From Movement to Meaning: Eye-Movement Measures as Predictors of L1 and L2 Reading Comprehension

Purpose Recent studies have shown that eye movements can reliably predict reading comprehension. However, because most evidence is drawn from skilled adult first-language (L1) readers, it remains unclear to what extent the findings generalize to second-language (L2) readers. The present study explores the role of reading proficiency on the relationship between eye movements and reading comprehension.Method We analyzed eye-tracking-while-reading data from 45 L1 English (Mage = 18.79, 73% female; domestic students at a Canadian university) and 399 L2 English readers (Mage = 18.89, 48% female; Chinese-speaking international students at the same university). All participants silently read the same English passages. Comprehension was measured as total number of correct responses to open-ended questions. Data for the L2 group was collected at three timepoints. This design enabled cross-sectional (L1 vs. L2) and longitudinal (within-L2 reader) comparisons regarding the link between eye movements and comprehension. For each group and timepoint, linear regression models were fitted to comprehension scores using all possible combinations of eye-tracking variables as predictors.Results Eye movements explained, on average, over half of the variance in L1 readers’ comprehension scores, whereas the overall amount of explained variance in L2 readers’ scores was drastically lower, especially at earlier timepoints. The most useful eye-movement predictors differed between L1 and L2 readers, and across L2 timepoints.Conclusion The findings suggest that L1 and L2 readers adopt distinct online reading strategies when extracting meaning from text and highlight the importance of language proficiency when assessing the link between eye movements and reading comprehension.