The effect of viewing visual cues in a listening comprehension test on second language learners’ test-taking process and performance: An eye-tracking study

Suh Keong Kwon, Guoxing Yu*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this study, we examined the effect of visual cues in a second language listening test on test takers’ viewing behaviours and their test performance. Fifty-seven learners of English in Korea took a video-based listening test, with their eye movements recorded, and 23 of them were interviewed individually after the test. The participants viewed the visual cues longer than the items in the multiple-choice questions. Looking at the correct answer choice was related to a higher test score, while looking at the speaker(s) in the video and the distractors of the test items to a lower test score. Viewing the PowerPoint slides showed mixed effects on test performance, depending on different eye-movement measures. Stimulated-recall interviews shed further light on the possible reasons for the different patterns of the participants’ eye movements. Overall, the participants held the positive view that the visual cues aided them in comprehending the aural input and in completing the listening tasks more successfully. We discuss these findings in relation to the authenticity of tasks and the construct relevance of video-based listening tests.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)649-680
Number of pages32
JournalLanguage Testing
Volume41
Issue number3
Early online date16 Apr 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 31 Jul 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.

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