5. DISCUSSIONS ANDCONCLUSION 
The current study examines the effect of mental imagery on moral decision-making in a second language. Previous FLE research has shown that second language settings tend to increase logical thinking styles promoting utilitarian judgments favoring the overall benefit of the scenario (Hayakawa & Keysar, 2018). This trend makes a sharp contrast with the findings about corresponding studies in L1, which have shown that participants are more likely to choose immediate emotional reactions resulting in deontological decisions in first-language settings. This effect was explained by the possibility that L1 evoked intense and more emotional mental imagery while reading the stories. Unlike the L1 settings, the L2 trend toward utilitarian decision implies that such mental imagery does not seem to be evoked because L2 requires more cognitive effort and deliberate thinking; this decreases the resources and attention towards producing mental imagery.
This conjecture has led us to the hypothesis that using mental imagery during L2 moral dilemmas should increase the vividness and immersion of the scenarios, resulting in an emotional decision. To test this hypothesis, we created one group that was shown imagery instructions and another that was not. If mental imagery influenced foreign language reading and decision-making, as we assumed, the group receiving the imagery instructions should experience higher narrative immersion and increased deontological responses. 
The current study found a moderate increase in deontological choices after providing the imagery instructions. In addition, an increase in story immersion and vividness was observed. On the other hand, the group not shown imagery directions did not show any changes in immersion levels or dilemma decision rates between the two stories.    
The outcomes concerning mental imagery vividness are consistent with the view that the Foreign Language Effect dampens the quality of mental imagery while reading in a second language. We argue that this reduction in imagery occurs due to cognitive resources consumed by lower-level language processes in L2, compared to the automatic and instinctual native language. In addition, the second language is often obtained in a less emotionally charged and active environment, such as classrooms and using textbooks, compared to first languages. It is plausible to assume that these differences change the vividness of the imagery created while reading.
Though the study was not conducted with L1 English participants, the assumption of imagery reduction due to cognitive resource limitation suggest that the results of the pilot study seem to offer some indirect evidence. The pilot study results indicate that the imagery instructions we devised yielded a higher score on vividness in the L2 condition and reached the level of the scores from the L1 participants. Thus, we contend that the instructions in the experiment led the L2 participants to engage in more deliberate imagery of the story.
Overall, our study demonstrated that encouraging the use of mental imagery can mitigate the issues surrounding the decline of mental imagery in foreign language reading, ultimately influencing one’s decision in a moral dilemma. The application of mental imagery direction tasks may provide new insight into the Foreign Language Effect.