Teaching the Prosody of Emotive Communication in a Second Language

The expression and the perception of emotional states in a foreign language represent a difficult task for the learners. One of the reasons is the fact that, more than other aspects related to speech, the expression of emotional states in second language requires full control of the prosodic resources that contribute to their realization. The aim of this chapter is to give an overview of the main tenets of the interface between prosody and pragmatic competence in L2 and in particular the expression and perception of emotions. The chapter will also outline some of the outcomes of the research in the field, focusing on experimental studies that have been conducted with learners of Italian as L2. The second part of the chapter will be devoted on the instructional practice aimed at developing the awareness of pragmatic-prosodic aspects of emotive communication in speech. Teaching practices such as a training focused on the expression of emotions (anger, joy, sadness, disgust, fear, and surprise) and video dubbing projects have proven to be useful tools to improve the performance of learners both in production and in perception of prosodic patterns of emotional communication

Investigating the influence of video-dubbing tasks on EFL learning

This study investigates the effects of completing video-dubbing tasks on English speaking proficiency, English public speaking anxiety (EPSA), and group cohesion (GC). Two classes of EFL college students were assigned to either the dubbing group or the comparison group. Both groups began by responding to the EPSA scale, the GC scale, and a standardized English speaking test. Next, the dubbing group completed two video-dubbing tasks, for each of which they worked in groups to select a video clip, remove the original soundtrack, rehearse the monologues and dialogues, create a new soundtrack, combine the video clip with the new soundtrack, submit the dubbed video clip, and perform the live dubbing in class. In contrast, during the weeks when the dubbing group performed live dubbing, the comparison group watched and discussed movies in English. Finally, both groups took the post-test comprising the two scales and a second set of the standardized English speaking test. The synthesis of quantitative and qualitative findings revealed that, firstly, video-dubbing tasks constituted an entertaining task that could enhance English speaking proficiency. Second, completing video-dubbing tasks reduced foreign language anxiety but not English public speaking anxiety. Third, group cohesion increased substantially as a result of accomplishing video- dubbing tasks

How Movie Dubbing Can Help Native Chinese Speakers’ English Pronunciation

The purpose of this study was to determine if the use of English movie scripts and movie dubbing activities can help native Chinese speakers improve their awareness of prosodic features in English, specifically, sentence stress. The literature review explores Chinese and English prosody, movie dubbing and ideal pronunciation standards. The qualitative research paradigm was implemented to explore the hypothesis that hearing and mimicking the natural speech patterns of native speakers can help native Chinese speakers improve their awareness of sentence stress in English. After three cycles of language instruction and language discrimination activities, seven students were chosen for a case study. Data collected from their responses to activities and questionnaires were analyzed. The results indicate that these students’ actual ability to hear sentence stress is greater than their theoretical awareness of sentence stress rules. The author concludes with recommendations for adapting movie dubbing activities and suggestions for future research

“¿Triste estás? I don’t know nan molla”: Multilingual pop song fandubs by @miree_music

Fandubbing, or dubbing made by fans of any audiovisual product, is a lin- guistically and technologically sophisticated enterprise enacted by many devoted fans. This study presents the case of Miree, a 24-year-old fandubber with more than 1 million subscribers on YouTube and more than 300 multi- lingual fandubbed songs. Using a qualitative-interpretive approach, we con- ducted an in-depth interview with Miree and analyzed her top 30 videos by views to reveal how Miree performed fandubbing, how she expressed her fan identity through fandubbing, and which were some of the implications of fandubbing for language learning. Results show that Miree realized both interlinguistic genuine fandubbing and intralinguistic parodic fandubbing, strategically adopting translanguaging to orchestrate a multimodal perfor- mance, engage her fanbase, and activate several informal language learning opportunities and contexts afforded by fandubbing.The study was partly supported by the publicly funded research project ForVid: Video as a language learning format in and outside the classroom (RT2018-100790-B-100; 2019–2021), ‘Research Challenges’ R+D+i Projects, Ministry of Science and Innovation, Spain, and by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2020QD036; China)

