Eye-tracking Technology and its Application in Chinese Teaching and Learning Research

As an important research method in the field of reading research and human-computer interaction, eye-tracking research has recently attracted increasing attention from educators. Thus, more related research on the topic has been published. Selecting three areas closely related to Chinese teaching, this paper reviews the development of eye-tracking research in recent years, and shows its applications and discoveries in Chinese reading, reading strategies, and synchronous online language teaching. It also demonstrates diverse research paradigms and forms of conducting eye-tracking research in language education. This article first introduces a brief history of eye movement research, focusing on the achievements that eye-tracking research has achieved in both Chinese reading and reading strategies. How and what eye-tracking research can contribute to more in-depth analysis of online synchronous Chinese teaching are then exemplified by two innovative eye-tracking studies (Stickler & Shi, 2015; Shi, Stickler, & Lloyd, 2017). The article also provides practical suggestions for Chinese language educators interested in conducting eye movement studies in the future.