Correlation Analysis

In order to try to determine the existence of a relationship between our variables, a correlation coefficient was calculated. Given the considerable number of incomplete answers in the larger sample, a correlation analysis would have been biased since the computing of zeros (standing for “no answer”) might have interfered with the rest of the data and created a pattern that otherwise did not exist. For this reason, the correlation coefficients were only calculated for the smaller sample (57 participants).

44 Please note that for video games, the comparison is partly biased since the question asked concerned the language most played in and not the fact that it was the original or not. Data on subtitle use were not gathered either.

45 One respondent commented playing in English half of the time and in French the other half, but said the choice stemmed from lack of choice more than personal entertainment. We therefore considered this lack of choice had to do with the non-availability of localised versions and classified the answer under “original version”.

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Data showed a very strong positive relationship between participants’ written comprehension in English and their oral comprehension in the same language (+0.92).

This means that, generally speaking, the higher the level in written comprehension, the higher the level in oral comprehension and vice-versa. On the contrary, someone with a low level in written comprehension will also tend to have a low level in oral comprehension.

The following graph illustrates this very strong correlation.

There was also a strong relationship between the language and version in which respondents watched foreign series (provided they spoke the original language of the series) and their practice when it came to watching movies (+0.71). People who watched series in original versions (represented by the number 4 in the graph below) therefore tended to be the same as those who watched movies in their original versions (represented by 4 as well), whereas those who watched one with subtitles (number 2 or 3) or in a dubbed version (number 1) usually did the same with the other (see graph below).

Figure 32. Positive correlation between participants’ oral and written comprehension in English

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Other relationships included a moderate positive correlation between the following variables:

• Country of origin and country of residence (+0.44)

• Level of written comprehension in English and the language in which a foreign written product was read (+0.41)

• Level of oral comprehension in English and the language in which a foreign written product was read (+0.41)

• Total number of games played and games played in the last year (+0.52)

• The language in which a foreign written product was read and the language in which gamers mostly played (+0.49)

• Localisation level mostly encountered and gamers’ satisfaction with French localisations (+0.48).

On the other hand, moderate negative correlations were also noted:

• Gaming frequency and total number of games played (-0.58)

• Gaming frequency and number of games played in the last year (-0.56)

• Language in which gamers mostly played and localisation level mostly encountered (-0.42)

• Language most played in and gamers’ satisfaction with French localisations (-0.55).

Figure 33. Positive correlation between the language and version in which participants watch series and movies

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This last point is interesting since it shows that people who usually played in the original language tended to be more dissatisfied with the quality of French localisations than people that played in their mother tongue (French). This makes sense since it is part of the reasons given by players for using the original version, as described in section 5.3.3.

To sum up, this chapter focused on providing a detailed analysis of the results obtained from the questionnaire, both for the larger sample (92 then 75 respondents) and the smaller one (57). In general, similar trends were observed. The background information section revealed a sample population massively masculine, French and with a tendency to be under 35 and have a relatively high fluency in English. Education and professional backgrounds were varied, although people working in scientific and technical activities and in the information and communication industry were more present. The second section, focusing on gaming experience, revealed that overall the sampled had mostly played a large number of games and did so on a regular basis. In terms of gaming preferences, MMORPGs came first and as regards with playing language, a small majority of participants favoured English over their mother tongue. However, 40% of participants stated they did not pay attention to the original language of the game, which may seem contradictory. In terms of experience with localised games, respondents encountered all localisation degrees equally. These were overall more satisfied than dissatisfied with localisations into French, but to a small extent. They reported encountering mainly translation issues, as well as dubbing ones, both of which can have detrimental effects on various aspects of the game. Finally, a clear majority of players favoured gameplay and scenario over language and graphics in a game. Regarding the last section of the questionnaire, it appeared that overall, our respondents favoured original versions of cultural and entertainment products, be it games, books, movies or series, something which may be partly explained by the high level of fluency they had. Last, a correlation analysis was conducted to try to establish relationships between values. Among others, a very strong correlation was obtained between participants’ level of written and oral comprehension in English. After having set our initial hypotheses against actual data and analysed in detail the many aspects covered in our study, we shall discuss some of them more thoroughly.

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