Story World Absorption : An Analysis of EFL Students´ Immersive Reading Experience and Perceived Reading Enjoyment

Abstract: Prior research within the field of immersive reading has determined that the process of being absorbed by a story consists of four dimensions: attention, mental imagery, emotional engagement, and transportation, dimensions that in turn influence readers' perceived enjoyment when reading fiction. In contrast to a majority of the prior research within the field of immersive reading, this essay aims to identify factors that specifically influence EFL students' story world absorption and reading enjoyment. To gather data, four adult EFL students enrolled in an English 7 class were asked to complete a semi-structured interview regarding their experiences of story world absorption and enjoyment after reading "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin and "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway. The results show that aspects such as high levels of suspense, surprise, emotion, description, and internal focalization positively influenced the participants' story world absorption and reading enjoyment. In addition, high levels of language comprehension, prior knowledge of particular subject areas, being able to relate to the characters or the story world, as well as being able to explore a role through a character that the students either desired or feared impacted story world absorption and reading enjoyment positively. These findings, which were mainly in accordance with prior research's results, could be utilized by EFL teachers when choosing fiction for students and when constructing pre- and mid-reading assignments to promote reading motivation and facilitate learning.