Developing the Descriptive System of Linguistic, Paralinguistic, and Nonlinguistic Eye Gaze and Eye Movements

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25580094
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Linguistics
• Research Institution: Japan College of Social Work
• Principal Investigator: Saito Kurumi 日本社会事業大学, 社会福祉学部, 教授 (30225700)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): AIHARA Tomoe 日本社会事業大学, 社会福祉学部, 講師 (60334562) ; TUKIDATE Naotake 山梨英和大学, 人間文化学部, 講師 (80512475) ; YANAI Kenji 国際基督教大学, 教養学部アーツサイエンス学科, 准教授 (00579328) ; WATANABE Jun 日本大学, 文理学部, 教授 (80366541)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 視線 / 日本手話 / 舞踊 / 演劇

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we examined how linguistic, paralinguistic, and nonlinguistic eye gaze and eye movements appear in sign language and other physical arts such as dances and dramas, and we aimed at developing the descriptive system of those eye gaze and eye movements. We used PV studio and eye trackers to trace the eye movements. We also used ELAN to describe them with other body movements accompanying eye gaze and eye movements. We adopted the symbols which textbooks of Indian dances had used. Directions of eye gaze and eye movements can be described. But it is difficult to locate the target point on the same direction and describe the distance between the signer/speaker/dancer and the target, on which further study is needed. Eye gaze and eye movements are used as symbols in communication systems including sign language and arts. The common mechanism is expressing something by showing what the sender(signer/dancer/actor) is symbolically "looking at".

Free Research Field

言語学