Title
Project-based French teaching with real-life AVT and media accessibility tasks
Conference name
1st International conference on didactic audiovisual translation and media accessibility
City
Country
Spain
Date
22/03/2023-24/03/2023
Abstract
Since the beginning of the new millennium, translation has gained attention as a fruitful activity in foreign language learning settings. It is audiovisual translation and media accessibility that have been the focus of new approaches by teachers and researchers, as the practice of different modalities of audiovisual accessibility and translation (AVAT) has shown to benefit the development of different linguistic skills (e.g. Lertola, 2019).
Our project implements AVAT in an adult language learning setting at an Official School of Languages (EOI) in Catalonia, as part of a project conducted over one trimester in a French B2.1 class. Project-based teaching provides a holistic approach and real-life tasks that foster students’ involvement in the learning process (Bell, 2010; Guo et al., 2020): combining this approach with AVAT assignments to practice written and oral skills in French creates a synergy between the two methodologies and helps integrate AVAT in the language teaching curriculum.
The aims of the project are that students develop their linguistic and bilingual competences, and to create synergies between language learning and translation. A further synergy is created with the territory, as the videos to be translated belong to touristic organisations from the region. Our approach includes ground and documentation work (on concepts and vocabulary to complete the translation tasks), seminars imparted by a specialist on the different translation modalities practiced (subtitling, SDH, voice over, and audio description), work in pairs on the translation of the videos, and cross evaluation between groups. The use of translanguaging will be fostered to develop students’ bilingual competence (Catalan-French).
The benefits and limitations of our approach will be assessed through different means and the data collected will give researchers information on how the project’s implementation adjusts to its objectives and on improvement possibilities, as well as to elaborate guidelines to conduct similar projects.
Our project implements AVAT in an adult language learning setting at an Official School of Languages (EOI) in Catalonia, as part of a project conducted over one trimester in a French B2.1 class. Project-based teaching provides a holistic approach and real-life tasks that foster students’ involvement in the learning process (Bell, 2010; Guo et al., 2020): combining this approach with AVAT assignments to practice written and oral skills in French creates a synergy between the two methodologies and helps integrate AVAT in the language teaching curriculum.
The aims of the project are that students develop their linguistic and bilingual competences, and to create synergies between language learning and translation. A further synergy is created with the territory, as the videos to be translated belong to touristic organisations from the region. Our approach includes ground and documentation work (on concepts and vocabulary to complete the translation tasks), seminars imparted by a specialist on the different translation modalities practiced (subtitling, SDH, voice over, and audio description), work in pairs on the translation of the videos, and cross evaluation between groups. The use of translanguaging will be fostered to develop students’ bilingual competence (Catalan-French).
The benefits and limitations of our approach will be assessed through different means and the data collected will give researchers information on how the project’s implementation adjusts to its objectives and on improvement possibilities, as well as to elaborate guidelines to conduct similar projects.