Abstract
The perceptual span, which is the visual area providing useful information to a reader during eye fixation, has been well investigated among native or first language (L1) readers, but not among second language (L2) readers. Our goal was to investigate the size of the perceptual span among Japanese university students who learn English as a foreign language (EFL) to investigate parafoveal processing during L2 reading. In an experiment using the gaze-contingent moving window paradigm, we compared perceptual span between Japanese EFL readers (N = 42) and native English L1 readers (N = 14). Our results showed that (1) the EFL readers had a smaller perceptual span than the L1 readers did, and (2) the facilitating effect of parafoveal information was greater for faster EFL readers than it was for slower EFL readers. These findings provide evidence that EFL readers can only utilize little parafoveal information during fixation when compared with L1 readers.
Highlights
During reading, our eyes can only utilize visual information from alimited sized visual area during a fixation
Window size was included in the linear mixed effects (LME) models for both the English as a foreign language (EFL) and the L1 readers, while reading speed and its interaction with window size were entered into the models for the EFL readers
Sum coding was used for reading speed
Summary
Our eyes can only utilize visual information from alimited sized visual area during a fixation. This area is called the perceptual span, which is approximately 3 - 4 characters to the left and 14 - 15 characters to the right of fixation among native English readers (Rayner, 1998, 2009). The extent to which a reader can utilize parafoveal information in the perceptual span depends on attention and cognitive factors (Miellet, O’Donnell, & Sereno, 2009; see Schotter, Angele, & Rayner, 2012 for a review), which are closely related to text and task demands, as well as individual differences among readers
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