Interlingual subtitling is primarily used as a tool for screen translation to grant wide-scale access to audiovisual products in a foreign language. As emerged from anecdotal reports and empirical research (Van de Poel, d’Ydewalle 2001; Danan 2004), exposure to audiovisual input in an L2 subtitled in the mother tongue may likewise promote literacy in a foreign language. The needs of learners who exploit audiovisual resources for acquisitional purposes differ from those of general audiences. In particular, different features of subtitle translation may be most suitable for different categories of users. Subtitles which provide a literal translation of the original dialogue have been suggested to best assist language learners in decoding the foreign language in the soundtrack and matching linguistic items between source text (ST) and target text (TT) (Karamitroglou 1998; Pavesi, Perego 2008). ST reduction, however, may also stimulate metalinguistic reflection and active comparison between the foreign and the native code (Pavesi, Perego 2008).
In the current paper, I argue that the substitution of items in the shift from ST to TT may similarly be viewed in an acquisitional perspective when the learning of syntactic structure is concerned. More generally, I propose that any type of translational divergence – quantitative or qualitative – can potentially act as an attention-catching device and foster both noticing processes and focus on form. Based on previous research by the author suggesting that divergence triggers increased subtitle re-reading and overall attention to the verbal component, some techniques to investigate its role in an acquisitional scenario will be put forward. In particular, I propose to explore the effect of syntactic reduction and substitution. A study of this type might help investigate whether ST-TT divergence alone plays a role in acquisition, or rather whether different translation strategies imply different extents of learning. Findings may subsequently be useful in the identification and implementation of best practices to design specific subtitles for language acquisition purposes.

Elisa GHIA graduated cum laude in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics from the University of Pavia in 2007, with a dissertation on the effects of exposure to subtitled films on the acquisition of foreign language syntax. In 2007, she was awarded a scholarship for a Doctorate in Linguistics at the same university. In 2006, she spent a three-month research period at the Department of Translation Studies at the University of Turku (Finland), where she was also a visiting scholar in March 2008. From October 2008 to November 2008, she carried out research on subtitle perception at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium). Her research interests are audiovisual translation, second language acquisition and spoken English. As part of her doctoral dissertation, she is currently working on the impact that subtitle translation may have on the noticing and learning of syntactic structures in English as an L2. She has published in the area of language learning and audiovisual translation and has participated in international conferences on translation and contrastive linguistics.