Dubbing versus subtitling yet again?: An empirical study on user comprehension and preferences in Spain

The dubbing versus subtitling debate has been a recurrent topic in the audiovisual translation literature, but empirical research into the reception of both modes is still lacking. This article presents the results of an experiment that aimed to investigate to what extent comprehension, memory, and enjoyment of a film differ in a dubbed and a subtitled version in a country that traditionally uses dubbing, like Spain. Fifty-one young Spanish adults participated in the study, which measured general comprehension, dialogue recognition, face-name association and visual scene recognition, as well as evaluative measures including film appreciation, self-reported effort related to film viewing, and metacognitive judgments of memory.