idiomatic-processing
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- PaperarXiv — Language & NLP (cs.CL)6 May 2026
Assessing Cognitive Effort in L2 Idiomatic Processing: An Eye-Tracking Dataset
Eduardo Santos, Juliana Carvalho, César Rennó-Costa
This paper presents an eye-tracking dataset to investigate how L2 learners process idiomatic expressions, revealing that L2 speakers often adopt a literal-first approach with measurable cognitive costs. The dataset, recorded from Portuguese L1 speakers of English across all CEFR levels using 60 Hz hardware, validates an inverse correlation between proficiency and regressive eye movements. It serves as a cognitively grounded benchmark for evaluating human processing models and alignment of large language models with human-like figurative understanding.
Original abstract
This paper presents the development and validation of an eye-tracking dataset designed to investigate how second-language (L2) learners process idiomatic expressions. While native speakers often rely on direct retrieval of figurative meanings, L2 speakers frequently adopt a literal-first approach, which incurs measurable cognitive costs. This resource captures these costs through ocular metrics recorded from Portuguese L1 speakers of English across all CEFR proficiency levels (A1-C2). Although the study uses entry-level 60 Hz hardware (Tobii Pro Spark), we demonstrate that this sampling rate provides sufficient data density to detect macro-cognitive events such as fixations and regressions in reading. Preliminary analysis validates the dataset by revealing a strong inverse correlation between language proficiency and regressive eye movements. Integrated into the MIA (Modeling Idiomaticity in Human and Artificial Language Processing) initiative, this dataset serves as a cognitively grounded benchmark for evaluating both human processing models and the alignment of large language models with human-like figurative understanding.