Where Do Children Look When Watching Videos With Same-Language Subtitles?

Lopukhina, Anastasiya; van Heuven, Walter J. B.; Crowley, Rebecca; Rastle, Kathleen

Abstract

Influential campaigns in the United Kingdom and the United States have argued that same-language television subtitles may help children learn to read. In this study, we investigated the extent to which primary-school children pay attention to and read subtitles and whether this is related to their reading proficiency. We tracked the eye movements of 180 British children in Years 1 to 6 who watched videos with and without subtitles. Results showed that attention to subtitles was associated with reading proficiency: Superior readers were more likely to look at subtitles than less proficient readers and spent more time on them. When children looked at words in the subtitles, they showed evidence of reading them. We conclude that some degree of reading fluency may be necessary before children pay attention to subtitles. However, by the third or fourth year of reading instruction, most children read sufficiently quickly to follow same-language subtitles and potentially learn from them.

Citation

Lopukhina, A., van Heuven, W. J. B., Crowley, R., & Rastle, K. (2025). Where Do Children Look When Watching Videos With Same-Language Subtitles?. Psychological Science, 36(4), 223-236. https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976251325789

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 19, 2025
• Online Publication Date: Apr 2, 2025
• Publication Date: 2025-04
• Deposit Date: Apr 4, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 4, 2025
• Journal: Psychological Science
• Print ISSN: 0956-7976
• Electronic ISSN: 1467-9280
• Publisher: Association for Psychological Science
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 36
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 223-236
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976251325789
• Keywords: reading, same-language subtitles, closed captions, primary-school children, eye tracking
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/29841667
• Publisher URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09567976251325789