Bridging Language Exposure and Multilingualism
Localization methods in mass media are changing the way audiences engage with foreign languages, offering opportunities and challenges in fostering multilingualism.
While these efforts succeed in broadening exposure to diverse languages, they do not always guarantee active language acquisition, as true multilingualism requires deeper involvement than passive engagement associated with mass entertainment.
Facing the Future
The relationship between demographics and audience preference is exemplified by what statistics may suggest. Spanish is the most spoken non-English language in the U.S., but Korean-language TV dominate Netflix streaming, taking the top and second spots for the most-watched non-English TV titles. While Korean language dominates on TV streaming and is the second most popular non-English language on US music charts, it is not among the most spoken languages, or even Asian languages spoken in the US; those being Chinese, Tagalog, and Vietnamese, respectively.
This snapshot may reveal that increased engagement with foreign language media may not directly correlate to language prevalence or acquisition, but they do offer opportunities for immersion. That’s not to say that those opportunities are not emerging; in a very recent blog post announcing its new subtitling and dubbing access across TVs, and PCs, Netflix acknowledged viewer feedback showing that their audiences use these features for language learning.
An increase in viewer requests to add more languages, and popularity of foreign language media show the consumer appetite for non-English media continues to grow. With recent political changes through executive orders, and debates over DEI in the national gaze, the possible trajectory of language exclusion in our society adds increasing hurdles to multilingualism and multiculturalism at large in the US.
But ultimately, audience preferences continue to drive the demand and acceptance of non-English media. Localization in its different forms enable continued engagement with foreign language content.