Telops and language learning – Experiences and insights from conducting a PhD study
Eline Sikkema is a language teacher in the School of Asian Studies (SAS) at Leiden University. She holds a PhD in Applied Languages from Dublin City University. For her doctoral research she used a multimodal transcript, eye-tracking technology, questionnaires and field notes to explore Japanese language learners’ perceptions of a Japanese variety show that featured intralingual (same-language) text. Her research interests include Japanese language learning, pedagogy, Audiovisual Translation and multimodality.
Q: Could you tell us a bit about your research on Telops?
A: The research focused on the learners’ perception of an authentic Japanese show that featured same language text. The approach regarding this subject was based on two concepts: multimodal perception and visual attention, we were trying to cross-check findings on these two concepts by finding out how students look at such materials, what they think is useful for learning Japanese, and also to check their behavior while watching such program in order to understand how they make sense of that. And based off of that the study tries to give suggestions on how you can use these materials for the Japanese language classroom.
Q: You used eye-tracking for this project, how did you start being interested in eye-tracking?
A: Actually, at the beginning I wasn’t necessarily thinking of using eye-tracking. My PhD research was part of a larger project. This larger project used eye-tracking technology in order to research Japanese variety shows and telops, so it was inspired by that study to use that technology, but it also made sense for this kind of perceptional research. All data sets have limitations so you need to consider very early on what you want to research and what kind of data you need in order to answer the research questions. So, people can also report on themselves but it can be influenced by their perception, so they may say things that are not always true. And the same happens with eye-tracking, for example, during the pilot study there were students saying: “you won’t see me looking at the telop” and then you look at the data and they were constantly looking at the telop, so for perception studies it is very good to have the eye-tracking data to cross-check findings. So, the original interest for the eye-tracking technology was sparked by the kind of data that we needed to answer our questions and to make sure that our findings were based on the data itself. I read in another interview on your blog (Sjoerd Lindenburg interview: https://leidentranslation.wordpress.com/2022/04/11/effective-viewing-behavior-and-viewing-strategies-can-we-teach-foreign-language-learners-to-effectively-use-subtitles/?msclkid=1cd789e8c6f511ec92ce2512919b1afe) something that is relevant to this discussion, and which also needs to be considered for any type of eye-tracking study: when you look at the eye-tracking data, it’s pure data, you can’t really say why they are looking at that, there could be a reason or they could just be staring at the screen. This shows that eye-tracking data also has its limitations and that e.g. self-reports can give insights into someone’s viewing behavior.
Q: Where you expecting the results that you got?
A: I was quite surprised by the importance of the number of inputs. Even though it was not completely out of the blue since communication is based to a great extent on non-verbal communication, I was still surprised at how the students could structure their own understanding of the program based on these components, that was surprising. At first, I thought that students at the beginner level would struggle with understanding the program, but they were able to catch up on these components and I thought that was very interesting and it changed my way of looking at subtitles.
Q: Do you think that telops could be used in reality shows in Europe and produce the same effect as they do in Japan?
A: That’s a difficult one because telops very much cater to the Japanese viewing audience. If you look at the research done on telops, there’s a lot of discussion regarding the viewer audience; in Japan telops are also used because people usually look at a program while doing something else, they are not 100% focused on the television, and the telop is a way for people to hear or understand what is being said even if they are not paying that much attention. So, in addition to making the program more interesting it’s also a way for them to stand out against other programs. So, there is a certain usage behind telops that is more catered towards the Japanese audience, and another important thing to consider is that telops don’t necessarily follow the same standards (e.g. display rate, color usage) as those used in Europe. So, I’m not sure it would catch on with the general viewer in Europe but I think that for learning purposes it can be helpful. However, when using them for learning purposes we need to be mindful of the color usage of telops, as telops can consist of more than one color. While the study showed that typography was helpful in understanding affective aspects of the program, it is not clear to what extent these colors can be helpful for understanding linguistic contents as they may not follow meaning or grammar rules.
So, we would need to be careful when introducing them to the general audience as it may take time for viewers to get used to them but it would be interesting to see how students use them for learning purposes.
Q: do you think that telops could be more effective than “normal” subtitles, especially for the hearing impaired? Due to their size, effects, and colors?
A: In the conclusions of my thesis, I do mention SDH, subtitles for deaf and hard of hearing, as they use colors to differentiate the speakers. Telops use techniques that are reminiscent of SDH but they do not seem to use these in a systematic way. In the video I chose for the study there is only one particular telop style that is always used for a particular guest on the show, but all the others aren’t Considering that telops can also employ effects such as moving, shaking etc. I think their design may be more confusing to the hearing impaired and therefore less effective than SDH for this particular viewer audience.
Q: What are your projects and goals for the future?
A: An interesting path would be to introduce Japanese variety shows and telops in class to see how students react to them. With this feedback we can then start thinking about what kind of learning tasks we can use for such materials.
Dr. Sikkema’s PhD thesis can be downloaded here: Sikkema, E.C. (2020) Telops for language learning: Japanese language learners’ perceptions of authentic Japanese variety shows and implications for their use in the classroom. PhD thesis, Dublin City University. doi: https://doras.dcu.ie/24018/1/Hardbound%20Thesis.pdf.
Interview and blog post by: Elisa, Elsa, Maria Vittoria, Annalisa and Martina
Leiden Translation 