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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.

Acceptance Date Nov 23, 2016
Publication Date Nov 23, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
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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