Exploring Translation Strategies in Romantic Movie Titles on IMDB (2020–2024): A Pedagogical Approach to Enhancing Students’ Translation Skills in Thai Context
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Published:
Dec 31, 2025
Keywords:
Translation Strategies, Cultural Adaptation, Intercultural Communication, Localization, Translational Equivalence, Language Proficiency
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Abstract
This research examines the different strategies employed in translating the titles of romantic movies released between 2020 and 2024 that fall within the IMDb rating range of 5.0 to 10.0. 46 movie titles were purposively selected to examine how translators adjusted globalized Thai contents within the Thai language and culture. These movie titles were released on Netflix, True ID, SF Cinema, and Prime. The study implements a quantitative methodology to analyze the strategies in terms of their use and allocation. Among the strategies applied, “naming a new name regardless of the old name” was the most popular option, being used 32.61% of the time. “All transliteration and adding Thai language” came in second, at 15.22%. The strategies “partial translation and adding Thai language” and “naming a new name based on the original meaning” each represented 10.87%. “All translations and adding Thai language” was 8.70% of the total. Other strategies, such as “transliteration and adding Thai language and partial transliteration without adding Thai language,” contributed to 4.35% each as well. The strategies used the least were “partial transliteration and adding Thai language” and “partial translation without adding Thai language,” both at 2.17%. This suggests that the translators' primary concern is the Thai audience, who strongly prefer culturally adapted transliterated titles. The integration of teaching materials that are geographically relevant, culturally important, and genre-specific, such as the titles of romantic movies, is very important for translation instruction. Students' understanding of translation and intercultural awareness is advanced as they engage, think critically, and analyse tone, sentiment, and cultural subtleties in the titles. This specific approach to a genre encourages students to creatively and assertively address the challenges involved in cultural mediation. This expands the teaching of translation and intercultural understanding. By nurturing the innovative transcreation and intercultural sensitivity in teaching, the Thai students in translation attain educational communicative competence.
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Rodpan, S., & Khamchaiya, S. (2025). Exploring Translation Strategies in Romantic Movie Titles on IMDB (2020–2024): A Pedagogical Approach to Enhancing Students’ Translation Skills in Thai Context. Traduction Et Langues, 24(02), 21-41. Retrieved from https://revue.univ-oran2.dz/revuetranslang/index.php/translang/article/view/1048
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References
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Dvorianchykova, S., Bondarchuk, J., Syniavska, O., & Kugai, K. (2022). Development of intercultural communicative competence in the process of teaching English to future interpreters. Arab World English Journal, 13(2), 50–60. https://doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol13no2.4
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Gu, Q., & Ling, Y. (2024). The translation of animation titles: A case study on English, Japanese, and Chinese titles. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.59400/fls.v6i1.1961
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Janthajumrusrat, C. (2019). The strategies of foreign action movies translation into Thai. Mahachula Academic Journal, 1(6), 254–264.
https://so04.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/JMA/article/view/169903
Kaneeva, A., & Bagdasaryan, T. (2021). Features of translation transformations in film titles as a linguoculturological specificity of the language. E3S Web of Conferences, 273, 11035. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202127311035
Kazykhankyzy, L., & Alagözlü, N. (2019). Developing and validating a scale to measure Turkish and Kazakhstani ELT pre-service teachers’ intercultural communicative competence. International Journal of Instruction, 12(1), 931–946. https://doi.org/10.29333/iji.2019.12160a
Kettongma, N. (2024). Movie titles’ translation strategies from English into Thai in Monomax application. Community and Social Development Journal, 25(3), 195–213. https://doi.org/10.57260/csdj.2024.269277
Kiraly, D. (2016). Towards a view of translator competence as an emergent phenomenon: Thinking outside the box(es) in translator education. In D. Kiraly, C. Hansen-Schirra, & M. Maksymski (Eds.), New prospects and perspectives for educating language mediators (pp. 3–33). Umschlagabbildung.
