The current study investigates access patterns to English media, particularly audiovisual input, among Italian university students. It is based on a questionnaire responded to by 572 participants and is the follow-up of a previous survey carried out in 2016 (Pavesi, Ghia 2020). Results point to a strong orientation to online media and a preference for audiovisuals, and are explored in light of their acquisitional potential and implications.
As other dubbing countries, Italy may be undergoing a radical change in modalities of access to audiovisual products and other media, with young people becoming more involved in watching subtitled telecinematic materials (Perego et al. 2015; 2016) and accessing a variety of (especially online) media in English. Recent and systematic empirical data is scant on Italian young audiences' actual habits and preferences when accessing English-language media to document quantitative shifts in receptive behaviour and attitudes. These may concern frequency of exposure/use, preferences for specific input sources, preference for dubbing or subtitling, choice of privileged support, and preference for given subtitle types (cf. Eurobarometer 2012; Gambier et al. 2015).
To investigate Italian learner-users' access patterns to English media, in 2020 a questionnaire was administered to 572 students in several disciplines at the University of Pavia, a middle-sized university in Northern Italy, following on a previous study conducted four years earlier (Pavesi, Ghia 2020) and shows data on participants' exposure to different media in English, with a special focus on audiovisual input. Further qualitative insights are provided on viewers' motivations for selecting preferred viewing modalities, including such variables as availability, language learning and interpersonal factors.
Results confirm that informal access to English-language media is widespread within the sample, and subtitled audiovisual products play a key role, mainly when accessed online. A search for authenticity and an orientation to language are among the driving factors affecting students' viewing choices and their growing preference for subtitled video input. These results are discussed in light of input characteristics and (naturalistic) second language acquisition.