Affective Support for Self-Regulation in Mobile-Assisted Language Learning

Mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) research includes examination and development of second language learners' cognitive and metacognitive self-regulated learning skills, but the affective learning component of self-regulation in this context remains largely unexplored. Support for affective learning, which is defined by learners' beliefs, attitudes, and emotions, has been shown to influence learners' cognitive processes, performance, and engagement considerably, and is therefore critical to promote and foster throughout the learning process. This paper defines the importance of supporting affect in MALL, sets out a theoretical perspective on supporting affective self-regulation in MALL, and elaborates on what designers and teachers can do to facilitate affective development through the use of mobile technology, learning analytics, and artificial intelligence. It examines and further delineates the role of affective computing and the role of the teacher in fully harnessing the affective affordances of MALL

Representation of people in TripAdvisor travel reviews about Moscow: A corpus-assisted multimodal discourse study

This project aims at analysing what the verbal and visual patterns are in the representation of people in travel reviews about Moscow from TripAdvisor website. Tourism is an integral part of the world economy and interaction between tourists and hosts is an important aspect of tourism. Tourism discourse plays a significant role in representing and shaping tourist-host interaction and online travel reviews have become a notable genre in tourism discourse. Salient representations produced by discourse can be identified by studying repeated patterns. Despite explicit recognition that multimodality is an essential feature of tourism discourse and that visual resources can express other meanings than the visual ones, there is a lack of research analysing patterns in multiple modes. Moreover, most previous studies have considered only the representation of hosts. To address this research gap, I look at the patterns in the verbal representation of hosts and tourists across the corpus of travel reviews, then similarly study the visual mode and, finally, compare the findings across the modes bringing in multimodality. While corpus techniques to analyse verbal representation are widely applied, few researchers have used a corpus-assisted methodology to analyse the visual representation, therefore, this approach needs further discussion and development

Second Language Acquisition

This volume presents a collection of current research on pedagogies, practices and perspectives in the field of second language acquisition. It brings together different aspects of learning, teaching and researching a second language with chapters covering a range of topics from emotional communication, pragmatic competence, transformative pedagogy, inclusion, reflective teaching and innovative research methodologies. The authors address a global audience to offer insights into contemporary theories, research, policies and practices in second language acquisition. This collection of work is aimed at students, teachers and researchers wishing to reflect on current developments and identify potential research directions

Acquiring Translation Competence through the Use of Subtitling. Enhancing Language Learning through Translation and Translating.

The research work presented here is the result of two interconnected factors: on the one hand the results of a preliminary study on the skills of students of the degree courses “Mediazione Linguistica e Culturale” [Linguistic and Cultural Mediation] and “Lingue, Letterature e Culture Moderne” [Modern Languages, Literature and Cultures] to analyse and assess the translation of audiovisual products and on the other hand the analysis of the most recent literature on language learning and audiovisual material, in particular interlingual subtitling. The first shows that the competences acquired during the three years of study do not always guarantee satisfying language and translation skills – in particular, a rather literal approach to texts persists –; while the second presents encouraging results on the use of subtitling in foreign language teaching, although the studies conducted so far are few and on small samples. Hence, the need for students to abandon their word-for-word approach and the intrinsic characteristics of interlingual subtitling and of audiovisual texts (i.e. the time and space constraints imposed on the text) are the starting point of this dissertation. Although the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) acknowledges translation as part of the activities necessary to language learning, its status is not yet clear since it is sometimes included in reception and production skills. The lack of specific descriptors then, makes the role played by translation in language learning still uncertain. To this end a methodology based on the use of two pieces of software was designed and implemented, namely LvS 2.5.2 a subtitling simulator for didactic purposes and Translog 2006 that allows to record all cursor movements and keystrokes. The first was used to analyse the processes and products of the translation of audiovisual texts, while the latter to create subtitles from English to Italian. One of the innovative aspects of this project lies precisely in the combination of these two pieces of software for the survey and development of language and translation competence for English L2 learners. The first stage of this investigation consisted in a pilot study with 18 volunteers of the third year of the degree course “Mediazione Linguistica e Culturale” over three lessons. The main purpose of the pilot study was to test students' reactions to the use of LvS and Translog and improve the methodology, as well as the quality of the learning material. This provided us with positive reactions on the part of students and with preliminary data on translation processes that proved helpful to the trial. The most striking datum found is that around 40% of the students observed do not read the text before translating, with negative consequences on the working speed and quality of their translations. The trial had a larger sample of students (27) and took place over a period of about two months (10 lessons). Students underwent an initial profiling activity, so that their translation style and initial competence and were instructed on how to use LvS and Translog. The activities carried out during the trial were structured according to the main stages of the translation process (orientation, drafting and end-revision). Therefore, every lesson would entail three stages: a group watching of the material and students' comments on the content and possible translation problems, then the translation with Translog and a transposition on LvS, and finally a group discussion with students' proposals. The material was administered on the basis of the learner-centred approach in which the teacher was a mere facilitator and encouraged a critical dialogue among students as much as possible rather than impose her own perspective. The definition of competence the study and the analysis refer to is that proposed by the PACTE group (“the underlying system of knowledge required to translate”). The audiovisual texts propose to students were selected on the basis of a number of “Rich Points”, which were then the specific object of the qualitative and quantitative analysis. Special attention was paid to the three basic stages of the translation process and their evolution, the duration of pauses, number of re-elaborations and the quality of the solutions of Rich Points. Moreover, the trial group's translation performance was compared to that of a control group to allow better data validation. The results of the study have contributed to gather precious information on learners' translation style and techniques and seem to encourage the use of this practice in foreign language teaching through the analysis and translation of audiovisual material. In fact, the trial group outperformed the control group both as far as the general approach to translation is concerned and specific problems considered representative of the most common translation difficulties

