Jan-Louis Kruger — Studying reading in multimodal contexts: Subtitled film

0:00 Intro
1:55 Lecture
1:12:00 Q&A

Title: Studying reading in multimodal contexts: Subtitled film

Speaker: Jan-Louis Kruger

Abstract: In this presentation I will discuss theoretical foundations of and research on the reading of subtitles in film. I will begin with a discussion of some of the basic characteristics of subtitled film that impact on its cognitive processing and some relevant theories from cognitive psychology. The focus will be on how different cognitive systems have to be integrated to maintain comprehension in this context. I will then present some data on the speed of English subtitles for non-English content on Netflix as background for the need to have a more nuanced view of subtitling speed. I will conclude the presentation with some data on the latency between the appearance of a subtitle on screen and the moment a viewer starts to read the subtitle to provide further context to the importance of subtitle presentation speed.

Short bio: Jan-Louis Kruger is professor of Linguistics at Macquarie University and extraordinary professor in the UPSET focus area at North-West University in South Africa. His research focuses on the processing of language in multimodal contexts, specifically in audiovisual translation, reading, and interpreting. His main approaches are aligned with cognitive psychology and psycholinguistics. Primarily, his projects focus on investigating cognitive processing when more than one source of information have to be integrated, as in the reception of subtitles or the production of interpreting. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Audiovisual Translation.

This event took place online on Wednesday 10th July 2024, 14:00 pm BST (GMT+1)