Young second language learners’ visual attention to illustrations in storybooks

Abstract

The major purpose of this study was to test how preliterate learners use illustrations in storybooks to understand a story. Subjects were 23 five-year-old low-SES children, learning Dutch as a second language. Each child was exposed four times to a digital picture storybook. Five books were used and counterbalanced over children and repetitions. During book exposure, eye movements were registered using a remote eye-tracking system. To test whether eye fixations matched the text we scored how often and how long children fixated visual elements in the illustrations that the story text highlighted. We also scored how often human and non-human objects were fixated. In line with the hypothesis that eye fixations are time locked to referential expressions in the text, visual elements that the text highlighted were fixated more often and longer than elements in illustrations not highlighted in the story text. We also found evidence that, at times, inspection of illustrations followed an autonomous pattern. We discuss how both types of visual behaviour can add to vocabulary development and story comprehension.