Laongpol, J. (2020). Translation of Korean movie and TV drama titles from English into Thai: Techniques and lexical usage. Korea Open Access Journals, 26(2), 261–290. https://doi.org/10.22473/kats.2020.26.2.009
Liu, Y. (2022). Translation strategies for English-language movies under the application of mobile cloud computing combined with deep learning. Preprint. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2221218/v1
Nedergaard‐Larsen, B. (1993). Culture‐bound problems in subtitling. Perspectives, 1(2), 207–240. https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.1993.9961214
Nikiforova, M., & Skvortsova, I. (2021). Intercultural competence and intercultural communication in the context of education for sustainable development. E3S Web of Conferences, 296, 08026. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202129608026
Manipuspika, Y. S., & Winzami, D. R. J. (2021). Translation of idioms: How they are reflected in movie subtitling. Arab World English Journal for Translation and Literary Studies, 5(1), 113–125. https://doi.org/10.24093/awejtls/vol5no1.8
Matthews, B. (2020). The role of reflexive thought in the achievement of intercultural competence. Intercultural Education, 31(3), 330–344.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2020.1728093
Mu, Y., & Yu, B. (2023). Developing intercultural competence in college business English students: A study of innovative teaching in China. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 92, 101747. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2022.101747
O-Thong, N., Prasitwanitch, S., & Boonrasamee, N. (2024). Translation strategies used in Netflix movie titles from English to Thai. Aksara Pibul Journal, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Pibulsongkram Rajabhat University, 4(1), 89–106.
Ouahmiche, G., & Bouguebs, R. (2024). Preface: Beyond words: Investigating language’s role in shaping society, learning, and identity. International Journal of Multilingualism and Languages for Specific Purposes, 6(1), 9–10. https://doi.org/10.52919/ijmlsp.v6i01.64
Ouahmiche, G., & Bouguebs, R. (2025). Preface: Bridges and borders: Reframing English language education in a digital age. International Journal of Multilingualism and Languages for Specific Purposes, 7(1), 9–14. https://doi.org/10.52919/ijmlsp.v7i01.94
Panakul, T. (2020). Translation and the problems of cross-cultural translation. Humanities Journal (Graduate School), Ramkhamhaeng University, 9(1), 60–71. https://so08.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/ghuru/article/view/241
Putri, F. E., & Wijaya, A. (2021). The comparison of strategies used in translating idiomatic expressions in a fansub and the official subtitle of Game Night movie (2018). International Review of Humanities Studies, 6(2), 708-725. https://scholarhub.ui.ac.id/irhs/vol6/iss2/7
Pym, A. (2023). Exploring translation theories (3rd ed.). Routledge.
Sierra-Huedo, M. L., & Nevado-Llopis, A. (2022). Promoting the development of intercultural competence in higher education through intercultural learning interventions. Revista Electrónica Educare, 26(2), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.15359/ree.26-2.28
Taşkın, B., & Çömlekçi, M. F. (2023). Building intercultural communication competence in translator training: A metacognitive approach. Çeviribilim ve Uygulamaları Dergisi, 34, 111–130. https://doi.org/10.37599/ceviri.1281338
Thongwan, S. (2012). Translating American comedy movie titles into Thai: Strategies and analysis. (Master’s thesis, Silpakorn University). http://www.sure.su.ac.th/xmlui/handle/123456789/12911
Tosanguan, K. (2022). A study of Thai translation name patterns of Chinese horror films titles from 1980 to 2013. HUSO Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 6(2), 52–67.
Gudmanian, A. G., & Tsubera, N. I. (2023). Ways of translating the filmonyms of American comedies into Ukrainian. International Humanitarian University Herald. Philology, 61, 207–210. https://doi.org/10.32782/2409-1154.2023.61.46
Xu, L. (2024). A brief analysis of English film title translation from the perspective of the strategies of domestication and foreignization. Journal of Education and Educational Research, 7(2), 177–182. https://doi.org/10.54097/przswq97
Yang, S., & Duan, E. (2022). Intercultural communication competence and intercultural communication method in German teaching. International Journal of Frontiers in Sociology, 4(4), 95–102. https://doi.org/10.25236/IJFS.2022.040416
Yu, R. (2018). A preliminary study of English movie title translation. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 8(12), 1658. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0812.11
Valızadeh, M., & Vazifehkhah, A. E. (2022). Investigating translation quality assessment on movie subtitling: Overt and covert analysis based on House’s TQA model. RumeliDE Dil ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi, 30, 1375–1381. https://doi.org/10.29000/rumelide.1190401
Zhong, X., Liu, X., & Chen, Q. (2024). Research on enhancing students’ intercultural awareness and competence in English teaching. Journal of Contemporary Educational Research, 8(7), 358–364. https://doi.org/10.26689/jcer.v8i7.7806
Alhendi, O., Lengyel, P., Balogh, P., & Tóth, J. (2022). Psychometric properties of intercultural competences in a Central European context. Sustainability, 14(12), 7502. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14127502
Bai, Z. (2018). On translation strategies of English movie titles. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 9(1), 119-124. https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.0901.15
Byram, M. (2021). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence: Revisited. Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781800410251
Cintas, J. D., & Remael, A. (2014). Audiovisual translation: Subtitling. Routledge.
