Promoting plurilingual and pluricultural competence in language learning through audiovisual translation

Abstract

The effectiveness of audiovisual translation (AVT) for language learning has been widely discussed and demonstrated by scholars in the past (cf. Lertola 2019). Nevertheless, many areas in this field of investigation are still underexplored, such as the usefulness of AVT for the acquisition of plurilingual and pluricultural competence (PPC). This is of paramount importance in the multilingual and multicultural societies we live in, and also given the emphasis the CEFR Companion Volume (Council of Europe 2018) places on mediation and PPC. The latter has been the focus of the research project PluriTAV (2017–2019), in which the authors of this paper have taken part, aimed at developing a set of activities involving the use of AVT for the acquisition of PPC in the language classroom. This paper sets out to illustrate the theoretical framework sustaining the PluriTAV project and to reflect on the potential of AVT for the acquisition of PPC. This will be achieved by establishing links between AVT modes, transfer/mediation skills, and the descriptors developed within the Framework of Reference for Pluralistic Approaches to Languages and Cultures (FREPA) (Candelier et al. 2012), as well as referring to sample and specific activities developed within PluriTAV. In line with this project, the emphasis will be on language teaching in Higher Education, yet the discussion and the activities suggested could be easily extrapolated and adapted to other educational contexts and levels of language ability.