Untapping the potential of cloud subtitling in audiovisual translator education: A pilot study

Abstract

This paper examines the potential of cloud technologies in audiovisual translator education with a particular emphasis on cloud subtitling. The fast-growing global demand for multimedia content has recently led to the significant growth of audiovisual translation (AVT) as both a professional avenue and an academic discipline (Díaz-Cintas, 2019). Developments in cloud computing have profoundly altered work in the language and translation industries in general and media localisation workflows in particular (Díaz-Cintas & Massidda, 2019). The market’s leading stakeholders are currently exploiting cloud technologies in an attempt to maximise resources, extend freelance networks and enhance efficiency. Access to most of these technologies, however, remains restricted to the largest media-streaming and translation service providers, meaning that they cannot be utilised by the public, not least would-be translators and trainers. The umbilical connection between translator education and new technologies, such as cloud computing, calls for a more detailed examination of how cloud subtitling is being integrated into the AVT classroom. Indeed, to be fully employable in an ever-changing market, AVT trainees need to be fully conversant in the latest technologies (Cerezo-Merchán, 2018) and adapt to new ecosystems quickly. The ubiquitous cloud-based revoicing and subtitling editors used in the industry are becoming timidly, albeit steadily, more manifest in higher education. This paper thus examines the uses of cloud subtitling systems in audiovisual translator education following instances of action research (AR) experimentation. It presents the results from a pilot AR study conducted at a translator training institution and ultimately proposes ways to further explore cloud technologies in higher education while fostering academia-industry partnerships.