Facing the challenges of distance learning: Voices from the classroom

This article reports on the first webinar in the IATEFL Learner Autonomy Special Interest Group’ series of online events dedicated to supporting teachers in this unprecedented and unexpected pandemic situation. Learner Autonomy in the Time of Corona: Supporting Learners and Teachers in Turbulent Days featured a series of talks and open discussion panels, allowing participants to actively share their thoughts and ideas. In the following, the outcomes of the webinar will be discussed

Quality of life in spina bifida patients: results of an Italian survey

Background The objectives were: 1. to investigate the major topics on the Quality of Life (QOL) of Spina Bifida patients; 2. to evaluate attitudes, the experienced and the behaviours concerning everyday activities, social life participation and familial relationship; 3. to evaluate the information needs; 4. to evaluate the physical and psychological problems related to vesical and intestinal management

Multilingual Films in Translation A Sociolinguistic and Intercultural Study of Diasporic Films

A contribution to the ever-growing field of audiovisual translation studies, this volume investigates the processes involved in the translation of multilingual films, a media genre where language, culture and identity are closely interwoven. To explore the relationships that get established between audiovisual translation, linguistic diversity and identity, the book analyses a corpus of immigrant films portraying the South Asian diaspora, with the aim of determining how diasporic identity is then reconstructed for the Italian audience through dubbing and subtitling. A sociolinguistic analysis model is proposed that covers all linguistic levels, including the use of ethnolects and some fundamental discourse strategies, such as code-switching and code-mixing, thus illustrating how linguistic choices and language variation are socio-culturally symbolic

WTF! Taboo Language in TV Series: An Analysis of Professional and Amateur Translation

This paper focuses on the topic of censorship associated with the use of strong language and swear words in the translation of contemporary American TV series. In AVT, more specifically in Italian dubbing, the practice of censorship, in the form of suppression or toning down of what might be perceived as offensive, disturbing, too explicit or inconvenient, still remains a problematic issue. By focusing on two recent successful TV series - Girls and Orange is the New Black – which are characterized by the use of strong language (swear words, politically incorrect references) and the presence of taboo subjects (homosexuality, sex, drugs, violence) – this study will consider the different translation choices applied in dubbing and fansubbing. Previous academic studies have underlined the fact that professional translators tend to remove, more or less consciously, the disturbing elements from the source text, while fansubbers try to adhere as much as possible to the original text, not only in terms of linguistic contents but also in terms of register and style. The results of this analysis seem on the one hand to confirm that there is still not a systematic set of rules that govern the translation of strong language in dubbing, and on the other to indicate that the gap between professional and amateur translation is perhaps becoming less pronounced

Subtitling for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Audio Description and Audio Subtitling in Multilingual TV Shows

Multilingualism in audiovisual productions has substantially increased in recent years as a reflection of today’s globalised world. While the number of publications looking at the phenomenon from the perspective of audiovisual translation (AVT)—especially interlingual subtitling and dubbing—has grown considerably in the last decade, there seems to be relatively little research on the rendering of multilingualism from the perspective of accessibility modes, namely subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing (SDH) and audio description (AD). This article aims to investigate how multilingualism is rendered for deaf and hard-of-hearing as well as blind and partially sighted audiences, focusing on SDH and AD, as well as audio subtitling (AST). The study analyses a small corpus of TV shows available on Netflix and aims to highlight how multilingualism is made accessible both in SDH and AD. The products selected for the study had to satisfy three main criteria: they had to be a recent production, include the presence of an L1 (English) and one or more third languages and offer both intralingual SDH (closed captions) and AD. The results show that, even within the context of a single streaming platform, the strategies applied to deal with multilingualism seem to vary quite significantly both in SDH and AD/AST, ranging from neutralisation to L3 visibility

The importance of the self: Using online diaries in the EFL classroom

Learner journals, diaries, and logs have been used in a variety of learning contexts, including foreign language learning. This paper investigates how diary writing can be used in the EFL classroom to encourage students to express their identities through the language they are learning; it is also a way of supporting them in their quest for greater autonomy, with a view to exploring the interconnections between learner autonomy, learner self (L2 self), and learner emotions. More specifically, it will be shown how reflective writing - in the form of online diaries - can offer learners an important tool to explore their thoughts and emotions and reflect on their identity as learners and users of English. Moreover, diaries are a qualitative research tool for teachers and scholars, who can examine metacognitive and affective aspects of language learning. The paper reports a study conducted within a university English Language course, in which the students were encouraged to keep a reflective online diary throughout a semester. The analysis of their personal and expressive writing has shed light on their need to speak as themselves, not just as language learners, and to explore their emotions, both positive and negative. A final questionnaire has revealed that the students were generally positive about the activity, highlighting its usefulness in terms of learner autonomy, self-awareness, and self-regulation