Quality Assessment in Interlingual Subtitling: A Systematic Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1606.22Keywords:
audiovisual translation, human subtitling, quality assessment, interlingual translationAbstract
This study is a systematic review of the literature on quality assessment in interlingual subtitling, a critical aspect of audiovisual translation, and media accessibility. Subtitling plays a vital role in bridging linguistic and cultural gaps; nevertheless, defining and assessing its quality optimally remains a complex and multifaceted task that is influenced and hindered by diverse stakeholders and parameters. While existing narrative reviews offer valuable insights, they often lack the systematic rigor required to comprehensively answer focused research questions. This systematic review aims to critically evaluate the existing body of literature, synthesizing relevant studies to uncover key concepts, trends, issues, and methodological approaches, as well as to identify research gaps and inform future investigations in this domain. Employing the PRISMA protocol, this review analyzed 42 research studies selected from five major databases and supplemented by reference citation searches. Thematic synthesis using ATLAS.ti software identified key trends, methodologies, challenges, and gaps in subtitling quality assessment. Findings reveal the diverse and intricate nature of subtitling quality evaluation, emphasizing the need for standardized frameworks, context-sensitive, and technology-driven approaches. This review, one of the first of its kind, provides a synthesized understanding of subtitling quality assessment and offers actionable recommendations for advancing research in AVT, Translation Studies (TS), and Media Localization.
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