Using eye tracking to understand learners' reading process through the concept-mapping learning strategy

The author used an eye-tracking methodology to examine the influence of the concept-mapping learning strategy on learners performing an English reading task. Eighty-six freshmen enrolled in English courses participated in this control-group pretest-posttest experiment, and received either traditional or concept-mapping instruction for learning English reading skills. A concept-mapping strategy was introduced to the learners in the experimental group to improve their reading ability. The results of independent t tests, in which eye-tracking data on fixation time and fixation path were used, indicated that the participants who received concept-mapping instruction exhibited shorter fixation times on the core concept and other content in the text, compared with the group that received traditional instruction. Moreover, the experimental group demonstrated longer and irregular rereading paths than the control group (CG) did. These results indicated that concept mapping serves as a reference to assist average readers to improve and to identify primary ideas that clarify the meaning of an article.