Innovation in Language Learning

This paper explores the use of real-time eye-tracking and embodied attention strategies to enhance engagement, personalization, and inclusivity in language learning environments. Drawing on psycholinguistics, embodied cognition, and educational technology, the study proposes that gaze and micro-movement data - collected through accessible eye-tracking tools - can inform dynamic, responsive teaching methods. Rather than viewing attention as a fixed or limited resource, this approach understands it as an interactional, embodied process shaped by posture, gesture, spatial layout, and social rhythm. Through school-based pilots and classroom observations, the project develops a practical toolkit of gaze-informed teaching interventions, including tempo-based transitions, perceptual framing shifts, and reflective prompts. These interventions aim to support linguistic processing, presence, and engagement, particularly for neurodiverse learners or those with attention-related challenges. Crucially, the project is grounded in ethical design principles that reject surveillance-driven learning analytics in favor of co-designed, feedback-sensitive environments. By translating real-time perceptual data into actionable, low-intrusion teaching practices, the approach fosters a more humane and personalized model of language education. The contribution aligns with the conference’s focus on innovation in engagement, ICT for learning, and ethical educational technology, offering a vision for adaptive language instruction that is both research-informed and pedagogically responsible.