Traditional language teaching and e-learning are evolving as students call for new proposals and more stimulating methods going far beyond grammar books.
The complementary nature of AVT products which combine the verbal sign with images and extra-linguistic elements represents a stimulating background for learners of English as a second language (intermediate to advanced level) as it may well be for learners of other languages. Dubbing has always been considered the black sheep of AVT, certainly from a didactic perspective. The present paper aims, therefore, to highlight the practical utility of dubbed films as language learning tools as a result of an experimental teaching programme which is being carried out at the University “La Tuscia” in Italy. This programme is part of a comprehensive e-learning project at the Language Centre of the same university, which has been trying out the potential of Moodle, a dynamic learning environment, to provide full on-line courses for distant students and to supplement face-to-face courses.
This paper presents the first results relating to the reception of a ‘blended’ EFL teaching programme which combines an introduction to AVT theory and practice with a module for self-training and self-assessment based on the original video and script of a British film and of its dubbed Italian version. The activities created in the AVT project Moodle course are divided into three sections and include assignments and quizzes aimed at (1) working on specific features of the spoken language (of the film); (2) working on culture-specific language references and varieties, and (3) raising awareness of the dubbing process, leading students to critically reflect upon transadaptation strategies by identifying in selected extracts. A more creative module is also included to increase learners’ motivation and to provide alternative translations and adaptations.
For the teachers, the AVT project contributes to increasing the quality and variety of language and translation teaching; its e-learning modality ensures greater accessibility and its interactive environment allows for a cooperative learning and teaching system.

Alessandra SPADAFORA is a researcher at the University “La Tuscia” in Viterbo (Italy), where she has also been working as a teacher of Interpretation and Language Mediation. She graduated at the School for Interpreters and Translators in Rome, after which she got a degree in Foreign Languages and later a PhD in Intercultural Communication with a dissertation on audiovisual translation. She has published articles on AVT and transadaptation and in 2007 she published a book InterMedia: La mediazione interlinguistica negli audiovisivi. She is at present working on two research projects: one on interpretation and mediation and the other on the didactic applications of AVT.