Audiovisual translation in foreign language education: the use of intralingual dubbing to improve speed, intonation and pronunciation in spontaneous speech

Recent studies have shown that the current situation of foreign language learning in England seems to be discouraging in comparison with the European average (British Council, 2013; European Commission, 2013). The fact that numerous cities are becoming multilingual nowadays emphasises the usefulness of opening up to other communities. Bearing this in mind, communicating verbally with others in another language can be seen as a convenient skill to develop in the foreign language classroom. In an attempt to satisfy the need to practise oral conversations and offer innovative options in the context of England, new didactic approaches are being considered. Amongst these, the active use of techniques traditionally employed in audiovisual translation has proved to have a positive impact on foreign language learning (Talaván, 2013; Incalcaterra and Lertola, 2014; Baños and Sokoli, 2015). This thesis examines the effect of the technique of intralingual dubbing (where students replace the original voices of actors in video clips) on Spanish oral production. There are two main aims. The first is to provide objective evidence to support the hypothesis that the use of intralingual dubbing can enhance students’ speed, intonation and pronunciation when speaking spontaneously in Spanish as a foreign language. The second is to create a teaching and learning toolkit on the subject for teachers. To this end, a total of 94 students aged 16–19 with a B1–B2 level of Spanish dubbed videos in several stages. In addition, 28 teachers received training on dubbing activities and five of them implemented the activities in their classes with a total of 26 students. The data is triangulated qualitatively and quantitatively. Results confirm that the main hypothesis serve as evidence to support the theoretical justification for the inclusion of active AVT techniques in FL speaking classes

Enhancing the pronunciation of problematic English consonants for Spanish learners through intralingual dubbing activities

En esta tesis doctoral se proporciona un estudio sobre el potencial de las actividades de doblaje intralingüístico en la mejora de la pronunciación de fonemas consonánticos problemáticos del inglés para estudiantes españoles, junto con otras consideraciones adicionales, como el grado en que esos fonemas resultan problemáticos para los participantes de la investigación (n=71) y un análisis pormenorizado de sus puntos de vista y opiniones sobre la actividad de doblaje.Para ello, un Grupo Experimental (GE; n=37) y un Grupo Control (GC; n=34) se grabaron en diferentes fases del estudio (GE: fase pre-test, doblajes, y fase post-test; GC: pre-test y post-test) con el fin de obtener datos relevantes y útiles sobre su pronunciación. Todos los datos recopilados han sido analizados con el Statistical Package for Social Sciences, (SPSS; v.25), aplicando el test de Wilcoxon para comparaciones intragrupales, y el U-test de Mann-Whitney para las comparaciones entre grupos. Además, los participantes de la investigación completaron dos cuestionarios para obtener información adicional al respecto.Como conclusión, la pronunciación general del GE mejoró significativamente en la mayoría de los fonemas consonánticos problemáticos durante y después de realizar las actividades de doblaje, mientras que el GC no mostró ninguna mejora significativa en su pronunciación. Además, la mayoría de los participantes del GE mostraron opiniones muy positivas hacia la actividad de doblaje, destacando su valor motivador e innovador en el aprendizaje de lenguas, así como su utilidad para mejorar las habilidades orales.<br /