User Consultation Behaviour in Internet Dictionaries: An Eye-Tracking Study

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore and discuss user consultation behaviour on the basis of eye-tracking data and interview data. To date the focus has been almost exclusively on the use of log fi les in Internet lexicography -an approach which is questioned in this article. The paper is based on empirical data from an exploratory eyetracking study of the user consultation behaviour of six participants and on interview data from a follow-up post-study interview of the participants. The paper elucidates and discusses the consultation behaviour in Internet lexicography and shows not only at what the participants looked, but also how they accessed lexicographic data. The paper presents a suitable method for using eye-tracking studies in Internet lexicography and advocates an increased use of this method to produce empirical data upon which additional theoretical considerations on the information and data access process can be developed. Finally, the implications for further research in user consultation behaviour are briefl y explored. Internet Dictionary Usage and User Consultation Behaviour: Eye-trackingSeveral theoretical contributions on the usage of Internet dictionaries rely on log fi le analysis. The user's behaviour (key strokes and mouse clicks) is logged and tabulated in automatic, server-generated log fi les, and this technology has no doubt contributed to theory development and user-prompted update and revision of the content of the dictionaries in question, cf. (2008), who all make a strong case for the use of log fi les in internet lexicography.However, log fi les only show what characters the users have typed on the keyboard and log fi les do not show where users of an internet dictionary have looked.The eye-tracking method proposed in this article is suitable for the study of the user consultation behaviour in connection with the use of an internet dictionary, and it can be used to learn more about what the user looks at, and how his eyes move and fi xate during for example search operations and processing operations. Systematically collected data, which include data on eye fi xations and eye movements, can be converted into valuable knowledge about Internet dictionary usage, and can be used in the pre-design, design and redesign phases of a dictionary project and in controlled dictionary reviews.Finally, it is argued that eye-tracking studies in Internet lexicography are important in the ongoing development of theoretical considerations on information and data access in lexicography, because eye-tracking data may help us gain insight into what users are looking for, how they access data in specifi c situations and to what extent the user profi le plays a role in user consultation behaviour.This article has three overall objectives. First, it introduces and discusses a new type of usage study designed for Internet dictionaries. Second, it demonstrates and discusses how a user of an Internet dictionary locates lexicographic data in specifi c situations and discusses the user consultation...

Translators’ Use of Digital Resources during Translation

“…While studies in the field of lexicography have examined the use of internet dictionaries using eye tracking in isolation from actual translation (e.g. Simonsen 2009Simonsen , 2011, there seems to be a gap in the literature on translators' integration of digital resources in the translation process. Exploring the role and use of digital resources may be helpful to identify behaviours that are more desirable than others, and the findings may be instrumental to the development of recommendations and guidelines for the use of digital resources.…”

The effect of gender, age and career orientation on digital dictionary use strategies

“…Actually often, individuals may overestimate or under-estimate their look-up abilities and these misperceptions may negatively affect their will to change their practices during look-ups. Thus, from a methodological point of view, it would be necessary to complement previous research held with the use eye-tracking techniques or other research protocols (Galisson, 1983;Neubach & Cohen, 1988;Whyatt, 2000;Simonsen, 2009;Kaneta, 2011;Simonsen, 2011;Tono, 2011;Lew, Grzelak, & Leszkowicz, 2013;Lew, Kaźmierczak, Tomczak, & Leszkowicz, 2017) investigating users' reference skills, problems and habits, when extracting information from digital dictionaries, with research on what users believe they do during look-up, in order to design and implement intervention programs raising users abilities to consult dictionaries. However, academic interest in self-reported DUSs is very recent.…”

An overview of Digital Lexicography and directions for its future: An interview with Gilles-Maurice de Schryver

“…There will thus always be a need for small-scale, minutely-controlled, empirical dictionary-use studies. One particularly promising avenue of research that may be performed in connection with digital dictionaries is the use of eye-tracking (Simonsen, 2009a;Kaneta, 2011;Simonsen, 2011;Tono, 2011;Lew et al, 2013;Kemmer, 2014a;Müller-Spitzer et al, 2014;Lew et al, 2018).…”