Aline Remael emeritus occasional assignment

Research Aline Remael

Research team

A stage for the world: towards an inclusive theatre experience. 01/10/2017 - 30/09/2020

Abstract

This project aims to investigate how the theatrical experience can be made accessible for blind and visually impaired patrons through audio description (AD), a specific audiovisual translation (AVT) mode that translates visual information into verbal information. Current audio description models focus mostly on rendering the story of a film or theatre performance accessible, and are therefore mainly inspired by narratology. Many aspects of a theatre performance such as the atmosphere, the aesthetics, the way actors physically "fill" their role, lighting, costumes, the use of video projections etc. are insufficiently taken into account. And it is precisely these features that are central to an integral theatrical experience. On the basis of a corpus of performances of Toneelhuis and NTGent this project will develop a new AD model that will allow for these intermedial features to be included in the translation for the target group. To this end, the intentions of the creative process will be integrated into the AD production.

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Project type(s)

  • Research Project

Interlingual Live Subtitling for Access (ILSA). 01/09/2017 - 31/08/2020

Abstract

Internet, audiovisual media and digital technology are transforming our world. However, their potential will not be realised until they become fully accessible and enable the participation of all citizens in everyday life. Audiovisual translation and media accessibility have become drivers of social inclusion and integration and have lately received full recognition in the literature (Remael, Orero and Carroll 2012) and in EU-funded projects (DTV4ALL, ADLAB, HBB4ALL). In the area of subtitling for the deaf, a key priority for the users has always been to access live content such as news and public events (AOHL 2013). The preferred technique for this is respeaking, where subtitlers listen to the original soundtrack of a programme or public event and simultaneously repeat or rephrase what they hear to a speech recognition software that turns these words into intralingual subtitles for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers and for all people who support their viewing with subtitles. When respeaking was first introduced in Europe in 2001, subtitling companies needed professionals who could produce intralingual live subtitles but did not know how to go about it, since there was no academic training or research in this area. As a result, respeaking practices differ greatly across countries and quality has suffered (Romero-Fresco, 2011). Since then, the work carried out, amongst others, by the partners in this application as part of EU-funded projects such as DTV4ALL and SAVAS, has helped to advance research and training in this area, and the industry is now employing respeakers trained at our institutions. However, a new challenge has now emerged, as migration streams and the increased multilingual and multicultural composition of societies worldwide have led to a growing demand for accessibility to live audiovisual content and events conducted in a foreign language. Broadcasters such as the BBC and VRT and political institutions such as the UK and the Spanish Parliament have highlighted the need to find professionals who can produce interlingual live subtitles (ILS) through respeaking, a new discipline that will require translating, subtitling and simultaneous interpreting skills. Although the partners in this project are the only scholars in the world who have so far produced research on this new discipline (Szarkowska et. al 2016, Romero-Fresco and Pochhacker 2017, Remael and Robert, fc.), there is still no training available. The main objective of ILSA is to design (IO3), develop (IO4 and IO5), test (IO6) and validate (IO7) the first training course for ILS and to provide a protocol for the implementation of this discipline in three real-life scenarios, namely TV, the classroom and the Parliament (IO7). The curriculum and training materials will be flexible so that they can be integrated in different learning environments for the users and initial target group of the course: translation and interpreting graduate and postgraduate students, and professionals already working as respeakers, interpreters or more generally in translation and accessibility.

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Project type(s)

