Research Seminar Series 2024

Time: 4-5 pm, Friday 25 October

Location: 12SW, 558/Zoom:  https://macquarie.zoom.us/j/88546604589?pwd=cFVqbmdCb2hvT04yRTliN1B6VVJtUT09 Password: 798325

The multilingual turn in studies on learning from subtitled audiovisual input.

Anastasia Pattemore (University of Groningen)

Abstract: Exposure to language input plays a crucial role in language acquisition. The extensive viewing approach, where learners are exposed to large amounts of audiovisual input, such as TV series and movies over time, can fulfill the need for abundant L2 input (Webb, 2014). Research has shown that watching TV in the target language can lead to higher second/foreign language (L2) proficiency, positively impacting the learning of L2 vocabulary, grammatical constructions, and listening comprehension (see Montero Perez, 2022). For several decades, researchers have also explored whether subtitles can support this learning process. Traditionally, research has focused on language uptake from combinations of L1 and L2 audio and subtitles, such as watching a video in the L2 with either L1 or L2 subtitles (or both, Liao et al., 2020).

However, in the context of expanding multilingualism and globalization, viewers and language learners are now exposed to a variety of audiovisual input modes, including L2 audio paired with L3 subtitles. To investigate the effectiveness of this type of audiovisual input, we explore the multilingual turn in audiovisual input research (e.g., Pattemore et al., 2024). In this talk, I will present findings from our ongoing projects on newcomers’ simultaneous learning of L3 Dutch and L2 English through Dutch television.

Biodata

Anastasia Pattemore is a postdoc and lecturer at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. She received her PhD in Second Language Acquisition from the University of Barcelona.

Her research focuses on uncovering optimal conditions for language learning from audiovisual input, including the role of different types of subtitling, textual enhancement, viewing time distribution, and cognitive individual differences. Currently, she investigates the role of plurilingual audiovisual input and newcomers’ language acquisition.