Collaborative Video Making Project of Self-Acting and Subtitle Translating in the IT Translation Course

Abstract

This study aims at investigating students' perception of the effectiveness of the collaborative video making project of self-acting and subtitle translating in the IT translation course. Moreover, the study would look at the advantages that students will derive from the assignment and the issues that they may encounter during the project. It also discovers the impact of social media on students' learning motivation. A mixed-method research design incorporating both quantitative and qualitative approaches is used in this investigation. A 5-point Likert scale survey was completed by third-year English major students in the course during the 14th week of the semester to quantitatively analyze the findings. Qualitative findings were demonstrated throughout the interviews with the whole 6 groups in the 15th week, more deeply exploiting the students’ perspectives in the previous survey. Findings of the questionnaire and interviews generally reveal the students’ positive perception of the project and a rise in their general interest in learning IT translation. It was also suggested that integrating this project-based learning activity into the IT translation course has brought about some significant advantages in terms of translation and team work skill enhancement and opportunities to apply tech skills. Extrinsic motivation caused by the media is considered a great contribution to the students’ translation quality. Some problems, however, are closely linked to time constraint, time management and especially some drawbacks of social media. Thus, the study attempts to point out some practical suggestions for better teaching implications in the future.