Audiovisual Translation in the Foreign Language Classroom. Introduction

Audiovisual translation (AVT) has been hailed by many as one of the most prolific and fast-growing areas of research in the field of Translation Studies and as the quintessential translation practice of the 21st century. This is hardly surprising in a society like ours, saturated with screens and mediated by the constant presence of moving images, as we turn to audiovisual productions for entertainment, to secure information, to carry out our work, to keep in touch with our peers, to learn and to study. As a result of the exponential boom in audiovisual texts and formats over recent decades, today’s language learners are typically very familiar with a range of digital formats that crop up, and indeed they use, in their everyday life for very many different purposes. This exposure, in which social media and interactions are also instrumental, means that language learners are also versed in the
interplay of the different codes on which audiovisual material draws in order to construct meaning.