  • Education Project
  • Research Project

Subtitling: Conceptualising Change. 01/02/2017 - 31/07/2017

Abstract

Subtitling: Conceptualising Change (working title) Authors: Jorge Díaz-Cintas en Aline Remael Publisher: Routledge Globalisation and technological developments have had a great impact on the evolution of translation practice, on the essence of what translation is, and, consequently, on the evolution of translation research. Their dual impact, and especially the impact of digitisation on Audiovisual Translation (AVT), subtitling more in particular, has been even greater and has been apparent for a much longer time. The AVT research domain originally comprised all translation modes rendering audiovisual productions (film, television, internet etc.) in a foreign language accessible. Today it also encompasses Media Accessibility (MA), which renders audiovisual productions accessible for users who are visually or aurally challenged. Apart from this expansion of AVT into the domain of MA, the actions undertaken by stakeholders, as well as digitisation and the availability of new software have also transformed "consumers" into "prosumers", and they have led to the development of fansubbing and crowdsourcing by amateurs and special interest groups, next to "professional" translation. AVT target groups or users therefore continue to diversify, influencing demand and the evolution of professional forms of AVT and MA. Subtitling: Conceptualising Change, aims to contribute to understanding and conceptualising change in the field of AVT today, to offer insight in the main causes of the above-mentioned evolutions in AVT, and their consequences for the further development of traditional commercial interlingual subtitling. It constitutes "basic research" into the complexity of change that investigates how new forms of translation develop and how they relate to existing forms but it also has an applied component that addresses how this fast and continuous change can affect the audiovisual industry as well as audiovisual translators. The project's theoretical framework combines recent insights from complexity theory as applied to Translation Studies by Marais (2014) with insights from Latour's (2005) Actor Network Theory. Subtitling: Conceptualising Change, comprises the following chapters (the main author is mentioned as appropriate): 0. Preface (JDC & AR) 1. Chapter one Reconceptualising subtitling and subtitling research (AR) 2. Chapter two The professional environment and its interactions (JDC) 3. Chapter three Intersemiotic cohesion and research into multimodality (AR) 4. Chapter four The impact of technology on practice and research (JDC) 5. Chapter five Formal technology-bound conventions (JDC) 6. Chapter six The linguistics of subtitling: increased hybridity (AR) 7. Chapter seven Hybridity in inter- and intralingual translation Issues (JDC & AR) 8. Conclusions (JDC & AR) 9. Bibliography 10. Index  

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Project type(s)

  • Research Project

Audio Description: A laboratory for the development of a new professional profile (ADLAB PRO). 01/09/2016 - 31/08/2019

Abstract

ADLAB-PRO will develop a new state-of-the art curriculum and blended learning teaching materials for the training of audio description professionals. These professionals will be able to write and produce quality audio descriptions, i.e. short verbal translations of visual information, rendering various culture products, including and audiovisual media but also exhibitions and live events, accessible for the blind and visually impaired.

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Project website

Project type(s)

  • Research Project
  • Education Project

Accessible Culture and Training (ACT). 01/09/2015 - 31/08/2018

Abstract

Accessibility plays a major role in modern knowledge-based Information societies. The potential of Accessibility through ICT and Assistive Technologies (AT) for inclusion and participation of all citizens is increasingly growing allowing for a full integration in everyday life. The proportion of people depending on Accessibility (15% in 2013) increases and EU demography shows the growing tendency to eAccessiblity dependency for its ageing population. National as well as European legislation supporting eAccessibility is in place and the UN-Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the most powerful, global expression in support of Inclusion and Equality, has a clear focus on eAccessibility, AT and Design for All. The time has come to establish the new professional profile of media accessibility expert/manager, and its training. Full participation of all citizens in cultural events - as end users or participants - should become part of their daily life as for people without disabilities, equal opportunity and access to culture are Human Rights. The ACT project proposes the definition of a new professional profile, that of the "Media Accessibility Expert/Manager for the Scenic Arts", and also the various types of training activities associated to this professional.

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Project website

Project type(s)

  • Research Project
  • Education Project

Audio Description for the theatre: preparing the stage 01/07/2015 - 31/12/2016

Abstract

This innovative research into theatre audio description (AD) for the blind and visually impaired (BVIP), set up in collaboration with 2 major Flemish theatres, identifies the challenges of AD for postdrama, and investigates their applicability to other genres & national contexts, laying solid foundations for follow-up PhD research, also on a European level, and contributing to the development of strategies to improve the BVIP's theatrical experience.

