Student responses to subtitled and dubbed educational content - Implications for university translanguaging practices

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Ophelia

This article examines audiovisual translanguaging as a pedagogical strategy in South African universities, focusing on tensions between English dominance and institutional requirements to promote indigenous African languages. Using a mixed-methods study in agricultural science programmes, it investigates students’ audiovisual language preferences and how these relate to linguistic tensions and implications for balancing language needs. Results show strong preference for English subtitles alongside greater willingness to engage indigenous languages aurally than through text.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Audiovisual translanguaging and context

Student experiences with subtitled and dubbed videos

Transformation in Higher Education ISSN: (Online) 2519-5638,(Print) 2415-0991 ~~ ~~ Page 1 of 12 Origina~~l Research ~~ Student responses to subtitled and dubbed educational content: Implications for university translanguaging practices Authors: Helena C. Kruger-Roux1 Muhammad Nakhooda2 Ignatius K. Ticha3 Affiliations: 1Department of African Languages, Faculty of Humanities, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa 2Department of Biotechnology and Consumer Sciences, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa 3Faculty of Applied Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa Corresponding author: Helena Kruger-Roux, [helena.kruger-roux@up.ac.za](helena.kruger-roux@up.ac.za) Dates: Received: 24 Apr. 2025 Accepted: 30 June 2025 Published: 27 Nov. 2025 How to cite this article: Kruger-Roux, H.C., Nakhooda, M. & Ticha, I. K., 2025, ‘Student responses to subtitled and dubbed educational content: Implications for university translanguaging practices’, Transformation in Higher Education 10(0), a593 . [https://](https://)[ ](https://)[doi.org/10.4102/the.v10i0.593](doi.org/10.4102/the.v10i0.593) Copyright: © 2025. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4 .0) license ([https://](https://)[ ](https://)[creativecommons.org/](creativecommons.org/)[ ](creativecommons.org/)[licenses/by/4.0/](licenses/by/4.0/)) . Read online: Scan this QR code with your smart phone or mobile device to read online. This article examines audiovisual translanguaging as a pedagogical strategy in South African universities, where students navigate tensions between English dominance and the institutional mandate to promote indigenous African languages. Through investigating student experiences with subtitled and dubbed instructional videos in agricultural science programmes, three research questions were added: (1) students’ audiovisual language preferences, (2) how these preferences reflect linguistic tensions and (3) implications for balancing language needs. Our mixedmethods study revealed that while English subtitles are predominantly preferred, students showed greater willingness to engage with indigenous languages aurally than through text. Students strategically pair different languages across modes, often combining indigenous language audio with English subtitles to balance comprehension and comfort. However, difficulties with formal academic terminology in indigenous languages highlight the need for more accessible vocabulary development approaches. The study demonstrates how audiovisual materials create productive student spaces to leverage students’ full linguistic repertoires while acknowledging that horizontal translanguaging practices alone may not provide sufficient access to languages of power necessary for academic success. Contribution: We make recommendations for institutional policies that recognise multilingualism as a reality, supporting both fluid multilingual practices and the development of academic registers in indigenous languages. Keywords: audiovisual translanguaging; academic terminology; linguistic repertoires; South African higher education; student preferences; English dominance; multilingual pedagogy; epistemic access. Introduction South African universities grapple with the complex challenge of managing language use, seeking to balance the dominance of English with the imperative to preserve and promote indigenous African languages, as mandated by the Language Policy Framework for Public Higher Education Institutions (Department of Higher Education and Training [DHET] 2020) . This tension mirrors broader societal struggles involving the need to balance a multilingual heritage with a long history of linguistic inequalities, the pressures of globalisation, complex environmental factors, current socio-economic re

FAQs

What does the study examine in South African universities?

It examines audiovisual translanguaging as a teaching strategy, specifically how students respond to subtitled and dubbed educational content in agricultural science programmes.

What did the study find about students’ language preferences?

Students predominantly preferred English subtitles, while showing greater willingness to engage indigenous African languages through audio than through text.

How do students use different languages across modes?

Students often pair languages strategically across modes, commonly combining indigenous language audio with English subtitles to improve comprehension and comfort.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Ophelia