Questioning sessions are an essential part of teachers’ daily instructional activities. Questions are used to assess students’ knowledge and comprehension and to promote learning. The manual creation of such learning material is a laborious and time-consuming task. Research in Natural Language Processing (NLP) has shown that Question Generation (QG) systems can be used to efficiently create high-quality learning materials to support teachers in their work and students in their learning process. A number of successful QG applications for education and training have been developed, but these focus mainly on supporting reading materials. However, digital technology is always evolving; there is an ever-growing amount of multimedia content available, and more and more delivery methods for audio-visual content are emerging and easily accessible. At the same time, research provides empirical evidence that multimedia use in the classroom has beneficial effects on student learning. Thus, there is a need to investigate whether QG systems can be used to assist teachers in creating assessment materials from these different types of media that are being employed in classrooms. This thesis serves to explore how NLP tools and techniques can be harnessed to generate questions from non-traditional learning materials, in particular videos. A QG framework which allows the generation of factual questions from video documentaries has been developed and a number of evaluations to analyse the quality of the produced questions have been performed. The developed framework uses several readily available NLP tools to generate questions from the subtitles accompanying a video documentary. The reason for choosing video vii documentaries is two-fold: firstly, they are frequently used by teachers and secondly, their factual nature lends itself well to question generation, as will be explained within the thesis. The questions generated by the framework can be used as a quick way of testing students’ comprehension of what they have learned from the documentary. As part of this research project, the characteristics of documentary videos and their subtitles were analysed and the methodology has been adapted to be able to exploit these characteristics. An evaluation of the system output by domain experts showed promising results but also revealed that generating even shallow questions is a task which is far from trivial. To this end, the evaluation and subsequent error analysis contribute to the literature by highlighting the challenges QG from documentary videos can face. In a user study, it was investigated whether questions generated automatically by the system developed as part of this thesis and a state-of-the-art system can successfully be used to assist multimedia-based learning. Using a novel evaluation methodology, the feasibility of using a QG system’s output as ‘pre-questions’ with different types of prequestions (text-based and with images) used was examined. The psychometric parameters of the automatically generated questions by the two systems and of those generated manually were compared. The results indicate that the presence of pre-questions (preferably with images) improves the performance of test-takers and they highlight that the psychometric parameters of the questions generated by the system are comparable if not better than those of the state-of-the-art system. In another experiment, the productivity of questions in terms of time taken to generate questions manually vs. time taken to post-edit system-generated questions was analysed. A viii post-editing tool which allows for the tracking of several statistics such as edit distance measures, editing time, etc, was used. The quality of questions before and after postediting was also analysed. Not only did the experiments provide quantitative data about automatically and manually generated questions, but qualitative data in the form of user feedback, which provides an insight into how users perceived the quality of questions, was also gathered.

The aim of this thesis is to analyse translations of audiovisual material from Norwegian to Czech. The theoretical part of the thesis discusses audiovisual translation in general, with special emphasis on subtitling. Strategies and concepts significant for the translation of subtitles are described, as well as different aspects of the quality of their translation. The empirical part analyses firstly the audiovisual material itself (the Headhunters movie) and consequently analyses the translation strategies and solutions used in the translation. The analysis is based on Lomheim's model. The translation of marked speech, culturally bound elements and humor is also discussed. Finally, the quality of translation is assessed. Key words: audiovisual translation, translation, subtitles, film, Norwegian, Czech

<p>Syftet med denna studie var att utifrån olika kvalitetsnormer jämföra och analysera skillnader mellan professionella undertextares undertexter och amatörers undertexter. Dialogen från fyra filmer parades med motsvarande undertexter av professionella undertextare så väl som av amatörer, varpå skillnader registrerades, viktades samt analyserades. Resultaten visar att det föreligger signifikanta skillnader mellan undertexter av professionella undertextare och amatörer på ett flertal punkter, som till exempel struktur och semantik, reduktion och expansion, antal tecken, antal ord, exponeringstid samt antal undertextenheter. Genomgående så översätter amatörerna originaldialogen mer ord-för-ord än vad de professionella undertextarna gör, samtidigt som de professionella undertextarna stryker stora delar av dialogen, vilket innebär att tittare som använder amatörundertexter får betydligt mer text att läsa, vilket i sin tur innebär att mindre tid ägnas åt filmernas bildmässiga innehåll.</p>

