Internationalization policies at higher educational institutions in non-English speaking countries have led to an increase in multilingual programs for (international) students. Teaching in such programs often requires the use of multiple languages on educational slides (e.g., PowerPoint), with the same information in English and the local language(s). However, having multiple languages on educational slides can lead to text crowding and processing overload. To investigate how students perceive multilingual slides, we performed two experiments with Indonesian and Japanese students, who use English as their second language. They were asked to evaluate slides which contained text in three languages (English, Japanese, and Bahasa Indonesia), within two layouts (separated-block and mixed). While doing so, their visual attention distribution on the slides was assessed with eye tracking, and their comprehension of the contents was tested. The eye-tracking results showed that the students dwelled their eye gaze longer on the texts in their native language (either Bahasa Indonesia or Japanese) if the slides had a separated-block layout, i.e., when the same information was grouped according to language. For slides with a mixed layout, in which the same information was given line-by-line in a different language, the students dwelled mainly on the text in their non-native language(s). Furthermore, these mixed-layout slides were evaluated as more complex/distracting and required more mental processing effort than slides with a separated-block layout. Nevertheless, the students’ content comprehension was significantly better for mixed-layout slides, implying that the mixed layout can be more effective in multilingual education.

Authors:
Laksmira Kusumo Adhani, Kyushu University, Japan
Gerard Remijn, Kyushu University, Japan

About the Presenter(s)
Ms. ADHANI, Laksmira Kusumo is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Human Science International Course at Kyushu University, Japan. She is interested in the research domains of ergonomics, visual attention, and perceptual grouping objects.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mira-adhani-065b65233

Connect on ResearchGate
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Laksmira-Adhani

See this presentation on the full schedule – On Demand Schedule

Bookmark