Exploring Test Takers’ Cognition in a High-stakes Reading Test : An Eye-tracking Study

Abstract

Learning how test takers derive their answers, referred to as the test-taking process, is essential to test validation. However, research on test takers' mental process has been impeded by the excessive popularity of quantitative analysis and the limitations of research methods. By using eye-tracking technology, this study investigated Chinese ESL learners' reading processes in the iBT TOEFL reading section for the purpose of test validation. Ninety Chinese ESL students at a large Midwestern university were invited to an eye-tracking lab and asked to take a 20-minute reading test on a computer screen to which an eye tracker was attached. As in Bax and Weir (2012), this study analyzed only high scorers' eye movement data (e.g., gaze plots and fixation durations) based on the predetermined criteria. The reading time spent on the intended reading types was also calculated as evidence of validity. The results showed that participants predominantly exercised careful reading skills below the paragraph level, vocabulary questions seemingly failed to elicit inferencing ability, and expeditious reading rarely occurred. Learners did not spend more time reading a text associated with implicit questions compared to a text associated with explicit questions. The implication of the findings for test validity and test development are also discussed.

Performance and eye movement patterns of industrial design students reading sustainable design articles

“…Fixation duration serves as an indicator of the degree of attention devoted to specific areas 35 , 36 , 38 . In theory article, the higher sustainability group exhibited a more pronounced focus on both text and images in comparison to the lower sustainability group.…”

“…Fixation denotes the pause of our eyes at a specific location, whereas saccade signifies the rapid eye movement between two fixations 36 . Eye-tracking technology has been widely utilized in reading research, proficiently evaluating participants' cognitive processes and visual attention patterns throughout reading 24 , 27 , 37 , 38 . Among these eye movements, fixation is the most prominently discussed in eye-tracking studies related to reading.…”