<p>Syftet med denna studie var att utifrån olika kvalitetsnormer jämföra och analysera skillnader mellan professionella undertextares undertexter och amatörers undertexter. Dialogen från fyra filmer parades med motsvarande undertexter av professionella undertextare så väl som av amatörer, varpå skillnader registrerades, viktades samt analyserades. Resultaten visar att det föreligger signifikanta skillnader mellan undertexter av professionella undertextare och amatörer på ett flertal punkter, som till exempel struktur och semantik, reduktion och expansion, antal tecken, antal ord, exponeringstid samt antal undertextenheter. Genomgående så översätter amatörerna originaldialogen mer ord-för-ord än vad de professionella undertextarna gör, samtidigt som de professionella undertextarna stryker stora delar av dialogen, vilket innebär att tittare som använder amatörundertexter får betydligt mer text att läsa, vilket i sin tur innebär att mindre tid ägnas åt filmernas bildmässiga innehåll.</p>

The aim of this MA thesis is to analyze culture-specific items and their translation strategies in Vytautas Petrukaitis‘ Lithuanian translation of Mario Puzo’s famous novel The Godfather (1969) and in Lithuanian subtitles of the film The Godfather (1972) directed by Francis Ford Coppola. In 1969 Vytautas Petrukaitis translated Puzo’s novel The Godfather into the Lithuanian language; in 2009 Coppola’s film with Lithuanian subtitles appeared on Lithuanian screen and in DVD. Both the novel The Godfather and the subtitles of the film The Godfather include a large number of culture-specific items. The analysis of culture-specific items follows the categorization of culture-specific items suggested by Jurgita Mikutytė; the discussion of translation strategies applied in translation of culture-specific items from English into Lithuanian is based on the classification of translation strategies as proposed by Eirlys E. Davies. The thesis is comprised of the introduction, four sections, the conclusion, two appendices, and a list of references. Part One introduces the subject of culture-specific items and presents their classification and translation strategies. Part Two of the paper discusses the aspects of audiovisual translation and its two main forms; namely, dubbing and subtitling. Part Three is devoted to the issue of adaptation; thus, the relationship between two different mediums, literature and film, is discussed. Part Four, which is composed of two sub-sections, analyses... [to full text] / Šiame magistro baigiamajame darbe analizuojamos kultūrinės realijos bei jų vertimo strategijos Mario Puzo romano „Krikštatėvis“ (The Godfather, 1969) vertime iš anglų kalbos į lietuvių kalbą bei Francis Ford Coppola režisuoto filmo „Krikštatėvis“ (1972) lietuviškuose subtitruose. 1969 m. vertėjas Vytautas Petrukaitis išvertė garsų Mario Puzo romaną „Krikštatėvis“ į lietuvių kalbą; 2009 m. Lietuvos ekranuose bei DVD formate pasirodė filmas „Krikštatėvis“ su lietuviškais subtitrais. Kultūrinių realijų vertimo analizė remiasi Jurgitos Mikutytės pasiūlytomis kultūrinių realijų kategorijomis ir Eirlys E. Davies vertimo strategijomis. Darbas sudarytas iš įžangos, keturių dalių, išvadų, dviejų priedų ir literatūros sąrašo. Pirmoji dalis pristato kultūrines realijas, jų kategorijas ir vertimo strategijas. Antroji dalis aptaria audiovizualųjį vertimą ir dvi pagrindines jo formas – dubliavimą ir subtitravimą. Trečioji dalis svarsto adaptacijos problemą ir atskleidžia ryšį tarp literatūros ir filmo. Ketvirtojoje dalyje, kurią sudaro du poskyriai, yra analizuojamos kultūrinės realijos bei jų vertimo strategijos Vytauto Petrukaičio į lietuvių kalbą išverstame Mario Piuzo romane „Krikštatėvis“ ir filmo „Krikštatėvis“ lietuviškuose subtitruose (vertėjas nežinomas). Pirmasis poskyris analizuoja kultūrines realijas romane, o antrasis poskyris – filmo subtitruose. Kultūrinės realijos yra suskirstytos į Jurgitos Mikutytės pasiūlytas kategorijas: geografinės realijos, etnografinės realijos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]

