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<p>A common format of almost all English as a foreign/second language (L2) reading materials, that are currently and widely in use, is one where the text is accompanied with a set of comprehension questions, which the L2 learners are trained to approach strategically. This study examines what English L2 learners attend to in such typical reading activities and what reading paths they construct. Twenty-four L2 learners participated in a reading activity that was recorded by an onscreen eye-tracker. The participants, aged 19–20, were in their first year at college, majoring in Engineering, Business and Information Technology. Using measures of eye-tracking such as saccades, fixations, and regressions, the study records the reading paths that the participants constructed while carrying out the reading activity.&#xa0;Eye-tracking evidence (fixation distribution, gaze shifts between the question panel and passage, and observable returns to previously viewed segments) and stimulated-recall interviews were analysed to describe task-driven reading patterns. The findings show that participants frequently treated salient lexical cues (e.g., names, numbers, evaluative words) as keywords, using them as anchors to search the passage and repeatedly cross-check between the question panel and relevant text segments. These results clarify how question-accompanied reading tasks, particularly detail questions, can promote cue-led search and verification patterns. The findings underscore key implications for designing reading activities and assessments that elicit broader engagement with texts.</p>

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Eye-tracking study of L2 learners’ reading paths: new insights into reading strategies

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月29日

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  • Faisal Al Saidi,
  • Tayba Al Hilali

摘要

A common format of almost all English as a foreign/second language (L2) reading materials, that are currently and widely in use, is one where the text is accompanied with a set of comprehension questions, which the L2 learners are trained to approach strategically. This study examines what English L2 learners attend to in such typical reading activities and what reading paths they construct. Twenty-four L2 learners participated in a reading activity that was recorded by an onscreen eye-tracker. The participants, aged 19–20, were in their first year at college, majoring in Engineering, Business and Information Technology. Using measures of eye-tracking such as saccades, fixations, and regressions, the study records the reading paths that the participants constructed while carrying out the reading activity. Eye-tracking evidence (fixation distribution, gaze shifts between the question panel and passage, and observable returns to previously viewed segments) and stimulated-recall interviews were analysed to describe task-driven reading patterns. The findings show that participants frequently treated salient lexical cues (e.g., names, numbers, evaluative words) as keywords, using them as anchors to search the passage and repeatedly cross-check between the question panel and relevant text segments. These results clarify how question-accompanied reading tasks, particularly detail questions, can promote cue-led search and verification patterns. The findings underscore key implications for designing reading activities and assessments that elicit broader engagement with texts.