Private Spaces.” In American and Chinese-Language Cinemas: Examining Cultural Flows, edited by Lisa Funnell and Man-Fung Yip, 136–151. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jenkins, Henry. 2001. “Convergence? I Diverge.” MIT Technology Review. June 2001. [URL]
. 2006. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2017. “Cheers! Lonely Otakus: Bilibili, the Barrage Subtitles System and Fandom as Performance.” Henry Jenkins (blog). June 22, 2017. [URL]
Kim, Na-Young. 2019. “A Study on the Differential Effects of Subtitling Modes – Interlingual, Intralingual, and Bilingual Subtitling – on Video Comprehension.” STEM Journal 20 (3): 1–23. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kobsa, Alfred, Jürgen Koenemann, and Wolfgang Pohl. 2001. “Personalised Hypermedia Presentation Techniques for Improving Online Customer Relationships.” The Knowledge Engineering Review 16 (2): 111–55. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kovacs, Geza, and Robert C. Miller. 2014. “Smart Subtitles for Vocabulary Learning.” In CHI ’14: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, edited by Cockburn Andy, 853–862. New York: ACM Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Language Learning with Netflix. 2023. “LLN / LL: Study Tips.” Accessed March 30, 2023. [URL]
Language Reactor. 2023. “Channel Catalogue.” Accessed March 30, 2023. [URL]
Lertola, Jeniffer. 2018. “From Translation to Audiovisual Translation in Foreign Language Learning.” Trans: 185–202. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lertola, Jennifer. 2019. Audiovisual Translation in the Foreign Language Classroom: Applications in the Teaching of English and Other Foreign Languages. Voillans: Research-publishing.net. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Li, Mingyue. 2016. Investigation into the Differential Effects of Subtitles (First Language, Second Language, and Bilingual) on Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition. PhD diss. The University of Edinburgh.
Liao, Sixin, Jan-Louis Kruger, and Stephen Doherty. 2020. “The Impact of Monolingual and Bilingual Subtitles on Visual Attention, Cognitive Load, and Comprehension.” In Experimental Research and Cognition in Audiovisual Translation, edited by Jorge Díaz Cintas and Agnieszka Szarkowska, special issue of JoSTrans 331. [URL]
Lwo, Laurence, and Michelle Chia-Tzu Lin. 2012. “The Effects of Captions in Teenagers’ Multimedia L2 Learning.” ReCALL 24 (2): 188–208. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McClarty, Rebecca. 2014. “In Support of Creative Subtitling: Contemporary Context and Theoretical Framework.” In Translation in Institutions, edited by Ji-Hae Kang, special issue of Perspectives: Studies in Translation Theory and Practice 22 (4): 592–606. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ofcom. 2021. “Media Nations: UK 2021.” [URL]
Media Consulting Group. 2011. Study on the Use of Subtitling: The Potential of Subtitling to Encourage Foreign Language Learning and Improve the Mastery of Foreign Languages. EACEA/2009/01. European Commission, Directorate-General Education and Culture. [URL]
Netflix CS. 2018. Twitter. June 28, 2018. [URL]
Neuman, Susan B., and Patricia Koskinen. 1992. “Captioned Television as Comprehensible Input: Effects of Incidental Word Learning from Context for Language Minority Students.” Reading Research Quarterly 27 (1): 94–106. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
O’Hagan, Minako. 2015. “Evolution of User-Generated Translation: Fansubs, Translation Hacking and Crowdsourcing.” The Journal of Internationalization and Localization 1 (1): 94–121. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pedersen, Jan. 2018. “From Old Tricks to Netflix: How Local Are Interlingual Subtitling Norms for Streamed Television?” Journal of Audiovisual Translation 1 (1): 81–100. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pérez-Gonzàlez, Luis, ed. 2019. The Routledge Handbook of Audiovisual Translation. Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Raine, Paul. 2013. “Incidental Increase in Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge Through the Viewing of Subtitled, Authentic Videos.” In JALT2012: Making a Difference: Conference Proceedings, edited by Nozomu Sonda and Aleda Krause, 492–505.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Romero-Fresco, Pablo. 2019. “Accessible Filmmaking: Translation Accessibility from Production.” In Pérez-Gonzàlez (2019, 498–515). Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Secară, Alina. 2019. “Surtitling and Captioning for Theatre and Opera.” In Pérez-Gonzàlez (2019, 130–44). Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sims, Daniel. 2022. “Why Have Subtitles Become More Popular?” Techspot. July 25, 2022. [URL]
Vanderplank, Robert. 2016. Captioned Media in Foreign Language Learning and Teaching: Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing as Tools for Language Learning. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wang, Andi, and Ana Pellicer-Sánchez. 2022. “Incidental Vocabulary Learning From Bilingual Subtitled Viewing: An Eye-Tracking Study.” Language Learning 72 (3): 765–805. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wang, Yangting. 2014. The Effects of L1/L2 Subtitled American TV Series on Chinese EFL Students’ Listening Comprehension. MA thesis. Michigan State University.
Wu, Qunfang, Yisi Sang, Shan Zhang, and Yun Huang. 2018. “Danmaku vs. Forum Comments: Understanding User Participation and Knowledge Sharing in Online Videos.” In GROUP ’18: Proceedings of the International ACM SIGGROUP Conference on Supporting Group Work, edited by Claudia Müller, 209–218. New York: Association for Computing Machinery. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Xu, Chang. 2022. “The Impact of Playing English Movie Clips with Bilingual Subtitles on Chinese High School Students’ Vocabulary Learning.” Proceedings of the 2022 International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities and Arts (SSHA 2022), edited by J. Li, E. N. H. Khay and Z. H. Zhan, 1026–1031. Zhengzhou: Atlantic Press SARL. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yang, Yuhong. 2021. “Danmaku Subtitling: An Exploratory Study of a New Grassroots Translation Practice on Chinese Video-Sharing Websites.” Translation Studies 14 (1): 1–17. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (4)

Cited by four other publications

Guo, Gaopan
2025. Mapping the knowledge domain of multimodal translation: a bibliometric analysis. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 12:1 DOI logo
Guo, Yiding, Jieying Xiong & Zhong Lin
2025. Non-identity in practice: translanguaging as a tool for hybrid communication in subtitling communities. International Journal of Multilingualism ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Wang, Feng, Mingke Guo & Zhong Lin
2025. Navigating precariousness: a netnographic approach to translanguaging in amateur subtitling of roaming games. International Journal of Multilingualism ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Zeng, Duo
2025. Danmu subtitling as a self-regulative practice: a descriptive discourse analysis of Bilibili danmu subtitles from ethical perspectives. Frontiers in Psychology 16 DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 4 december 2025. 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.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue