Does Language Affect Fiction Transportation?

We love reading fiction. It allows us to escape reality and become fully immersed in another world. While reading, we often lose track of time, mimic the emotions of the characters, focus intently on the story, and place ourselves in the characters' shoes. This deep engagement is known as "narrative transportation," where we feel as if we are spectators within the story.

This raises an interesting question: does the language we read in affect our level of transportation? Some of us read fiction in our native language, while others prefer to read in a second language. Do both groups experience the same level of being transported? Are they equally drawn into the story, or does the language (native vs. non-native) influence their experience? To answer these questions, Chung-Fat-Yim et al. (2019) conducted an experiment (Experiment 1).

Study overview

Chung-Fat-Yim et al. studied 143 adult participants, including 87 native English speakers and 56 non-native English speakers. Participants were randomly assigned to read one of two short stories provided by the researchers. The stories featured a student pursuing an academic goal, with one version ending in success and the other in failure.

After the reading sessions, participants completed a validated scale to rate their level of transportation. They answered questions on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from ‘Not at all’ to ‘Very much’. Sample questions included: “While reading the narrative, I could easily picture the events taking place,” “The narrative affected me emotionally,” and “I was mentally involved in the narrative while reading it.”

Findings

According to the data from the study, researchers suggest that both native and non-native readers experience the same level of transportation while reading fiction. In other words, regardless of whether one is a native or non-native speaker, it appears that narrative transportation can be achieved equally. They also discovered that years of English fluency did not strongly relate to narrative transportation, even after controlling for age.

Surprisingly, this effect held true across different modalities. Participants in both the native and non-native groups experienced similar levels of transportation when exposed to auditory stories (Experiment 2) or films (Experiment 3).

For detailed information, please refer to the original article.

Chung-Fat-Yim, A., Cilento, E., Piotrowska, E., & Mar, R. A. (2019). Are stories just as transporting when not in your native tongue? Language and Cognition, 11(2), 285-309. https://doi.org/10.1017/langcog.2019.15

Picture Credit.

"Girl reading book" by Fatima Karashaeva