• Eye tracking
• Cognitive translation studies
• Audiovisual translation (AVT)
• Translation and Interpreting
• Cognitive load
• Reading
• Multilingualism
• Translator and interpreter expertise and performance

I started my research career in English literature with a particular interest in the way in which Modernist poets and novelists manipulate language, and in the construction of narrative point of view. From there I started exploring the creation of narrative in film and how audiovisual translation (subtitling and audio description) facilitates the immersion of audiences in the fictional reality of film.

In the past decade my attention has shifted to the multimodal integration of language in video where auditory and visual sources of information supplement and compete with text in the processing of subtitles. 

My research uses eye tracking experiments (combined with psychometric instruments and performance measures) to investigate the cognitive processing of language in multimodal contexts. My current work looks at the impact of redundant and competing sources of information on the reading of subtitles at different presentation rates and in the presence of different languages. I also work in the field of accessible communication. 

I currently supervise four PhD students and one MRes student in areas related to translation studies, audiovisual translation and cognitive translation studies using eye tracking methodologies. 

Current PhD and MRes students:

1. Ahmed Alsharif (PhD). The impact of subtitle presentation speed (low vs. high) on L2 incidental vocabulary acquisition by Saudi University students. (Completion: Semester 2, 2022.
2. Senne Van Hoecke (PhD - Cotutelle, University of Antwerp). Subtitles for access to education: Exploring the impact of intralingual and interlingual subtitling of L2 English university lectures on cognitive load and comprehension. (Completion: Semester 2, 2024)
3. Haiting Lan (MRes). Investigating the impact of advertisements on the reading and comprehension of online news. (Completion: Semester 1, 2023).
4. Ruochong Su (PhD - Cotutelle, BLCU). Assessing Western Readers’ Reception to the English Translation of Contemporary Chinese Novels: Empirical Evidence from Empathy (provisional). (Completion: Semester 2, 2024).
5. Shuangshuang Yang (PhD). Updating, inhibiting, and shifting, as predictors of interpreting performance. A longitudinal study (provisional). (Completion: Semester 2, 2025)

Completed PhD students:

1. Ahmad Assiri (2022). An investigation into conjunctive markers in subtitling between English and Arabic: A corpus-based study.
2. Hayyan Alrosan (2021). Translation of cultural references in the Arabic subtitling of feature films: A parallel corpus-based study
3. Sixin Liao (2021). The impact of visual and auditory information on subtitle processing: An eye tracking study
4. Yousef Sahari (2021). A corpus-based study of culturally sensiteve terms in subtitling Hollywood films into Arabic.
5. Wing (Andrea) Chan (2020). An investigation of subtitles as learning support in university education.
6. Gordon Matthew (2019): Measuring cognitive load in subtitle reading.
7. Sijia Chen (2018): Cognitive load during note-taking in consecutive interpreting.
8. Este Hefer (2012): Reading second language subtitles: case study of South African viewers reading in their native language and L2-English.
9. Suzanne Lum Ayonghe (2010): Language practice: Subtitling as a tool in academic language proficiency programmes.
10. Helena C. Kruger (2005): Language practice (subtitling): Parameters for the training of subtitlers in South Africa.

Completed research Masters degree students:

1. Karine Bachelier (2021), Associate supervisor. Usability of video remote interpreting (VRI) in healthcare settings.
2. Ahmed Alsharif (2019): The impact of presentation rate on the effectiveness of subtitles in learning.
3. Sixin Liao (2018): The impact of bilingual subtitles on film comprehension and cognitive load.
4. Hayyan Alrosan (2017): Translating cultural references between English and Arabic subtitles.
5. Yousef Sahari (2017): The translation of swear words in subtitles.
6. Wing (Andrea) Chan (2016): Comparing the impact of subtitles on learning: Automatically generated vs. corrected subtitles.
7. Lonjiao Sui (2016): Are simultaneous interpreters subject to the central processing bottleneck during language production?
8. Johannes Mahlasela (2013): The impact of subtitling on comprehension in content subjects in an ESL environment.
9. Nicole Wilken (2013): The role of mise-en-scene in film reception.
10. Fanny Lacroix (2012): The use of same-language subtitling in an ESL educational environment.
11. Manuella Fernandes (2004): Optimising subtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing.
12. JAK Olivier (2004): The role of subtitling in the recognition and protection of language rights on the national broadcaster.
13. Willie Landsberg (2000): The translation of dialect.
14. Althea Kotze (1999): The translation of nonsense poetry: Lewis Carroll’s ‘Jabberwocky’.
15. Haidee Kotze (1999): Beat poetry and the twentieth century: Allen Ginsberg.