Reading Function and Content Words in Subtitled Videos.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Linguistics
• Audiovisual Translation Studies

Background:

• Reading research traditionally focuses on print media.
• Subtitling involves processing text while viewing video content.
• Understanding word processing in subtitles is crucial for accessibility and effective communication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how function and content words are visually processed in intra- and interlingual subtitles.
• To compare word processing patterns between deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing participants.
• To explore the impact of word length and type on visual attention during subtitling.

Main Methods:

• Eye-tracking was used to monitor participants' visual attention.
• Participants included deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing individuals viewing videos with Polish subtitles.
• Visual attention metrics included dwell time, fixation count, and fixation duration.

Main Results:

• Longer content words received significantly more visual attention than function words and shorter content words.
• Deaf participants exhibited longer dwell times on function words compared to other groups.
• Reduced visual attention on function words suggests potential processing challenges.

Conclusions:

• Word length and type significantly influence visual attention in subtitling.
• Deaf individuals may face specific challenges in processing function words within subtitles.
• Findings contribute to reading research and inform subtitling practices for improved accessibility.