The recording of eye movements, or eye tracking, has become an important tool for language researchers to probe real-time cognitive processes in first and second language speakers. Researchers turn to eye tracking for its millisecond-precise temporal information and its high spatial resolution. As an exquisitely versatile tool, eye tracking has many applications across SLA disciplines and inspires new work, as well as new takes on old questions each year (see Godfroid, 2020; Godfroid & Hui, 2020; Godfroid, Winke, & Conklin, 2020, for reviews).
In this workshop, participants will learn about how eye-movement registration might enrich their own research studies through the information that eye tracking provides about attention allocation and processing. This “window” into the mind can inform a wide variety of studies, as over 140 eye-tracking studies published in SLA to date can attest to (see Godfroid, 2020; Godfroid & Hui, 2020; Godfroid, Winke, & Conklin, 2020, for reviews). Because eye tracking is so flexible in terms of what researchers can do with it, careful study design is key to the validity of the study. Workshop participants will learn fundamental facts about study design, data analysis, and interpretation of findings so they become more informed consumers of eye-tracking research and feel confident to start designing their own studies. Overall, this workshop will explain the details of how and why to best collect and analyze eye-movement recordings for well-designed and informative SLA research.
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