Dvorianchykova, S., Bondarchuk, J., Syniavska, O., & Kugai, K. (2022). Development of intercultural communicative competence in the process of teaching English to future interpreters. Arab World English Journal, 13(2), 50–60. https://doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol13no2.4
Fantini, A. E. (2018). Assessing intercultural communicative competence. In Intercultural communicative competence in educational exchange (pp. 46–62). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351251747-3
Gambier, Y. (2013). The position of audiovisual translation studies. In The Routledge Handbook of Translation Studies (pp. 45–59). Routledge.
Gu, Q., & Ling, Y. (2024). The translation of animation titles: A case study on English, Japanese, and Chinese titles. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.59400/fls.v6i1.1961
House, J. (2020). Translation as a prime player in intercultural communication. Applied Linguistics, 41(1), 10–29. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amz007
Hoyte-West, A. (2024). Preface: Exploring the digital arena: Language, communication, and sociocultural shifts. International Journal of Multilingualism and Languages for Specific Purposes, 6(2), 9–12. https://doi.org/10.52919/ ijmlsp.v6i02.68
Istiqomah, L., Rohimah, A. N., & Pratiwi, A. W. (2019). Slang language subtitle strategy in the movie entitled The Social Network. Langkawi: Journal of the Association for Arabic and English, 5(2), 152-162. https://doi.org/10.31332/lkw.v5i2.1298
Iglikova, R. V., & Usataya, O. (2019). Strategies and techniques in the translation of movie titles (an English–Russian comparative case study). Studies in Linguistics, Culture, and FLT, 7(3), 59–70. https://doi.org/10.46687/SILC.2019.V07.005
Iemtom, P., & Wongwattana, U. (2022). The translation of movie titles from English to Thai: A cognitive linguistics approach. Journal of Liberal Arts, Thammasat University, 1(23), 416–434. https://doi.nrct.go.th/admin/doc/doc_635377
Janthajumrusrat, C. (2019). The strategies of foreign action movies translation into Thai. Mahachula Academic Journal, 1(6), 254–264.
https://so04.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/JMA/article/view/169903
Kaneeva, A., & Bagdasaryan, T. (2021). Features of translation transformations in film titles as a linguoculturological specificity of the language. E3S Web of Conferences, 273, 11035. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202127311035
Kazykhankyzy, L., & Alagözlü, N. (2019). Developing and validating a scale to measure Turkish and Kazakhstani ELT pre-service teachers’ intercultural communicative competence. International Journal of Instruction, 12(1), 931–946. https://doi.org/10.29333/iji.2019.12160a
Kettongma, N. (2024). Movie titles’ translation strategies from English into Thai in Monomax application. Community and Social Development Journal, 25(3), 195–213. https://doi.org/10.57260/csdj.2024.269277
Kiraly, D. (2016). Towards a view of translator competence as an emergent phenomenon: Thinking outside the box(es) in translator education. In D. Kiraly, C. Hansen-Schirra, & M. Maksymski (Eds.), New prospects and perspectives for educating language mediators (pp. 3–33). Umschlagabbildung.
