Audiovisual translation as a gateway to intercultural and sociolinguistic mastery of Italian: A Teaching Proposal

Abstract

This article explores the crucial role of subtitling TV series as an acquisition tool for implementing idiomatic, intercultural, and sociolinguistic skills among university students of the Italian language. Through these exercises, students improve not only their lexical and grammatical comprehension but, by being exposed to diverse social norms, values, and communicative patterns, also manage to develop a deeper intercultural sensitivity (Gagliardi 2021). The following article examines the translations carried out by a group of third-year students (2024/2025), Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Zagreb. These translations involve scenes taken from two Croatian TV series, Dnevnik velikog Perice (2024) and Bitange i princeze (2005), which feature various sociolinguistic variations (differences in register, colloquialisms, and slang). These variations facilitated a discussion on how such elements can be rendered in the target language. It can therefore be confirmed that the use of TV series in a practical educational context can bridge the gap between formal linguistic knowledge and the pragmatic, culturally appropriate use of the language. This provides a bridge toward more effective communication and a more multifaceted understanding of the sociocultural context of the Italian language (Sobrero e Miglietta 2011).