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Project type(s)

  • Research Project

Towards a model of translation revision competence 01/07/2014 - 31/12/2015

Abstract

Translation revision competence has scarcely been addressed as a research topic in translation studies and there is no well-developed model of translation revision competence. The aim of this project is to construct a translation revision competence model and to initiate its validation through an experimental pilot study. The results would subsequently be used as a starting point for a larger study (e.g., a PhD project) on revision competence.

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Project type(s)

  • Research Project

Audio Description: Lifelong Access for the Blind (ADLAB). 01/10/2013 - 30/09/2014

Abstract

The ADLAB project 2011-2014) of the EU LLL programme developed the very first European audio description guidelines with as its main focus film and television., following in-depth research into the current state of the art in practice and research and reception research among the target group. It received a 100% evaluation of the EU. The current ADLAB-PRO is a follow-up project.

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Project type(s)

  • Research Project

Audio-description in Dutch: A corpus-based study into the linguistic features of a new, multimodal text type. 01/10/2012 - 30/09/2016

Abstract

The project presented here is a corpus-based study of the linguistic features of a new, multimodal text type within Audiovisual Translation (AVT): Audio-description (AD) for the blind and visually impaired. The aim of this interdisciplinary project is to describe the lexico-grammatical features of AD-scripts and examine the role they play in the specific communicative function of the text. The object is to explore one of the key-issues in AD research: How are images put into words and what are the implications for the language use in AD? A recent pilot study confirmed the hypothesis that the language of AD contains distinctive grammatical (morpho-syntactic) and lexical features and that these specific patterns can be identified by corpus analysis. Firstly, the current project aims to develop an extensive and varied text corpus of AD scripts of Dutch audio-described films and series. Secondly, this text corpus will provide the basis for quantitative linguistic research, aiming to identify the prominent lexico-grammatical features of the text type. Finally, the quantitative analysis will be combined with a qualitative analysis of the (communicative) function of these features. In this last stage, special attention must be paid to the multimodal nature of the text type, since the AD-script only makes sense in combination with the dialogues, music and sound effects of the original film or series with which it forms a coherent whole. A qualitative analysis into the (communicative) function of the features will explore the unique interaction between the language of AD and the other channels of the audiovisual text. Ultimately, the project's ambition is to conduct an extensive linguistic audience design oriented analysis of the AD-discourse. This will allow us to identify the features that characterise the AD text type, will clarify how these linguistic and stylistic features are used to ensure maximum communicative efficiency, and how these features are related to the function and multimodal character of AD. The project presented here is a pioneer in the field: AD has become an international research topic recently but for Flanders and the Netherlands no study of AD is available yet. In addition, it can offer the basis for future application-oriented studies. AD in Flanders is in its infancy (public broadcaster VRT only started with its first audio-described series in January 2012). In brief, basic research projects like the one presented here support the development of a local AD tradition in Flanders that meets international quality standards.

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Project type(s)

  • Research Project

The Status of the (re)translated inter-title in the restoration and presentation of silent film. 01/01/2010 - 31/12/2011

Abstract

When restauring silent films with translated intertitles film archives are confronted with ethical, aesthetic and practical problems. Due to the scarcity of scientific research with a focus on the status of translated intertitles, restauration procedures are often ad hoc, i.e. they lack a uniform, scientific approach. By describing, categorising and analysing existing silent films and their translations, the present research project aims to help develop procedures for a scientifically founded restauration of both photographic and textual material.

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Project type(s)

  • Research Project

Text Reduction in Speech-Based Real Time Subtitling. 01/01/2009 - 31/12/2010

Abstract

Speech recognition-based writing has proven to be a valuable and quick method to provide (intralingual) subtitles for real time television programs. The often very fast speaking rates of the source material and the limited reading rates of the viewers, however, call for some extent of summarization and adaptation. The present research project tries to identify the ideal reduction degree for the subtitling of live programs. Two subsequent experiments focus on production as well as reception of real time subtitles.

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Project website

Project type(s)

  • Research Project