ABSTRACT
Eye tracking has become widespread in psychology and psycholinguistic research over the past 30 years, and has even been referred to as the ‘gold standard’ in research in these fields (Rayner, 2009). The technology is quickly becoming a valuable tool in applied linguistics research because it provides a direct measure of processing effort and a rich moment-to-moment data source in ‘real time’. This chapter introduces the technology and discusses the main methodological considerations that need to be taken into account when using eye tracking to investigate the processing of different types of linguistic and non-linguistic stimuli, including written, auditory, non-verbal stimuli (e.g. static or dynamic pictures), and various combinations of these types. Specific examples to illustrate these main methodological considerations will also be provided.
