Eye-Tracking Workshop

Eye-tracking technology has been critical for understanding real-time language processing, since it offers an online window into the attentional state of language comprehenders, letting researchers ask questions about how language comprehenders react to linguistic stimuli moment-by-moment. This workshop will introduce the use of eye movements for studying language processing. We will cover core results and theoretical perspectives on eye-tracking, focusing on the use of the visual world methodology. Participants will learn critical considerations for designing experiments, and will be given hands-on experience with critical software, tools, and data. The workshop will start with a short course as part of the CLA crash courses on June 20th. 

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Program

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• June 20 - crash course

• June 22 - June 25

  • 10am - 12pm lecture time

  • 1pm - 3pm office hours

  • 1pm - 5pm self-study at the lab

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This event will happen after the CLA 2026 annual conference to be held at the University of Calgary from June 17 to June 19. For more information about the conference, visit https://cla-acl.ca/programmes/congres-de-2026-meeting.html.

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Invited instructor, Dr. Brian Dillon, PhD (https://people.umass.edu/bwdillon/)

 

Dr. Dillon is a Professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA, specializing in psycholinguistics. His research focuses on the cognitive mechanisms that underlie syntactic processing in typically developing adults, with a special interest in the relationship between grammatical structure and working memory processes. Dr. Dillon investigates this topic in a variety of languages, seeking to under- stand how the grammar of a given language influences how linguistic input is processed in memory. He prioritizes gathering insights from typologically diverse languages (e.g., Tagalog, Turkish, Chinese, Hindi, Russian, Hebrew) in addition to English in order to understand both universal and language-specific aspects of language processing. His work uses a variety of experimental techniques, including eye-tracking-while-reading, visual world eye-tracking, and electrophysiological measures and has been published widely in both linguistics and cognitive science journals, including the Journal of Memory and Language, Open Mind, Glossa Psycholinguistics, Syntax, Cognition, and Topics in Cognitive Science. He is now in his 4th year of service as a founding Co-Editor-in-Chief of Glossa Psycholinguistics.

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Dr. Dillon will also give a public lecture on “Language processing in minds and machines” on June 16, before the CLA conference. For more information, visit https://events.ucalgary.ca/arts/languages-linguistics-literatures-cultures/event/515084-language-processing-in-minds-and-machines-with.

 

Organizers: Linguistics Division, SLLLC, UCalgary

 

Sponsors: University of Calgary through the Visiting Scholar program 

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Registration Link: https://events.ucalgary.ca/arts/languages-linguistics-literatures-cultures/event/518260-eye-tracking-workshop

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Cost: Free

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Registration deadline: May 22

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Capacity: 30