Reading Glossed Passages in English to Improve Comprehension: An Eye Tracking Study
Abstract
Glosses or short explanations of vocabulary items are commonly found in language learning materials. Research that use offline learning measures to examine effects of glosses on learning found that they are useful in facilitating vocabulary acquisition and overall text comprehension. This paper reports a small-scale study that combined an offline measure of learning with online measures of reading behaviour in an attempt to provide a more comprehensive picture of reading and learning with glossed passages. The eye tracking methodology was used to provide insights into the cognitive processing of reading. A group of 15 university undergraduates read four glossed and non-glossed passages in English and answered comprehension questions afterwards. The findings revealed that glossed and non-glossed passages were read differently with readers attempting to integrate glosses and text information in the former. Vocabulary knowledge was found to predict comprehension performance and to some extent, the processing of glosses. The findings also suggest that moderate amount of attention could be more useful for comprehension as too much attention appeared to indicate comprehension difficulties. Suggestions to promote more strategic and useful processing of glossed passages are discussed.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Ariew, R., & Ercetin, G. (2004). Exploring the potential of hypermedia annotations for second language reading. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 17, 237–259.
Bailin, A., & Grafstein, A. (2001). The linguistic assumptions underlying readability formulae: A critique. Language & Communication, 21(3), 285–301. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0271-5309(01)00005-2
Cheng, Y., & Good, R. L. (2009). L1 glosses: Effects on EFL learners’ reading comprehension and vocabulary retention. Reading in a Foreign Language, 21(2), 119–142.
Chuang, Y. Y., Vollmer, M. L., Shafaei-Bajestan, E. et al. (2021). The processing of pseudoword form and meaning in production and comprehension: A computational modeling approach using linear discriminative learning. Behavior Research Methods, 53, 945–976. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-020-01356-w
Cohn, N. (2013). Navigating comics: an empirical and theoretical approach to strategies of reading comic page layouts. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 186. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00186
de Groot, A. M. B., & van Hell, J. G. (2005). The learning of foreign language vocabulary. In J. F. Kroll & A. M. B. de Groot (Eds.), Handbook of bilingualism: Psycholinguistic approaches (pp. 9-29). New York: Oxford University Press.
Get your document's readability and level statistics. (2018). Retrieved from https://support.office.com/en-us/article/get-your-document-s-readability-and-level-statistics-85b4969e-e80a-4777-8dd3-f7fc3c8b3fd2?ui=en-US&rs=en-US&ad=US#__toc342546557
Godfroid, A. (2019). Eye tracking in second language acquisition and bilingualism: A research synthesis and methodological guide. Routledge: New York.
Golonka, E. M., Bowles, A. R., Frank, V. M., Richardson, D. L., & Freynik, S. (2014). Technologies for foreign language learning: A review of technology types and their effectiveness. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 27(1), 70–105. doi:10.1080/09588221.2012.700315
Grabe, W. (2009). Reading in a second language: Moving from theory to practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Horst, J. S. (2013). Context and repetition in word learning. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 149. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00149
Jaafar, N. M. & Thang, S. M. (2020). Processing of a multi-representational science passage by ESL learners. GEMA Online® Journal of Language Studies, 20(4), 18–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/gema-2020-2004-02
Just, M. A., & Carpenter, P. A. (1980). A theory of reading: From eye fixations to comprehension. Psychological Review, 87(4), 329–354.
Khezrlou, S., Ellis, R., & Sadeghi, K. (2017). Effects of computer-assisted glosses on EFL learners' vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension in three learning conditions. System, 65, 104–116.
Koda, K. (2004). Insights into Second Language Reading: A cross-linguistic approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lemhöfer, K., & Broersma, M. (2012). Introducing LexTALE: A quick and valid lexical test for advanced learners of English. Behavior Research Methods, 44(2), 325–343. doi:10.3758/s13428-011-0146-0
Mason, L., Tornatora, M. C., & Pluchino, P. (2013). Do fourth graders integrate text and picture in processing and learning from an illustrated science text? Evidence from eye-movement patterns. Computers & Education, 60(1), 95–109. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2012.07.011
Mason, L., Tornatora, M., & Pluchino, P. (2015). Integrative processing of verbal and graphical information during re-reading predicts learning from illustrated text: an eye-movement study. Reading and Writing, 28(6), 851–872. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-015-9552-5
Mohd Yusof, S., Mohd Lazim, Z., Salehuddin, K., & Mohamad Shahimin, M. (2020). Graphic novels: Understanding how fifth graders read literary text through eye movement analysis. Kritika Kultura. 33/34, 388–427. http://dx.doi.org/10.13185/KK2020.03320
Nation, I. S. P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Nation, I. S. P. (2006). How large a vocabulary is needed for reading and listening? Canadian Modern Language Review, 63(1), 59–82.
Rayner, K., Chace, K. H., Slattery, T. J., & Ashby, J. (2006). Eye movements as reflections of comprehension processes in reading. Scientific Studies of Reading, 10(3), 241–255. doi:10.1207/s1532799xssr1003_3
Rayner, K. (2009). Eye movements and attention in reading, scene perception, and visual search. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 62(8), 1457–1506. doi:10.1080/17470210902816461
Plass, J. L., Chun, D. M., Mayer, R. E., & Leutner, D. (2003). Cognitive load in reading a foreign language text with multimedia aids and the influence of verbal and spatial abilities. Computers in Human Behavior, 19(2), 221–243. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/S0747-5632(02)00015-8
Plass, J. L., & Jones, L. C. (2005). Multimedia learning in second language acquisition. In R. E. Mayer (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning (pp. 467–488). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Scheiter, K., & Eitel, A. (2017). The use of eye tracking as a research and instructional tool in multimedia learning. In C. A. Was, F. J. Sansosti, & B. J. Morris (Eds.), Eye-tracking technology applications in educational research (pp. 143–164). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Schmitt, N. (2008). Review article: Instructed second language vocabulary learning. Language Teaching Research, 12(3), 329-363. doi:10.1177/1362168808089921
Sulaiman, N. A., Salehuddin, K., & Khairuddin, R. (2018). Academic word list knowledge of Malaysian ESL undergraduates. GEMA Online® Journal of Language Studies, 18(4), 1–14. http://doi.org/10.17576/gema-2018-1804-01
Sulaiman, N. A., Salehuddin, K., & Khairuddin, K. (2020). Reading English academic texts: Evidence from ESL undergraduates’ eye movement data. 3L: Language, Linguistics, Literature®, 26(1), 60–78. http://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2020-2601-05
Tham, I., Chau, M. H., & Thang, S. M. (2019): Bilinguals’ processing of lexical cues in L1 and L2: an eye-tracking study. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 33(7). doi: 10.1080/09588221.2019.1588329
Warid Mihat, Hazita Azman, & Soh, O. K. (2018). Bringing reading research in multilingual Nusantara into a new direction through eye-tracking. Journal of Nusantara Studies (JONUS), 3(2), 107–123.
Warren, P., Boers, F., Grimshaw, G., & Siyanova-Chanturia, A. (2018). The effect of gloss type on learners’ intake of new words during reading: Evidence from eye-tracking. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 40(4), 883–906. doi:10.1017/S0272263118000177
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/gema-2021-2103-07
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
eISSN : 2550-2131
ISSN : 1675-8021