Subtitling for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and Audio Description as Integrated Activities in the English as a Foreign Language Classroom: An Exploratory Study|Subtitulado para personas sordas y audiodescripción como actividades integradas en el aula de inglés como lengua extranjera: Un estudio exploratorio

This paper reports on a didactic project in which subtitling for the d/Deaf and hard of hearing (SDH) and audio description (AD) were implemented in an English Language course offered at an Italian university as part of a master’s degree in foreign language teaching. The students were introduced to media accessibility (MA) as well as to the linguistic and technical aspects of SDH and AD and subsequently asked to engage in active intralingual SDH and AD for audiovisual programmes of different genres. The aim of the didactic project was to use both forms of media accessibility to promote language and mediation skills at proficiency levels (C1-C2). The exploratory study presented in this paper investigates student perceptions about the role of SDH and AD in foreign language learning (FLL). Qualitative data were collected using questionnaires which were administered at different stages of the project, and through the analysis of learning diaries written by the participants during the semester. The students’ comments highlight significant benefits in terms of fostering productive skills, of promoting different forms of mediation, namely intralingual and intersemiotic, and of enhancing learner motivation and awareness about MA.