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ERIC Number: EJ1382454
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 25
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1543-4303
EISSN: EISSN-1543-4311
Gazing into Cognition: Eye Behavior in Online L2 Speaking Tests
Burton, J. Dylan
Language Assessment Quarterly, v20 n2 p190-214 2023
The effects of question or task complexity on second language speaking have traditionally been investigated using complexity, accuracy, and fluency measures. Response processes in speaking tests, however, may manifest in other ways, such as through nonverbal behavior. Eye behavior, in the form of averted gaze or blinking frequency, has been found to play an important role in regulating information in studies on human cognition, and it may therefore be an important subconscious signal of test question difficulty in language testing. In this study, 15 CEFR B2/C1-level-English learners took a Zoom-based English test with ten questions spanning six CEFR complexity levels. The participants' eye behaviors were recorded and analyzed between the moment the test question ended and the beginning of their response. The participants additionally provided self-report data on their perceptions of test-question difficulty. Results indicated that as test questions increased in difficulty, participants were more likely to avert their gaze from the interlocutor. They did not, however, blink more frequently as difficulty changed. These results have methodological implications for research on test validation and the study of nonverbal behavior in speaking tests.
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: European Union; China; Vietnam
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A