What Can Eye Movements Tell Us about Reading in a Second Language: A Scoping Review of the Literature

Abstract

There is a growing interest in the similarities and differences in reading processes in L1 and L2. Some researchers propose that reading shares commonalities across languages, while others state that each language has particularities that would affect reading processes. One way to better understand the reading processes is by using eye-tracking methodologies to explore reading processes online. This review focuses on the research done about reading processes in bilinguals to understand the effect of L1 in L2 processing. We found that most of the studies followed two methods of comparison: Bilinguals vs. monolinguals and L1 vs. L2. In general, bilinguals presented longer times in all reading measures; however, the results are discussed based on different characteristics of the studies and the type of comparison.