Processing Academic Science Reading Texts through Context Effects: Evidence from Eye Movements

Soh Or-Kan

doi:10.12973/eurasia.2017.00642a

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Soh Or-Kan ¹ ^*

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¹ School of Language Studies & Linguistics, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, MALAYSIA^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

This study aimed at examining context effects of processing science terminology in Chinese during reading process. The science texts were first chosen, and then they were replaced by science terminology with familiar words; other common words remained in both texts. The results implied that readers spent longer rereading durations and total fixation durations for the same common words in science texts than for corresponding texts. Readers performed shorter gaze durations for replaced words than the science terminology. However, the first fixation durations for the two-word types did not show significant differences from each other. Besides, readers sought for more contextual information to aid their comprehension. The adult readers seemed to successfully process the meanings of each Chinese characters but they failed to access the meanings of science terminology at the initial processing stage. With the assistance of contextual information, the adult readers were able to comprehend the unfamiliar words. Instruction for teaching science in school was suggested to improve the learning processes.

Keywords

classroom instruction
academic science reading texts context effects
eye movements
science terminology
context effects

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, Volume 13, Issue 3, March 2017, 771-790

https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2017.00642a

Publication date: 12 Dec 2016

Article Views: 2253

Article Downloads: 1234

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How to cite this article

APA

Or-Kan, S. (2017). Processing Academic Science Reading Texts through Context Effects: Evidence from Eye Movements. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 13(3), 771-790. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2017.00642a

Vancouver

Or-Kan S. Processing Academic Science Reading Texts through Context Effects: Evidence from Eye Movements. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2017;13(3):771-90. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2017.00642a

AMA

Or-Kan S. Processing Academic Science Reading Texts through Context Effects: Evidence from Eye Movements. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2017;13(3), 771-790. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2017.00642a

Chicago

Or-Kan, Soh. "Processing Academic Science Reading Texts through Context Effects: Evidence from Eye Movements". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2017 13 no. 3 (2017): 771-790. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2017.00642a

Harvard

Or-Kan, S. (2017). Processing Academic Science Reading Texts through Context Effects: Evidence from Eye Movements. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 13(3), pp. 771-790. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2017.00642a

MLA

Or-Kan, Soh "Processing Academic Science Reading Texts through Context Effects: Evidence from Eye Movements". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 13, no. 3, 2017, pp. 771-790. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2017.00642a