Laongpol, J. (2020). Translation of Korean movie and TV drama titles from English into Thai: Techniques and lexical usage. Korea Open Access Journals, 26(2), 261–290. https://doi.org/10.22473/kats.2020.26.2.009
Liu, Y. (2022). Translation strategies for English-language movies under the application of mobile cloud computing combined with deep learning. Preprint. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2221218/v1
Nedergaard‐Larsen, B. (1993). Culture‐bound problems in subtitling. Perspectives, 1(2), 207–240. https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.1993.9961214
Nikiforova, M., & Skvortsova, I. (2021). Intercultural competence and intercultural communication in the context of education for sustainable development. E3S Web of Conferences, 296, 08026. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202129608026
Manipuspika, Y. S., & Winzami, D. R. J. (2021). Translation of idioms: How they are reflected in movie subtitling. Arab World English Journal for Translation and Literary Studies, 5(1), 113–125. https://doi.org/10.24093/awejtls/vol5no1.8
Matthews, B. (2020). The role of reflexive thought in the achievement of intercultural competence. Intercultural Education, 31(3), 330–344.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2020.1728093
Mu, Y., & Yu, B. (2023). Developing intercultural competence in college business English students: A study of innovative teaching in China. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 92, 101747. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2022.101747
O-Thong, N., Prasitwanitch, S., & Boonrasamee, N. (2024). Translation strategies used in Netflix movie titles from English to Thai. Aksara Pibul Journal, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Pibulsongkram Rajabhat University, 4(1), 89–106.
Ouahmiche, G., & Bouguebs, R. (2024). Preface: Beyond words: Investigating language’s role in shaping society, learning, and identity. International Journal of Multilingualism and Languages for Specific Purposes, 6(1), 9–10. https://doi.org/10.52919/ijmlsp.v6i01.64
Ouahmiche, G., & Bouguebs, R. (2025). Preface: Bridges and borders: Reframing English language education in a digital age. International Journal of Multilingualism and Languages for Specific Purposes, 7(1), 9–14. https://doi.org/10.52919/ijmlsp.v7i01.94
Panakul, T. (2020). Translation and the problems of cross-cultural translation. Humanities Journal (Graduate School), Ramkhamhaeng University, 9(1), 60–71. https://so08.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/ghuru/article/view/241
Putri, F. E., & Wijaya, A. (2021). The comparison of strategies used in translating idiomatic expressions in a fansub and the official subtitle of Game Night movie (2018). International Review of Humanities Studies, 6(2), 708-725. https://scholarhub.ui.ac.id/irhs/vol6/iss2/7
Pym, A. (2023). Exploring translation theories (3rd ed.). Routledge.
Sierra-Huedo, M. L., & Nevado-Llopis, A. (2022). Promoting the development of intercultural competence in higher education through intercultural learning interventions. Revista Electrónica Educare, 26(2), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.15359/ree.26-2.28
Taşkın, B., & Çömlekçi, M. F. (2023). Building intercultural communication competence in translator training: A metacognitive approach. Çeviribilim ve Uygulamaları Dergisi, 34, 111–130. https://doi.org/10.37599/ceviri.1281338
Thongwan, S. (2012). Translating American comedy movie titles into Thai: Strategies and analysis. (Master’s thesis, Silpakorn University). http://www.sure.su.ac.th/xmlui/handle/123456789/12911
Tosanguan, K. (2022). A study of Thai translation name patterns of Chinese horror films titles from 1980 to 2013. HUSO Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 6(2), 52–67.
Gudmanian, A. G., & Tsubera, N. I. (2023). Ways of translating the filmonyms of American comedies into Ukrainian. International Humanitarian University Herald. Philology, 61, 207–210. https://doi.org/10.32782/2409-1154.2023.61.46
Xu, L. (2024). A brief analysis of English film title translation from the perspective of the strategies of domestication and foreignization. Journal of Education and Educational Research, 7(2), 177–182. https://doi.org/10.54097/przswq97
Yang, S., & Duan, E. (2022). Intercultural communication competence and intercultural communication method in German teaching. International Journal of Frontiers in Sociology, 4(4), 95–102. https://doi.org/10.25236/IJFS.2022.040416
Yu, R. (2018). A preliminary study of English movie title translation. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 8(12), 1658. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0812.11
Valızadeh, M., & Vazifehkhah, A. E. (2022). Investigating translation quality assessment on movie subtitling: Overt and covert analysis based on House’s TQA model. RumeliDE Dil ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi, 30, 1375–1381. https://doi.org/10.29000/rumelide.1190401
Zhong, X., Liu, X., & Chen, Q. (2024). Research on enhancing students’ intercultural awareness and competence in English teaching. Journal of Contemporary Educational Research, 8(7), 358–364. https://doi.org/10.26689/jcer.v8i7.7806