JALT2025 - Tokyo

Subtitling for Video: Theory, Research, and Methods for Production

Nov 1, 2025, 1:20 PM

30m

National Olympics Memorial Youth Center / 国立オリンピック記念青少年総合センター

Practice-oriented Workshop (30-minutes) Technology Room 507

Speaker

Dr David Lees (Kyoto University (ILAS))

Description

Creating materials to be as accessible for students as possible is increasingly important in our modern, online societies. The addition of subtitles to digital video helps to stabilize the information, facilitates noticing, and increase cognitive impact. Enhanced subtitles (i.e., dual-language and ‘karaoke’ style subtitles) also provide input-benefits to learners. This presentation will introduce theory concerning subtitling, cover small-scale research regarding efficacy of subtitle versions, and provide recommendations for methods for subtitling your own digital-video materials.

Summary

Creating materials to be as accessible for students as possible is increasingly important in our modern, online societies. The addition of subtitles to digital video helps to stabilize the information, facilitates noticing, and increase cognitive impact. Enhanced subtitles (i.e., dual-language and ‘karaoke’ style subtitles) also provide input-benefits to learners. This presentation will introduce theory concerning subtitling, cover small-scale research regarding efficacy of subtitle versions, and provide recommendations for methods for subtitling your own digital-video materials.