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Investigating the construct measured by banked gap-fill items: Evidence from eye-tracking

McCray

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Abstract

This study investigates test-takers’ processing while completing banked gap-fill tasks, designed to test reading proficiency, in order to test theoretically based expectations about the variation in cognitive processes of test-takers across levels of performance. Twenty-eight test-takers’ eye traces on 24 banked gap-fill items (on six tasks) were analysed according to seven online eye-tracking measures representing overall, text and task processing. Variation in processing was related to test-takers’ level of performance on the tasks overall. In particular, as hypothesized, lower-scoring students exerted more cognitive effort on local reading and lower-level cognitive processing in contrast to test-takers who attained higher scores. The findings of different cognitive processes associated with variation in scores illuminate the construct measured by banked gap-fill items, and therefore have implications for test design and the validity of score interpretations.

Citation

McCray. (2016). Investigating the construct measured by banked gap-fill items: Evidence from eye-tracking. Language Testing, 51-73. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265532216677105

Acceptance Date Nov 23, 2016
Publication Date Nov 23, 2016
Journal Language Testing
Print ISSN 0265-5322
Publisher SAGE Publications
Pages 51-73
DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/0265532216677105
Keywords banked gap-fill, cloze, cognitive processing, eye-tracking, testing reading
Publisher URL https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0265532216677105

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