The Effects of Text Structure on learners’ reading: A multimodal Perspective from eye-tracking

Eye-tracking

How do learners read in the various text conditions? 

  • What are learners’ entry points into the three text conditions?
  • How do learners’ fixations change in the three text conditions? 
  • What is learners’ total dwell time on Areas of Interest (AOI)?
  • How can we characterize learners’ reading paths in the three text conditions? 
1. Verbal
1. Verbal Text Layout
2. Supplementary
2. Supplementary Layout
3. Complementary
3. Complementary Layout
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  • Burkina Faso undergraduate students majoring in English (n=24)
  • About 90% of their courses are taught in English 
  • They were between 18 and 24 years of age
  • They spoke a variety of local languages with French being the official language 
  • Upon selection, participants were divided into three groups and each group was tasked with reading one type of text and producing a summary of the text. 

  • Participant entered the experimental setting one-by-one and prior to begin reading, participation conditions were explained to them

  • Upon completion, participants left the experimental room 

  • The data was collected as videos files on the Gazepoint Analysis Software. 
  • The data was then treated to remove entries with missing fixation points. 
  • The remaining data was then analyzed for
    • entry points into the text measured as the first fixation in the text. 
    • Areas of noticeability measured as the number of participants who looked at an area, the number of fixations prior to first fixation in an area, and or the time to first fixation in an AOI
    • Areas of Interest measured as the number of fixations on an area, the total dwell time on an area, and/or the percentage of time spent on an area
    • Cognitive Processing measured as the average fixation duration
    • reading path measured as the directionality of saccades within and between Areas of Interest. 

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