Conférence Efstathia SOROLI (CNRS UMR 8163 STL/INCC) "From Gaze to Grammar: What eye movements can and cannot tell us about crosslinguistic influence and cognitive restructuring in SLA"

Publié le 27 octobre 2026 – Mis à jour le 27 octobre 2026
le 17 novembre 2026
14h
 Maison de la Recherche, E412 (plan A)
Abstract: Eye-tracking has become a powerful tool for investigating how speakers attend to, process, and conceptualize linguistic and non-linguistic information, yet the relationship between gaze behaviour and underlying cognitive processes remains far from straightforward. Drawing on crosslinguistic and SLA research on event conceptualization and complex semantic-syntactic processing, this talk examines what different eye movement measures can and cannot reveal about crosslinguistic influence and cognitive restructuring. Particular attention will be given to the interpretation of fixation-based measures, dwell times, revisits, saccades, and smooth pursuits, and to the theoretical assumptions linking these measures to attention, processing cost, prediction, and conceptual preferences. I will argue that evidence for cognitive restructuring requires moving beyond one-to-one mappings between gaze metrics and cognitive functions toward task-sensitive, triangulated, and theoretically motivated interpretations. Finally, I will discuss how combining eye-tracking with behavioural and neurophysiological measures can provide a more robust framework for investigating the dynamics of the multilingual mind.

Conférence présentée dans le cadre de l'Atelier "Eye-tracking and SLA" organisé par Ludwig Maximilian Universität (Munich), Universidad Nebrija (Madrid) et Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès avec le soutien de l'Université Franco-Allemande et le Laboratoire de NeuroPsychoLinguistique. 

Efstathia Soroli est professeur en sciences du langage à l'Université de Lille, actuellement en délégation CNRS dans le laboratoire Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center (CNRS et Université Paris Cité), voir ICI sa page web.