UTILIZING FILM SUBTITLING AS AN EFFECTIVE PEDAGOGICAL STRATEGY FOR MASTERY OF FRENCH AND ENGLISH LANGUAGES

Abstract This paper examines the pedagogical potential of subtitling in films as a strategic tool for enhancing mastery of French and English languages, with a focus on the Nigerian educational context. Language education, particularly in multilingual societies, faces the dual challenge of fostering linguistic competence while promoting cultural awareness. Subtitling—defined as the synchronized display of written text corresponding to audiovisual dialogue—offers a multimodal learning approach that combines listening, reading, and contextual interpretation. The study reviews conceptual perspectives on language acquisition, highlighting how subtitled films facilitate vocabulary retention, pronunciation accuracy, and comprehension skills in both French and English. Theoretical underpinnings are drawn from Krashen’s Input Hypothesis and Mayer’s Multimedia Learning Theory, which explain how dual-channel processing and comprehensible input support language development. Empirical studies are analyzed to demonstrate the impact of subtitling on learner motivation, attention span, and communicative competence. The paper also addresses challenges such as over-reliance on subtitles, inconsistent translation quality, and infrastructural limitations in Nigeria’s learning environment. Practical solutions are proposed, including scaffolded subtitle strategies, teacher training, quality control in translation, and integration of interactive classroom activities. The study concludes that, when implemented systematically, subtitling serves as an effective, culturally enriching, and learner-centered strategy for promoting bilingual proficiency. It recommends that educators and policymakers incorporate subtitled film content into curricula to maximize linguistic outcomes and cross-cultural engagement. Keywords: subtitling, bilingual education, French language learning, English language learning, film pedagogy