Ecological Validity in Eye-Tracking

Abstract

Eye-trackers are becoming increasingly widespread as a tool to investigate second language (L2) acquisition. Unfortunately, clear standards for methodology—including font size, font type, and placement of interest areas—are not yet available. Although many researchers stress the need for ecological validity—that is, the simulation of natural reading conditions—it may not be prudent to use such a design to investigate new directions in eye-tracking research, and particularly in research involving small lexical items such as articles. In this study, we examine whether two different screen layouts can lead to different results in an eye-tracking study on the L2 acquisition of Italian gender. The results of an experiment with an ecologically valid design are strikingly different than the results of an experiment with a design tailored to track eye movements to articles. We conclude that differences in screen layout can have significant effects on results and that it is crucial that researchers report screen layout information.

Eyetracking methodology in SCMC: A tool for empowering learning and teaching

“…(Winke et al, 2013, p. 207) Most of the articles in the special issue compiled by Winke, Godfroid and Gass, as indeed most SLA eyetracking studies in the past, are interested in a cognitive perspective and deal mainly with experimental studies. Even those concerned with 'ecological validity' (Spinner, Gass, & Behney, 2013) conclude that a more naturalistic setting might have to be sacrificed in favour of unrealistic tasks to gather more reliable and comparable data: they obtained more accurate data by enlarging the font of the text example and changing the layout, resulting in a format that does not compare to students' normal reading material.…”

Factors Influencing the Use of Captions by Foreign Language Learners: An Eye‐Tracking Study

“…He stated that when reading becomes more advanced or conceptually more complex, eye-fixation duration increases and saccade length 4 decreases. Typographical variables in general influence processing, including the quality of print, the length of the line of text, and the amount of space between the letters (Pollatsek, Reichle, & Rayner, 2006;Rayner, 2009;Reichle, Rayner, & Pollatsek, 2003;Reichle, Warren, & McConnell, 2009;Slattery & Rayner, 2010;Spinner, Gass, & Behney, 2013). Fixations are also longer when readers come across long, lowfrequency, or contextually implausible words or phrases (Inhoff, Starr, Solomon, & Placke, 2008;Joseph et al, 2008;Rayner, Warren, Juhasz, & Liversedge, 2004).…”

The Effect of Using Eye Tracking and Thinking: A loud technique to assist foreign language learners to recognize and understand the meaning of English words in reading texts

“…They found that spacing enhanced the speed of reading while improving the rapid movements of the eye. Spinner, Gass, and Behney (2013) designed two studies to investigate the effect of variety in font size, font type, and display model to determine whether the different ways of presenting the linguistic motive in an eye-tracking experiment would lead to different results. The results of the two studies showed the importance of the display model; in addition, the ideal font size was 24, as used in their second study.…”