TV or not TV? The impact of subtitling on English skills

Augusto Rupérez Micola, Ainoa Aparicio, Albert Banal-Estañol and Arturo Bris

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2019, vol. 158, issue C, 487-499

Abstract: We study the influence of television translation techniques on the worldwide distribution of English-speaking skills. We identify a large positive effect for subtitled original version broadcasts, as opposed to dubbed television, on English proficiency scores. We analyze the historical circumstances under which countries opted for one of the translation modes and use it to account for the possible endogeneity of the subtitling indicator. We disaggregate the results by type of skills and find that television works especially well for listening comprehension. Our paper suggests that governments could promote subtitling as a means to improve foreign language proficiency.

Keywords: Television; Subtitling; Foreign language skills (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 Z11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Working Paper: TV or not TV? The impact of subtitling on English skills (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:158:y:2019:i:c:p:487-499

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2018.12.019

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