Die Augen reden mächtiger als die Lippen: Eye-Tracking-„Einblicke“ in die Sprache

Abstract

The last few decades, due to increasingly modern technologi­cal solutions, have brought about the possibility of more detailed and in-depth explorations of human brain functioning and its properties. In the first part of the present article, the characteristics of the object of research in linguistics are presented, and in the second, the possibilities of its exploration are described. Special attention was focused on the possibilities of using eye-tracking research in linguistics. Summing up the observations, it should be admitted that in order to make progress in linguistics and to be innovative, experimental research carried out using apparatus must be incorporated and started. However, it must be emphasized that this type of experimental research in linguistics, including obviously eye-tracking studies, is scientifically relevant only to the point that it really contributes to the creation of new knowledge or the verification of scientific knowledge gained earlier, and only if it contributes to the scientific exploration of the object of linguistics.