Same Language Subtitling
USABILITY/STATUS: In Use
INNOVATOR: Planet Read
GEOGRAPHIC FOCUS: Global
SOLUTION TYPE: Television
Summary
PlanetRead’s Same Language Subtitling (SLS) provides subtitles for the lyrics of existing film songs (or music videos) on TV, in the language in which they are sung. SLS on songs supports automatic reading practice and overcomes the motivational barrier to reading practice among weak readers.
Usability/Features
- Operating system: N/A
- Hardware: Television
- How it supports learning: SLS is being implemented on eight weekly TV programs in India one each in Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Telugu, and Tamil. Collectively, this provides 30 minutes of regular, weekly reading practice to 150 million weak readers. Longitudinal studies have found that SLS more than doubles the number of good readers in primary schools.
- Costs: Free for users, requires relationship with broadcasting companies to add new content
Setting/Context
- Settings: Any
- Target Populations: Adults, children
- Current Language(s): Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Marathi
- Geography (locations): Global
Use Case
The findings from two studies on the impact of a pilot SLS programme in a classroom setting and on TV programs in Gujarat state, revealed that even limited regular exposure to an SLS program had a positive impact on children’s and adults’ reading skills. This finding was corroborated by a longitudinal study of an SLS program implemented on Rangoli, a TV program of film-based songs broadcast nationwide, for nearly a decade (one hour per week, from 2002 to 2012).
Related Training Materials, Toolkits, and Resources
Blogs and Reviews
- Bollywood Karaoke and Same Language Subtitling to Promote Literacy
- “The Unexpected Way that Bollywood Could Help Millions”
- “Closed Captioning Gives Literacy a Boost”
- “First Winners of Library of Congress Literacy Awards Announced”