Abstract
Studying the role of expertise in poetry reading, we hypothesized that poets' expert knowledge comprises genre-appropriate reading- and comprehension strategies that are re-flected in distinct patterns of reading behavior. We recorded eye movements while two groups of native speakers (n=10 each) read selected Russian poetry: an expert group of professional poets who read poetry daily, and a control group of novices who read poetry less than once a month. We conducted mixed-effects re-gression analyses to test for effects of group on first-fixation durations, first-pass gaze du-rations, and total reading times per word while controlling for lexical- and text variables. First-fixation durations exclusively reflected lexical features, and total reading times re-flected both lexical- and text variables; only first-pass gaze durations were additionally mod-ulated by readers' level of expertise. Whereas gaze durations of novice readers became faster as they progressed through the poems, and differed between line-final words and non-final ones, poets retained a steady pace of first-pass reading throughout the poems and within verse lines. Additionally, poets' gaze durations were less sensitive to word length. We conclude that readers' level of expertise modulates the way they read poetry. Our find-ings support theories of literary comprehension that assume distinct processing modes which emerge from prior experience with literary texts.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.