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In:Quantitative Methods in Multilingual Acquisition and Processing
Edited by Gabrielle Klassen and John W. Schwieter
[Research Methods in Applied Linguistics 16] 2026
► pp. 204–226

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Chapter 10
Eye-tracking as a window into second language development and processing

Published online: 26 March 2026
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https://doi.org/10.1075/rmal.16.10mun
Abstract
Eye-tracking technology has become an important tool in the arsenal of researchers investigating bilingual and multilingual language acquisition and processing. Eye-tracking involves the registration of eye movements and fixations while reading, reading while listening, watching audio-visual content, or while looking at images and scenes during language comprehension and production. Eye-tracking technology offers millisecond-precise information about what a person is visually attending to, providing an indication of what they are processing at any given moment and how much cognitive effort they expend. Importantly, eye-tracking provides researchers with the possibility of exploring learning, processing, and knowledge that is outside of conscious awareness. It can be used to investigate the early stages of language representation and processing in bilinguals and multilinguals, as well as later stages, providing an understanding of development in processing.
Article outline
  • 10.1Introduction
  • 10.2Eye-tracking
  • 10.3Technical and methodological considerations
  • 10.4Interim summary
  • 10.5Eye-tracking in bilingual children
  • 10.6Eye-tracking in adults
    • 10.6.1Eye-tracking morphosyntax and syntax
    • 10.6.2Eye-tracking single words and multiword sequences
    • 10.6.3Eye-tracking in other tasks: Reading while listening and/or watching and in language production
  • 10.7Conclusion
  • References
References (53)
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