Sign Systems Studies

Volume 43, Issue 1, 2015

Semiosic translation: A new theoretical framework for the implementation of pedagogically-oriented subtitling

In this paper, I explore a new type of semiotic translation in the context of Audiovisual Translation Studies (AVTS). To that end, a set of formulaic sequences bestowed of pragmalinguistic value (hedging strings) is analysed. It is argued that the semiotic analysis of conversational features in English may contribute to facilitate their pedagogical exploitation in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms. This analysis builds theoretically on a semiotic translational framework termed Semiosic Translation (and its subset, Semiosic Subtitling) predicated upon three types of translation: (i) Metaleptic translation; (ii) indexical translation; and (iii) translation as dynamic discontinuity. Th e translational rationale thus arrived at is deemed to account for what it is that binds together linguistic signs with other sign systems.