Research on the use of active dubbing activities in foreign language learning is gaining an increasing amount of attention. The most obvious skill to be enhanced in this context is oral production and a few authors have already mentioned the potential benefits of asking students to record their voices in a 'semiprofessional' manner. The present project attempts to assess the potential of intralingual dubbing (English-English) to develop general oral production skills in adult university students of English B2 level in an online learning environment, and to provide general guidelines of dubbing task assessment for practitioners. To this end, a group of undergraduate pre-intermediate students worked on ten sequenced activities using short videos taken from an American sitcom over a period of two months. The research study included language assessment tests, questionnaires and observation as the basic data gathering tools to make the results as reliable and thorough as possible for this type of educational setting. The conclusions provide a good starting point for the establishment of basic guidelines that may help teachers implement dubbing tasks in the language class.

The research on the use of active captioning or subtitling in foreign language learning has considerably increased in the course of the last decade, although there is still lack of evidence as regards the potential advantages of intralingual captioning in this context. The present project attempts to fill this void by analysing the didactic use of intralingual subtitling in a distance learning environment both in terms of written production and vocabulary acquisition. To this end, a total number of 41 undergraduate English B1 students have been working on 10 sequenced subtitling activities using short pre-selected videos taken from an American sitcom in the course of a month and a half. Peer-to-peer assessment has also been fostered during the project through active use of online forums. The conclusions confirm the expected benefits as far as writing and vocabulary skills enhancement is concerned and provide further insights into how to best implement this practice.

Globalisation and the advancement of ICTs invite the development of learners’ strategies and communication skills in higher education to participate fully in digitally networked societies. This paper analyses the results of a pilot study which is part of Film and Creative Engagement (FaCE), a collaborative research project between Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), UK, and Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM), Campus Laguna in Torreón, Mexico. There were two main aims: (1) to create a short project that was inspiring, stimulating and enjoyable that could be transferable to other high education institutions; and (2) to provide a training that could help students shape their future, fulfill their academic potential and develop strong, social, international and professional relationships. Secondary goals included bringing Mexican and British university learners into contact via telecommunication to create contexts for interactivity and task-based collaboration. In the context of foreign language learning, the tasks were intended to develop participants’ skills on film analysis (such as cultural and intercultural awareness), and also, audiovisual accessibility (subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing and audio description). This is a mixed study with 44 participants and the data was collected through pre- and post-questionnaires, student self-reflection reports and task evaluations. Particularly, the FaCE project helped students, regardless of their career path or specialisation, to enhance their language competence, collaborative work, critical thinking, innovation and creativity, management of information and communication technologies, and international collaboration in virtual environments.

Video games today are highly complex audiovisual products. Their nature is not only multisemiotic but also interactive. Their potential audience has certain expectations and, especially in the case of digital blockbusters, final users need the advantage of knowledge and the force of numbers. A faux pas in design, continuity or playability will most likely be conducive to social media outrage, and will see official apologies be released presently. Conversely, accessibility shortcomings rarely or never have the same impact. The present study puts forward the advantages of including Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (SDH) in popular video games and offers an in-depth analysis of a selection of recent multimedia titles. Drawing on the work of Bernal Merino (2015), O’Hagan and Mangiron (2013) and Trabattoni (2014) on the special characteristics of video games, the main elements around which they are structured and the aspects that determine their success or failure, the author will endeavour to advance a convincing argument in favour of the introduction of SDH subtitling conventions.

Video games today are highly complex audiovisual products. Their nature is not only multisemiotic but also interactive. Their potential audience has certain expectations and, especially in the case of digital blockbusters, final users need the advantage of knowledge and the force of numbers. A faux pas in design, continuity or playability will most likely be conducive to social media outrage, and will see official apologies be released presently. Conversely, accessibility shortcomings rarely or never have the same impact.The present study puts forward the advantages of including Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (SDH) in popular video games and offers an in-depth analysis of a selection of recent multimedia titles. Drawing on the work of Bernal Merino (2015), O’Hagan and Mangiron (2013) and Trabattoni (2014) on the special characteristics of video games, the main elements around which they are structured and the aspects that determine their success or failure, the author will endeavour to advance a convincing argument in favour of the introduction of SDH subtitling conventions.