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A synthetic review of eye tracking in second language research : application and replicability
Author
Hu, Xin
Supervisor
Aryadoust, Vahid
Abstract
The use of eye tracking as an unobtrusive data collection method of real-time visual information processing has become increasingly popular in second language (L2) research. Despite the gradual uptake of this method, there are knowledge gaps in current understanding of eye-tracking methodology in L2 studies. These include the areas of application and gaze behavior measures used across research areas, the types of cognitive mechanisms investigated using eye tracking and, importantly, the replicability of L2 eye-tracking studies. This dissertation set out to address these gaps by systematically synthesizing empirical L2 studies that have applied the eye-tracking method.
Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and using the Scopus database, a total of 111 eye-tracking studies in L2 research published in 17 influential (quartile-1) peer-reviewed journals were identified. Each study was coded for features related to research areas, cognitive mechanisms, eye-tracking measure types, and reporting practices. The data were synthesized in order to determine where and how eye tracking has been applied in L2 research, and examine the extent to which the studies can be replicated by future researchers based on the information provided in the papers.
The review found eight main areas of application of eye tracking in L2 research, among which grammar and vocabulary were the most frequently lines of inquiry. In terms of eye-tracking measures, fixation-based eye-tracking measures at the temporal scale (e.g., first fixation duration, total fixation duration) were found to be predominantly applied, followed by fixation count and dwell temporal measures. The review also identified three types of cognitive mechanisms that have been investigated in L2 eye-tracking studies: attention, cognitive processing, and cognitive load. Attention was predominantly measured via fixation temporal indices, while cognitive processing was frequently measured by using fixation count measures and fixation temporal measures. Regarding cognitive load, the measures adopted to assess this construct mainly depended on task type.
Finally, with respect to replicability, transparent reporting practices were evaluated based on 34 replicability features which were categorized into six domains: study context and participant demographics, materials, apparatus, analysis software, eye data source and data quality, and data pre-processing procedures. The results showed that the lack of transparency in research reporting may have impaired the replicability of eye-tracking studies in the field of L2 research. Notably, more than 95% of the reviewed studies reported less than 70% of the required information essential for future replication studies. Specific replicability features were reported frequently by over 90% of the reviewed studies, such as sample size (99.2%), target L2 (100%), type of eye-tracker (90.1%), and eye-tracker manufacturer and model (98.3%). However, the rest of the features were reported far less frequent, in particular image stimuli size (5.5%), data interpolation (3.3%), noise reduction filter (1.7%), and velocity threshold (4.1%). Overall, the results indicated that the reporting of the information critical to conducting an L2 eye-tracking study was not highly transparent and complete, which would decrease the likelihood of successful replications by other researchers.
In sum, through this study, we have presented an extensive survey of eye tracking in L2 research, which offers important insights into major areas of inquiry in the field.
Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and using the Scopus database, a total of 111 eye-tracking studies in L2 research published in 17 influential (quartile-1) peer-reviewed journals were identified. Each study was coded for features related to research areas, cognitive mechanisms, eye-tracking measure types, and reporting practices. The data were synthesized in order to determine where and how eye tracking has been applied in L2 research, and examine the extent to which the studies can be replicated by future researchers based on the information provided in the papers.
The review found eight main areas of application of eye tracking in L2 research, among which grammar and vocabulary were the most frequently lines of inquiry. In terms of eye-tracking measures, fixation-based eye-tracking measures at the temporal scale (e.g., first fixation duration, total fixation duration) were found to be predominantly applied, followed by fixation count and dwell temporal measures. The review also identified three types of cognitive mechanisms that have been investigated in L2 eye-tracking studies: attention, cognitive processing, and cognitive load. Attention was predominantly measured via fixation temporal indices, while cognitive processing was frequently measured by using fixation count measures and fixation temporal measures. Regarding cognitive load, the measures adopted to assess this construct mainly depended on task type.
Finally, with respect to replicability, transparent reporting practices were evaluated based on 34 replicability features which were categorized into six domains: study context and participant demographics, materials, apparatus, analysis software, eye data source and data quality, and data pre-processing procedures. The results showed that the lack of transparency in research reporting may have impaired the replicability of eye-tracking studies in the field of L2 research. Notably, more than 95% of the reviewed studies reported less than 70% of the required information essential for future replication studies. Specific replicability features were reported frequently by over 90% of the reviewed studies, such as sample size (99.2%), target L2 (100%), type of eye-tracker (90.1%), and eye-tracker manufacturer and model (98.3%). However, the rest of the features were reported far less frequent, in particular image stimuli size (5.5%), data interpolation (3.3%), noise reduction filter (1.7%), and velocity threshold (4.1%). Overall, the results indicated that the reporting of the information critical to conducting an L2 eye-tracking study was not highly transparent and complete, which would decrease the likelihood of successful replications by other researchers.
In sum, through this study, we have presented an extensive survey of eye tracking in L2 research, which offers important insights into major areas of inquiry in the field.
Date Issued
2022
Call Number
P118.2 Hu
Date Submitted
2022