1.3 First and Second Language Comprehension with Mental imagery
Both first (L1) and second (L2) languages have a complex relationship with mental imagery. Imagery has been observed to increase emotional responses, reading comprehension, and retention in L1 reading through vividness. Though studies between L2 reading and mental imagery are limited, some show that imagery training can benefit L2 comprehension and immersion.
Numerous studies indicate that mental imagery and L1 reading comprehension have an intricate relationship. Yousef Atoum and Reziq (2018) found that mental imagery ability predicted reading comprehension among 7th-grade students. The authors correlated reading comprehension scores through various levels (literal, gross, critical, analytical, and overall) with the Sheveland scale, a mental imagery scale spanning seven dimensions (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, gustatory, olfactory, movement, and feelings). Their results indicated that visual mental imagery could predict 34.8% of reading comprehension. They conclude that mental imagery assists students in creating scenarios that help them understand the overall theme and meaning of the text. The authors also claim that mental imagery deepens the semantic understanding of the word. They state that imagining ”affects the process of reading comprehension related to the ability to absorb texts and to understand the different relationships between events” (YOUSEF ATOUM; REZIQ, 2018). They also argue for the importance of visualization to active processes such as analyzing, forming criticisms, and conclusions.
Boerma and colleagues (2016) conducted a study that showed that when reading a story in L1 where the narrative alternates between text and pictures, children who scored higher on mental imagery skills tended to score higher on reading comprehension tasks than children with lower mental imagery scores. They suggested that children skilled at using mental imagery could build mental models to ”connect pictures and words.” This connection improved their understanding and allowed them to seamlessly alternate between pictures and stories.
As other studies, such as Kocaarslan (2016), found relationships between levels of mental imagery and L1 reading comprehension, it is crucial to consider whether vividness of mental imagery can improve reading comprehension scores.
For L2 reading and mental imagery, Wang and colleagues have found that individuals learning English as a foreign language (EFL) can improve reading comprehension through ”constrained imagery strategy training” (WANG et al ., 2015). Constrained imagery is strictly imagining what is written or described, while non-constrained imagery allows for freedom of imagery. They tested three conditions for EFL students: control, non-constrained, and constrained training. The non-constrained training utilized a standard imagery treatment, while the constrained training used the standard imagery treatment and guidance to use constrained imagery. This guidance encouraged readers to reimagine the scenario if they did not accurately imagine the scene. The researchers found that the group with the constrained training had the highest reading comprehension performance.
Based on the L1 and L2 reading studies, mental imagery seems to be relied upon for understanding and recalling events. The more explicit and clear the mental imagery is, the higher the comprehension. Vague imagery indicated a lack of importance and deep understanding of the material. This difference may be crucial for moral dilemma reading comprehension.
Previous research illustrates the foreign language effect on moral dilemma comprehension and decision-making. Individuals who read moral dilemmas in their second language are more likely to select utilitarian responses than in their first language. Studies on mental imagery have shown that mental imagery is relied upon for understanding and recalling events -specifically, the more vivid the mental imagery, the higher the level of narrative retention and comprehension. In contrast, vague imagery resulted in a higher rate of misremembering or misunderstanding the narrative.
The present study investigates the relationship between mental imagery and moral dilemma decision-making in L2 comprehension. We assume that a second language compared to a first language elicits lower vividness of a story, which decreases story immersion. The decline in immersion widens the distance between the reader and the characters in the story.
In our study, we set up two moral dilemma task conditions. Participants in one condition were given mental imagery directions, whereas participants in the other condition were not. We hypothesize that while L2 moral dilemmas increases utilitarian responses, the imagery directions will increase the vividness of the imagery, hence increasing immersion. The immersion will result in a stronger emotional reaction toward the dilemma, resulting in higher deontological responses2. EXPERIMENT
2.1 Method
For the non-imagery direction group, fifty-eight English second language learners (36 females and 22 males, mean age = 29.41) were recruited from two Japanese crowdsourcing websites. The recruitment conditions were restricted to native Japanese individuals between 18 to 35 and with a TOEIC score over 700 or Eiken1 test score higher than Grade 2. They were rewarded 400 Yen for their participation. For the imagery direction group, fifty-four participants (25 females, 29 males, mean age = 29.41) with identical criteria were recruited from a Japanese crowdsourcing website.