The cognitive processing of nouns and verbs in second language reading: an eye-tracking study

Abstract This study explores the cognitive processing of nouns and verbs in second language (L2) reading, aiming to investigate the potential differences and their effects on comprehension performance. Twenty-five Chinese students read an English text while their eye movements were recorded. A reading comprehension test evaluated the participants’ L2 reading comprehension performance. The results reveal a significant difference in total reading time between nouns and verbs. Additionally, total reading time, gaze duration, and the number of fixations on both nouns and verbs are negatively correlated with L2 reading comprehension performance. These findings suggest that while the initial processing mechanisms of nouns and verbs may be similar, they diverge in late stages of processing.