Cultural familiarity in inferential and literal comprehension in L2 reading

This study explores the role of culturally familiar background knowledge in inferential and literal comprehension in L2 reading. Ninety-eight Turkish EFL (English as a Foreign Language) university students were divided into two groups of equivalent English proficiency. They read either the original of an American short story or a ‘nativized’ version, textually and contextually modified to reflect the learner’s own culture. They then answered multiple-choice comprehension questions aimed at checking inferential and literal comprehension independently across the two versions of the story. The results demonstrate that the nativization of a short story from the target language culture facilitates L2 readers’ inferential comprehension significantly, yet does not affect their literal understanding. As such, the results point to a non-interface between inferential comprehension and literal understanding, contrary to the commonly held assumption that an interface exists.