According to this chart, there are two main research areas: pure and applied:
I. descriptive goal: it aims at describing the phenomenon in its practical manifestation (Descriptive Translation Studies – DTS -> ‘Descriptive Studies on Respeaking’);
II. theoretical goal: it aims at establishing some general principles to explain and reproduce this phenomenon (Translation Theory – TTh -> ‘Respeaking Theory’).
These two goals are then subdivided into specific study areas. Descriptive translation studies can be:
- product-oriented: the study of the products by analysing and comparing the results obtained according to one or more predetermined parameters, i.e. same TV genre and/or same target and/or same working conditions and/or same working language (comparative study);
- process-oriented: the study of what happens on a practical and psychological level during the respeaking process (psychology and process of respeaking);
- function-oriented: the description of the function of both the product and the process within the receiving socio-cultural context (sociology of respeaking)
Translation theory studies are subdivided into:
- general theory: it aims at explaining and taking into consideration the act of respeaking in its basic elements, which are relevant for respeaking as a whole (it is an ambitious goal, as it wants to create the basics for any TV genre and product);
- partial theories: they aim at explaining and taking into consideration the act of respeaking according to specific parameters: language (intralingual and interlingual respeaking); area (a specific cultural, social, linguistic area); type of text or, better, TV genre to be respoken (sport, information, entertainment, etc.); problem (according to the specific respeaking-related problems, i.e. human-machine interaction, instantaneous correction of mistakes, etc.); target (people with hearing impairments or with normal hearing); strategies (used in the respeaking process, i.e. omission, expansion, etc.); field of application (conventions, TV subtitles, report writing, etc.).
I. respeaking training: learning and experience;
II. respeaking tools: use of new technologies (speech recognition software, subtitling software, etc.);
III. respeaking-related criticism: evaluation of results by experts and targeted audience.