Investigating Instructed Second Language Acquisition Using L2 Learners’ Eye-Tracking Data

Researchers in second language acquisition have turned to eye-tracking technology, or the real-time recording of eye movements, to study questions of processes and knowledge in adult second language (L2) learning. Following a general introduction about eye-movement recordings, I review current eye-tracking research on L2 vocabulary and grammar acquisition. Eye-tracking research covers the full trajectory of instructed L2 learning, from the early stages of input processing to advanced stages when knowledge is already in place. Of special interest are the cognitive processes (i.e., attention, detection, noticing, sensitivity, anticipation) which researchers operationalize by means of eye-movement data. I discuss how these processes map onto other constructs in current ISLA theory, with special reference to input processing, intake processing, and knowledge processing as described in Leow (2015).