Contemporary scholars have been studying audiovisual translation for the past twenty years. However, health communication has never yet been included as a part of the audiovisual material under discussion. The goal of this thesis is to create Russian subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing from the original English version of The Three Amigos, a series of PSAs (Public service announcements) regarding the prevention of HIV/AIDS, and to analyse and discuss the theoretical and practical aspects of this work. After analysing the current situation on HIV/AIDS in Russia and Belarus, I use this series entitled The Three Amigos as an example of health communication that works, and therefore, should be accessible to more viewers. The thesis is organised into three chapters. Following a general introduction, Chapter 1 discusses health communication, presents statistics on HIV/AIDS in Russia and Belarus, and provides an example of health communication that fulfills its functions – public service announcements on HIV/AIDS prevention in the form of The Three Amigos. Chapter 2 discusses the necessity of subtitling for the target audience, and emphasises the fact that people with hearing impairment need special subtitles that differ from the ones that are suitable for viewers without hearing impairment. Chapter 3 contains the analysis of the subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing that I created for this project. Finally, the conclusion summarises the findings of this research, and addresses possible directions for future projects on this topic.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore how the approaches identified for the translation of Taiwanese Mandarin dialogues into English subtitles is different from those described in research studies which examined the translation of English film dialogues into Mandarin subtitles using data gathered from a Taiwanese movie entitled Cape No. 7. Taiwanese Mandarin is significantly influenced by the Tai-yu dialect, and in order to carry out the translation of Taiwanese Mandarin, it is important to deal with the functions of the dialect and related culture-specific items (CSIs). Therefore, the researcher of this thesis has investigated whether the translator of Cape No. 7 successfully applied a variety of translation strategies and prioritized the translation criteria well, to enable the target audience to receive the same message of the film as the source audience, especially when subtitling is constrained by time and space. There are two research areas which have been examined: slang and humour. The data analysis of slang scenes included Tai-yu slang and swearing, while humorous scenes were divided into three areas: puns, irony and metaphor. The research data have been analysed by means of analysis diagrams, which were trialled in a pilot study, described in Chapter Three. The pilot study lead to a new categorization based on previous researchers’ taxonomies (Aixelá, 1996; Davies, 2003; Tveit and Fong 2005, as cited in Yang, 2006), and this was applied to the analysis diagrams. According to the findings from the analysis chapters (Chapter Four & Five), the translator of Cape No. 7 preferred to use mostly the paraphrasing strategy in translating Tai-yu slang and humour, and the synonymy strategy in conveying swearing. In addition, the translator often strengthened swear words rather than toning them down in the English subtitles. However, when subtitling humorous scenes, the translator preferred to incorporate two strategies to deal with the cultural barriers when conveying the humorous effect. The compensation strategy was not used often in slang translation. In regard to the translation criteria, pragmatics and accuracy appeared to have been deemed more important by the translator than other criteria. Surprisingly functional equivalence did not seem to have been the translator’s first priority, as suggested by earlier research. Overall, this research study appeared to show that the translator of Cape No. 7 considered the paraphrase strategy to be the most efficient strategy for maintaining CSIs, and that pragmatics and accuracy were the translator’s most important criteria, which differs from the findings of previous research studies.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore how the approaches identified for the translation of Taiwanese Mandarin dialogues into English subtitles is different from those described in research studies which examined the translation of English film dialogues into Mandarin subtitles using data gathered from a Taiwanese movie entitled Cape No. 7. Taiwanese Mandarin is significantly influenced by the Tai-yu dialect, and in order to carry out the translation of Taiwanese Mandarin, it is important to deal with the functions of the dialect and related culture-specific items (CSIs). Therefore, the researcher of this thesis has investigated whether the translator of Cape No. 7 successfully applied a variety of translation strategies and prioritized the translation criteria well, to enable the target audience to receive the same message of the film as the source audience, especially when subtitling is constrained by time and space. There are two research areas which have been examined: slang and humour. The data analysis of slang scenes included Tai-yu slang and swearing, while humorous scenes were divided into three areas: puns, irony and metaphor. The research data have been analysed by means of analysis diagrams, which were trialled in a pilot study, described in Chapter Three. The pilot study lead to a new categorization based on previous researchers’ taxonomies (Aixelá, 1996; Davies, 2003; Tveit and Fong 2005, as cited in Yang, 2006), and this was applied to the analysis diagrams. According to the findings from the analysis chapters (Chapter Four & Five), the translator of Cape No. 7 preferred to use mostly the paraphrasing strategy in translating Tai-yu slang and humour, and the synonymy strategy in conveying swearing. In addition, the translator often strengthened swear words rather than toning them down in the English subtitles. However, when subtitling humorous scenes, the translator preferred to incorporate two strategies to deal with the cultural barriers when conveying the humorous effect. The compensation strategy was not used often in slang translation. In regard to the translation criteria, pragmatics and accuracy appeared to have been deemed more important by the translator than other criteria. Surprisingly functional equivalence did not seem to have been the translator’s first priority, as suggested by earlier research. Overall, this research study appeared to show that the translator of Cape No. 7 considered the paraphrase strategy to be the most efficient strategy for maintaining CSIs, and that pragmatics and accuracy were the translator’s most important criteria, which differs from the findings of previous research studies.

