| Abstract
|
:
|
The purpose of this study was to investigate viewers' knowledge of program content under various television translation modes and viewing experiences. An instructional television program entitled Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) For Bystanders, produced in Spanish, was translated into the Malay language in several translation modes and variations (namely dubbing, subtitles with original soundtrack, and subtitles without original soundtrack). The original program without translation was also tested to represent the control condition. These translation modes and variations, also without translation, were the first independent variables of the study. The second independent variables were the viewing experiences. Two viewing experiences, namely single viewing and repeated viewing, were chosen. 176 randomly selected matriculation students from Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang, Malaysia, were the subjects in this study. They were randomly assigned to watch either the dubbed version, subtitled versions, or the original version without translation in one of two viewing experiences, either single viewing or repeated viewing. A 4 usd{\rm x}usd 2 factorial design with random selection and random assignment was employed for this study. The dependent variable was the subjects' knowledge of the program content, which was measured by their scores on multiple-choice tests designed by the researcher and conducted immediately after viewing. The group mean scores were analyzed using Two-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), t-Test and Tukey Test to test the hypotheses. Test results revealed that: (1) Viewers acquired the least amount of knowledge on the program content when viewing an instructional television program produced in a foreign language without translation, compared to when viewing the same program with translation. (2) Translation modes did not contribute to any differences in the knowledge of program content among viewers under the single viewing condition. However, under repeated viewing condition, this study indicated that translation in dubbing and subtitles without sound helped viewers to acquire more knowledge on the program content than translation in subtitles with sound. (3) Repeated viewing helped viewers to acquire significantly more knowledge on the program content than single viewing. However the effects of repeated viewing were not consistent in all translation modes. The benefits were equally prominent on the program translated in dubbing and in subtitles without sound, less prominent on the program translated in subtitles with sound and least prominent on the program without translation. (4) There were significant interactions between translation modes and variations and viewing experience.
|