Cognitive load, visual attention, and usability in adolescent Dictionary use: An eye-tracking study of a Modern Greek Pedagogical Dictionary.

Abstract

Digital pedagogical dictionaries are increasingly used in language education, yet evidence concerning their usability for early adolescents and less commonly studied languages remains limited. This study evaluated how early adolescents use the Online Pedagogical Dictionary of Modern Greek (grdictionary.gr), focusing on processing demands, visual attention, year-group differences, and perceived usability. Participants were 66 students aged 11-13 ($M_{\text{age}}$ = 12.72, SD = 0.71; 33 girls, 33 boys), recruited nonrandomly from intact Year 7 (n = 32) and Year 8 (n = 34) classes in Greece. A multimethod quantitative design combined eight linguistic lookup tasks, remote eye-tracking, and usability ratings. Metalinguistic tasks were associated with greater processing demands and lower accuracy than recognition tasks. Participants showed a robust entry-initial scanning bias, but no first-sense bias. Year 8 students were more accurate than Year 7 students (estimated proportions .70 vs. .57; β = 0.56, Holm-adjusted p = .022) and approximately 15% faster (β = -0.16, p < .001). Usability exceeded the prespecified benchmark, while satisfaction was positively associated with accuracy and negatively associated with navigational dwell. The study extends adult L2 evidence to an adolescent L1 Greek context and highlights information organization and navigational efficiency as design priorities.