Syftet med denna studie var att utifrån olika kvalitetsnormer jämföra och analysera skillnader mellan professionella undertextares undertexter och amatörers undertexter. Dialogen från fyra filmer parades med motsvarande undertexter av professionella undertextare så väl som av amatörer, varpå skillnader registrerades, viktades samt analyserades. Resultaten visar att det föreligger signifikanta skillnader mellan undertexter av professionella undertextare och amatörer på ett flertal punkter, som till exempel struktur och semantik, reduktion och expansion, antal tecken, antal ord, exponeringstid samt antal undertextenheter. Genomgående så översätter amatörerna originaldialogen mer ord-för-ord än vad de professionella undertextarna gör, samtidigt som de professionella undertextarna stryker stora delar av dialogen, vilket innebär att tittare som använder amatörundertexter får betydligt mer text att läsa, vilket i sin tur innebär att mindre tid ägnas åt filmernas bildmässiga innehåll.

A study of subtitling for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (SDH) with special reference to the Portuguese context. On the one hand it accounts for a descriptive analysis of SDH in various European countires with the aim of arriving at the norms that govern present practices and that may be found in the form of guidelines and / or in actual subtitled products. On the other hand, it is the result of an Action Research project that aimed at contributing towards the improvement of SDH practices in Portugal. These two lines of research are brought together in the proposal of a set of guidlines -Sistema de legendagem vkv - for the provision of SDH on Portuguese television. This research positions itself within the tradition of Translation Studies (TS) by taking a descriptive approach to its subject. Nonetheless it takes a step beyond to seek reasons and to propose change rather then simply to describe objects and actions. Given its topic and methodological approach, this research also drank for other fields of knowledge, such as Deaf Studies, Sociology, Linguistics and Cinema Studies, amongst others. In this contect SDH is addresssed as a service to Deaf and Hard - of - Hearing viewers, thus implying a functional approach to all that it entails. In order to arrive at an emcompassing understanding of the subject, in the body of this work we may find a summary of the history of SDH as well as an overview of the overriding and specific issues that characterise this type of subtitling. Following this, the Portuguese situation is made known through the account of five case studies that were carried out in the course of 2002 and 2003. In response to the needs and requirements of Portuguese Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing viewers, the proposed set of guidelines is based on the special concern for adequacy and readability and is envisaged as a useful tool for students and practitioners of SDH.