Technology
was indeed one of the greatest things that happened to humanity. When we
discuss technology the first thing that comes to our mind is the significance
it has to scientific development but what most of us fail to understand and
often ignore is the impact technology has had on basic humanities and the
prorogation of culture, language, and literacy. There is smart device-based
apps available which can teach one a whole new language without the need of one
teacher, with online websites one can analyze their own writing and see where
they lack strength and the examples continue. The field of discussion here is
broad enough to write a book on it thus the focus of this essay remains on the
impact of entertainment websites such as Netflix and Hulu etc on language and
literacy.
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Websites such
as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and Apple TV today form the most integral part
of the entertainment provision globally. These websites provide on demand media
content aligned with user’s interest, choice, and preferences. The overwhelming
popularity of these sources are the reason why these websites are today an
important part of defining global literacy and languages. Netflix can offer you
audio in multiple languages for the same shows and thus help you not be
restricted to learn about a culture by viewing their shows. Entertainment websites serve as means of
cross-cultural transfer of literacy and language, provide an opportunity for
people to experience new forms of languages and help people adapt to other
cultures breaking stereotypes elevating global entertainment and literacy. At
the same time however the representation of various culture can actually be
misleading at occasions and the translation can also vary from service to
service and in fact from show to show being good and sometimes being simple a
bad use of the language itself.
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In order to evaluate the impact
these websites have on the propagation of literacy and language the criteria to
be used for evaluation are the number of audience that the technology can
reach, the frequency with which the people actually are watching content other
than that of their culture, analysis of the ability of the technology to have
an impact and the number of options it has available to help audience have
various literacy and language experiences.
Before
however moving on we need to define what exactly language is itself. A language
is a system of communication that consists of a set of sounds and written
symbols that people in a specific country or region use to communicate while
speaking or writing. (Language Definition and Meaning | Collins English
Dictionary, 2022). Language is a medium of communication which has helps
humans collaborate on a large scale throughout history and thus it is exactly
the medium that is used to transmit and transfer new ideas, concepts, and news
across people. At the same time where language is a tool it is also a barrier.
Even today there are countries in the world that are not using English as a
medium of instruction and thus it becomes hard to share literature across the
world if that is the case.
Even though
language was invented ages ago it still acts as a barrier today when it comes
to collaboration but that is exactly where technology comes into play.
Translators are available online that can help anyone decipher any form of text
easily. The main focus of this research is to understand how entertainment
websites play a role when it comes to language promotion and promotion of
literacy across the world. As the websites such as Netflix and etc have a lot
of content available in multiple languages thus it can be used as a medium to
transmit and learn new languages and improve literacy.
The ability
of the entertainment website to actually have an impact on the promotion of
language and the establishment of literacy stems from the impact entertainment
has itself. Entertainment is a very strong means to transfer a message across
culture and across borders. The industry can act to educate people about
subjects and concepts that are otherwise not talked about across the world. The
education provided by such mediums is more impactful as there is visual
stimulus along with the flow of information as well. Technology itself has an important impact on
the language accusation and learning itself. Writing is a technology in and of
itself. When our forefathers began carving cave walls, they had devised a
remarkable method of capturing transient, ephemeral sounds that vanished in the
air and expressing them in a form that would last thousands of years.
History has
repeatedly demonstrated that the implement or surface of a given communication
tool has a significant impact on language – especially writing consider the
stiff, straight lines of cuneiform script chiseled into stone tablets, or the
flowing Chinese characters painted with a brush. Both technologies affected the
way their respective languages looked and felt. (The Impact of Technology on
the Words We Use, 2021). Thus, in terms of impact we can see how the
technology is prevalent in their criteria. Entertainment is truly a powerful
tool, and it has been and is supported by the views shared by experts in the
field as stated above.
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In order to
evaluate the technology in terms of accessibility and the amount content that
this technology provides in term of number of language options available. In
order to evaluate a research article from a Turkish author is taken as turkey
even though is a well-known country we still know little to nothing about the
language in general and at the same time the language of instruction in turkey
is Turkish and thus analysis of how the option to them for other languages will
help evaluate the impact entertainment websites have on the society. The
digital media sector continues to evolve daily, providing a wide range of
possibilities for people who enjoy viewing TV shows and/or movies in their
leisure time. Serial-movie platforms have attracted a large number of consumers
and users in Turkey after becoming established, particularly abroad, and then
maintaining the necessary localization processes. The submission of content in
several languages with subtitles is one of the reasons why audiences favour
such sites. The usage of such videos and movies has been centred on teaching
foreign languages and assisting foreign language learning within the scope of
the project. Netflix programmes, one of the most popular digital platforms, as
well as language instruction and translation applications based on these
programmes, were investigated in this study. Netflix, a service that allows
users to view award-winning TV shows, movies, series, and documentaries on
internet-connected smartphones, tablets, and desktops, has recently grown in
popularity. It has a massive surveillance capability and is available in over
190 countries.
It allows you
to pause and repeat broadcasts (series, movies, documentaries, and shows) in a
variety of languages, with subtitles and dubbing as an option. While Netflix
offers subtitles in a variety of languages, it also allows dubbed viewing in
5-7 languages It allows audiences to adjust the subtitle and audio settings in
the preferred language, as well as watch shows in the original language or with
translation versions, thanks to these features. (Türkmen). Thus Netflix enables
not only introduction on new concepts to a different demographic but also
allows people to get familiar with various type sof languages at the same time
acting as a breaker of barrier among populations and different cultures. Thus
studying the user case of turkey not only tells how impact the platforms can be
for a particular group of people but also hint towards the global impact the
technology is capable of having.
Moving on to
see the number of actives users on these websites have. Just taking one example
justifies the reason why this technology fulfills this criterion which is that
even being paid Netflix has 221 million subscribers as of 2022 (Statista, 2022).
And to further emphasize the point the season dark which was an originally
German season in German translated by Netflix “according to the data, Dark
has an unusually high global travelability metric of 17.7%, meaning the show
travels globally 3.4 times better than the average title produced in Germany” (“Dark”
Could Be Netflix’s Biggest European Hit so Far, n.d.). Thus proving that
entertainment website do a good job in enabling people to learn about other
languages and culture at the same time. It might be a argument to say that
peoples till watch the stuff in English but we should recognize that even if so
the culture at hand is being promoted, new idea are being shown all of which
help us improve and establish our literacy.
Technology
can be used a means to do a lot of good but what is often ignored is their role
in implementation and usefulness in literacy and education. Technology if used
correctly can act as a means of introduction to new concepts and ideas and at
the same time. Entertainment websites play an important role in it as well. It
should be noted that sometimes these very shows can be misleading and promote a
negative image of certain culture but it is not a factor that we can associate
with the technology itself rather with the producer of the show who should be
called in for question. Entertainment websites by having a strong impact of
using entertainment as tool, multitude of options to learn and experience, a
huge user base and willing viewers to justice to the promotion and prevalence
of new languages, culture and ideas which all contribute towards the
development of literacy.
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