Can same‑language subtitles help children learn to read?
Only a few studies have tested whether same-language subtitles help children become better readers, and their findings are mixed. To provide an evidence-based answer, the Nuffield Foundation recently funded two large-scale studies at the University of London’s Department of Psychology. In this article, Dr Anastasiya Lopukhina & Professor Kathy Rastle discuss their findings.
It’s an appealing idea – turn on English subtitles and effortlessly boost children’s reading. Promoted by the Turn on the Subtitles campaign in the UK, the idea went viral on social media and in the press. It has been called “the world’s largest literacy project” and attracted the attention of literacy organisations, media stakeholders and celebrities. But is the claim actually true?
First, do children actually look at subtitles?
We used eye‑tracking (a remote camera that records where your eyes look on a screen) with 180 children from Years 1-6 while they watched short, age‑appropriate clips with and without subtitles. We found that younger pupils at the end of Year 1 barely looked at the subtitles. Engagement with the subtitles increased through Years 2 and 3 and then levelled off; by Year 6, it looked a lot like adults. In other words, the results showed that children need a degree of reading fluency – the ability to read around one word per second – before they even look at subtitles.
Second, do subtitles improve reading ability?
To test this question directly, we ran a randomised controlled trial with 127 children in Years 2-3. We looked specifically at reading fluency – how quickly and effortlessly children can translate printed words into spoken language. We tested children’s reading before and after a six-week home-based intervention. During the intervention, one group of children watched television with English subtitles and a matched control group watched without. Both groups watched around 11 hours of television and streaming content per week, meaning that the children in the ‘subtitles’ group had around 66 hours of subtitles exposure in total.
All children improved in reading fluency over the six‑week period, which is exactly what one would expect from regular school instruction at this age. But crucially, the ‘subtitle’ group did not make any extra gains over the control group. Even children who watched more hours of subtitled content didn’t show additional benefit. In other words, there was no evidence that turning on same‑language subtitles boosts reading fluency over and above school.
What does this mean for families, teachers, and media organisations?
- There is no shortcut to reading. Reading is built through evidence-based instruction and a lot of practice with text. Subtitles are not a replacement for that, and they did not accelerate fluency in our trial.
- Same-language subtitles are not useless, but they are not a reading intervention. Older, fluent readers, including adults, often find subtitles helpful or enjoyable. Having them on screen might help with understanding accents and multi-tasking. For those who can already read well, subtitles might help enhance vocabulary (although this claim needs to be investigated). However, this is different from “subtitles improve children’s literacy.”
- It’s fine to use subtitles, but also fine to turn them off. Many children in our studies liked having the subtitles on, but others found them distracting or blocking the picture. It’s a personal preference whether to use them; your child will not miss any literacy boost if they prefer the screen without subtitles.
- Make time for reading at home. Provide your child with storybooks and other interesting reading materials, talk about books, and find daily time for supervised reading practice. Our research shows that subtitled television and streaming content does not count as reading time.
Our research conveys a clear message: same-language subtitles do not improve reading for primary-aged children beyond what they learn in school. There is no ‘magic button’ for literacy. Confident and joyful readers are built through years of instruction, dedication, and practice.
Further information is available on the project website.
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