Captioning for Children: Historical and Empirical Perspectives

Nathalie Mälzer · Maria Wünsche · Saskia J. Schulz

Nov 2022 · Kommunikation – Partizipation – Inklusion Book 9 · Frank & Timme GmbH

About this ebook

This volume gathers empirical and historical perspectives on closed captioning on German television for children who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing. It is partly based on a two-year study, SDH4KIDS, in which the following research question was addressed: Which subtitle-specific aspects have a positive impact on comprehensibility and acceptability of subtitled TV-programmes for d/Deaf and hard of hearing children aged between 8 and 12? The quantitative study with over 200 participants was accompanied by a qualitative study gathering eye-tracking data on subtitle reading behaviour with a smaller group of participants of the same age. Both studies are presented and discussed in detail. The results were furthermore used to develop guidelines for professional subtitling practice. In addition, this book provides a historical overview of subtitling practice for people who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing in the Federal Republic and the former German Democratic Republic of Germany. For this, previously unpublished material from the German Federal Archives has been examined.

About the author

Nathalie Mälzer (Dr. phil.) has been Professor for Transmedial Translation at Universität Hildesheim until 2022. She is secretary of the Literature Section at Akademie der Künste in Berlin.

Maria Wünsche (Dr. phil.) is an independent researcher in the field of Audiovisual Translation and Accessibility Studies. She has worked e. g. on the concept of comprehensibility of polysemiotic texts.

Saskia J. Schulz (M. A.) is a dubbing author and translator, and a visiting lecturer at Universität Hildesheim. One of her research focusses is intralingual subtitling and surtitling for people who are d/Deaf and hard of hearing.