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*This project resulted from a graduate-level seminar LLT 841 Eye-Movement Registration in Second Language Acquisition Research that took place in Fall 2014 at Michigan State University. The authors would like to thank Mostafa Papi, Jiwon Song, and Lorena Valmori for their help with data collection, Ji-Hyun Park, Megan Smith, and Le Anne Spino-Seijas for their input on the study design, and all the members of the MSU Second Language Studies Eye-Tracking Lab for their comments on earlier drafts of this paper.
Building vocabulary is a basic and essential part of language learning. Although vocabulary can be learned intentionally, researchers point out the importance of incidental, contextual vocabulary learning in reaching the high vocabulary targets necessary to function in a first (L1) or second (L2) language (e.g., Nagy, Herman & Anderson, 1985; Nation, 2013). Research examining incidental vocabulary learning during L2 reading has focused on the effect of exposure frequency (e.g., Horst, Cobb & Meara, 1998; Pellicer-Sánchez & Schmitt, 2010; Rott, 1999; Webb, 2007; Zahar, Cobb & Spada, 2001) and provided detailed analyses of different aspects of lexical knowledge (e.g., Elgort & Warren, 2014; Horst et al., 1998; Pellicer-Sánchez & Schmitt, 2010; Webb, 2007). However, these studies concerned themselves with learning outcomes, captured in vocabulary test scores, and not the cognitive processes that enable incidental learning. In addition, most of these studies used short texts, which may not be an accurate representation of incidental learning (i.e., through prolonged exposure) in naturalistic contexts. The purpose of the present study is thus twofold. First, we aim to track the effect of repeated exposure to unknown words in learners' eye-movement patterns while the participants are reading five chapters of an English novel. Second, we combine offline (i.e., test scores) and online (i.e., eye-movement) measures to relate L2 learners' acquisition of different components of vocabulary knowledge to their reading behavior.
Incidental L2 vocabulary acquisition from reading
Reading has long been considered an important source for vocabulary learning (e.g., Krashen, 1989; Nagy, Anderson & Herman, 1987; Nagy et al., 1985; Saragi, Nation & Meister, 1978). Although there has been some debate about how to define incidental learning, in this study we operationalize the construct methodologically, as learning that occurs in the...