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Power of an idea
Information and communication initiatives that are geared towards development are often met with skepticism and resistance. An argument put forth in this regard is that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are far too incompatible with the existing competencies at the ground level, and hence cannot result in any large scale or lasting effects on human development. The fact that most ICT for development initiatives are as yet struck in an experimental format across the world, has only served to further such doubts.
The need of the hour is to make use of technologies that draw upon existing infrastructure, rather than promoting grandiose ICT projects that remain stuck in the forever pilot mode. Only a miniscule percentage of these projects are able to justify the expense incurred on their deployment. One venture that falls under this category is Same Language Subtitling (SLS), the brainchild of Dr. Brij Kothari, an associate professor at the Centre of Innovation in Education at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad and the CEO of BookBox, a social-entrepreneurial organisation. SLS seeks to promote mass literacy through visual entertainment; that is through televised film and folk songs.
Simply put, SLS refers to subtitling television and/or film programmes in the same language as the audio that is the subtitling of Hindi songs in Hindi and so on for each language. The song audio is synchronised with scrolling text through colour changes in the subtitles, which helps the audience in identifying each word and reading/singing along as the song is played.
Launched as an experiment six years ago, the project has been funded by various national and international organisations including the World Bank (It won the Development Marketplace award in the Banks Global Innovation Competition), UNESCO, the Indian governments Ministry of HRD (Dept. of Education), Indian Space Research Organisation and IIM, Ahmedabad. According to Dr. Kothari, Film songs are the core of Indian popular culture, offering a unique opportunity to strengthen audio-text associations. The main advantages, which do not exist in regular dialogue, is that songs are inherently repetitive and people subconsciously anticipate song phrases.
The typical audiences for an SLS project are neo-literates or school dropouts who subconsciously strengthen their reading skills while watching film songs. A study that was conducted in the early days of the experiment demonstrated that over the period of a year, the word recognition and retention capacity of the sample audience went up to 30-40 syllables from a miniscule 8-12 syllable level. Apprehensions about visual interference because of the subtitles were disproved through separate surveys conducted at the classroom, village and regional level. In fact, a majority of the sample audience claimed to prefer programming with the subtitles than without. Subtitles help the audience in identifying the lyrics, singing along and also memorising the songs, something that most of us like to do, reasons Dr. Kothari. However, for SLS to have a sustained effect on reading skills, it has to be a long drawn process ranging over a period of few years so that people can become full fledged, active readers. The outcome is also directly proportional to the exposure that the audience receives to such programmes, which is currently limited to two half hour weekly shows.
Presently, the project that was initiated through the regional channels in Gujarat has been adopted at the national level. Both Chitrahaar and Rangoli, popular Hindi film-song shows on Doordarshan are based on the SLS pattern. Incidentally, the TRP rating of Rangoli registered an increase of 15 per cent after the telecast of 12 SLS based episodes, which led the CEO of Prasar Bharati KS Sarma to recommend that the SLS methodology be adopted for songs that run as a part of the weekend Hindi movies as well.
The efficacy of SLS lies in a number of factors that include its reach, easy adaptability, simplicity as well its cost effectiveness. Dr. Kothari estimates that the cost of SLS programming comes to about 3 paise per person annually.
Interestingly, SLS might soon start generating revenue for Doordarshan as the channel plans to exploit the hiked-viewership by roping in private sponsors for the shows. In order to limit the advertisement time, revenues would be generated by rolling tickers that would be run at the bottom of the screen after each song.
With the government being on the verge of implementing SLS nationally and regionally in all song based shows, Dr. Kothari is hoping to upscale the SLS system in the entire SAARC region and establish a SAARC Regional Centre of Subtitling in the subcontinent.
As a parallel to SLS on songs, Dr. Kotharis BookBox also creates electronic story books, based on childrens folk tales from across the world. The books aimed at a younger audience, also follow the SLS format and are available for being telecast on the television or for viewing on computers, through the internet (www.bookbox.com) or in the form of VCDs. Electronic books ably exploit the appeal of the visual medium for children and subconsciously promote their reading habits, while familiarising them with native and international literature.
In July this year, the BookBox project was honored with the Manthan Award for best e-learning practices in the country. The Manthan Award is an Indian initiative by Digital Empowerment Foundation, India and PlaNet Finance, India to select and promote the best practices in e-content and creativity in the country. It involves representatives from each state and union territory of India and visualises the bridging of digital divide and narrowing of the content gap as its overall goal. Clearly, the reception of SLS so far has been phenomenal and unsurprisingly so; highlighting as it does the hidden potential of simple ideas and the promise of technology.
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"Subtitling"
Time: 19.01.2007 23:36
Comment: Subtitling films/other media is an integral part of cultural transfer between all countries & regions.
Same language Subtitling (SLS) is one of essential way to educate people.Font size should be precisely selected & text should have a high level of quality control to achieve a wider reach.
Lawrence Vishnu
CEO
Media Movers, Inc.
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