Are they watching? Test-taker viewing behavior during an 12 video listening test.

ABSTRACT

The accessibility of video technology has made it possible to utilize both the auditory and visual channels to present listening texts in the second language (L2) classroom and on L2 listening tests. However, there has been little research investigating the extent to which L2 listeners actually watch the video monitor when presented with a listening video text. The current study investigated test-taker behavior on an L2 video listening test. Thirty-six test-takers were videotaped while taking a listening test composed of six separate video texts, and the amount of time test-takers made eye contact with the video monitor was computed. An analysis of the data indicated that the group of participants oriented to the video monitor 69% of the time while the video text was played. In addition, the study yielded valuable information concerning the consistency of the test-takers' viewing behavior.

INTRODUCTION

Traditionally, the aural input for second language (L2) listening tasks has been delivered by a teacher reading aloud a text for the students. Later, as audio technology developed, a text was recorded on audiotape and played for students. However, with the advent and dissemination in the 1980s of inexpensive, reliable, and high-quality video recording equipment, it became practical to deliver listening texts using video texts, which involve both the auditory and visual channels. Subsequently, the use of video to teach listening comprehension has become more common in the L2 classroom. As Nunan (2005) suggested, in many aspects technology has become as effective as humans in delivering content for L2 listening classrooms.

As the use of video to teach L2 listening increased, researchers became more cognizant of the role of nonverbal communication in listening ability. A general consensus seems to have emerged among L2 listening researchers that the non-verbal components of spoken communication are an important component of L2 listening ability, and that L2 listeners are able to more easily construct the meaning of a spoken text that includes non-verbal input than a spoken text that does not include non-verbal input (e.g., Allan, 1984; Altman, 1990; Baltova, 1994; Gruba, 1997; Hasan, 2000; Kellerman, 1990, 1992; Progosh, 1996; Shin, 1998). The use of video texts allows listeners to utilize the non-verbal components of communication that can assist them in processing and comprehending aural input. In the majority of L2 listening situations (excluding situations such as talking on the phone, listening to the radio, or listening to loudspeakers, etc.), the listener is able to see the speaker. Depending on the purpose of the test, the inclusion of the non-verbal components of spoken communication through the use of video texts on L2 listening test tasks might be advantageous, because not only would the tasks more closely simulate the characteristics of authentic spoken language, but the inclusion of the visual channel in presenting the spoken input might lead to more construct relevant variance in the assessments, allowing for more valid inferences to be made from the results of those assessments (Wagner, 2006).

While numerous researchers (Baltova, 1994; Brett, 1997; Dunkel, 1991; Gruba, 1993; Parry & Meredith, 1984; Progosh, 1996; Shin, 1998; Thompson & Rubin, 1996) have investigated how the use of technology to deliver listening texts that included both the aural and visual channel affected performance on L2 listening tests, there does not seem to be any systematic research on L2 listener behavior in relation to this technology. When presented with a video text, the listeners are not forced to watch the monitor. They can look away from the monitor, they can focus on their test papers, or they can even close their eyes. Listeners cannot utilize the non-verbal components of spoken communication provided by the video text if they are not watching the video monitor. What listeners actually orient (1) and attend to when presented with a video listening text has not been researched, and little is known about how L2 listeners interact with a listening video text.

The intent of this study (2), therefore, was to investigate the extent to which L2 listeners oriented to nonverbal information while taking an L2 video listening test. A group of test-takers was videotaped in order to determine the amount of time they oriented to the video monitor and to examine the consistency of their test-taking behavior.

LITERATURE REVIEW

The Use of Video Texts for Testing L2 Listening Ability

As noted previously, there seems to be a general consensus that being able to see the speaker allows L2 listeners to utilize non-verbal components of spoken communication, which can assist them in processing and comprehending the spoken input, and this might lead to increased test-taker performance. Numerous researchers (e.g., Bejar, Douglas, Jamieson, Nissan, & Turner, 2000; Brown, 1995; Buck, 2001; Kellerman, 1990, 1992; Lynch, 1998; Samuels, 1984, 1987) have presented hypotheses about why being able to see the speaker is useful for the L2 listener. For example, listeners can utilize the information transmitted by the kinesic behavior of the speaker, including gestures, body movements, and facial expressions (Burgoon, 1994; Kellerman, 1992; Von Raffler-Engel, 1980). Segmentally connected speech (which includes phonological reductions) results in marked morphophonological changes by the speaker, and these morphophonological changes are paralleled by a visible change in articulation, which the listener can utilize in trying to comprehend the spoken input (Brown, 1995; Rost, 1990). A speaker's body movement and the stressed syllables of the spoken text are often linked, and this visual stress can be useful for the listener in segmenting and processing the spoken input (Brown, 1995; Kellerman, 1992). Being able to see the speaker also can allow the listener to make more accurate initial hypotheses about the roles of the speaker and the context of the speaking situation (Shin, 1998, Wagner, 2006).

The role of non-verbal information, however, has been neglected in construct definitions of L2 listening ability. This neglect may be accidental, or it may be that researchers have concluded that the listener's utilization of non-verbal information to create meaning from a spoken text is not actually part of the L2 listening process, and thus should be omitted from the construct definition of listening ability. In reviewing the use of video in listening assessments, Buck (2001) implied that it is best to avoid the use of video, arguing that test developers should focus on testing language ability, "rather than the ability to understand subtle visual information" (p. 172). In addition, Buck stated that because research suggests that people "differ quite considerably in their ability to utilize visual information" (p. 172), it is better to emphasize comprehension of the aural rather than visual information.

It seems that Buck sees the non-verbal aspects of interpersonal communication as somehow less important than or separate from the verbal aspects of spoken communication. Similarly, Gruba (1993) questioned the use of video in L2 listening testing because of construct validity concerns and asked if the presenting of visual information on an L2 listening test can have listening trait validity. Indeed, a traditional definition of listening ability might focus solely on the linguistic (verbal) aspects of spoken texts. However, if the goal of the test is to assess a person's L2 listening ability in a communicative language ability framework, as suggested by Bachman (1990) and Bachman and Palmer (1996), then it is important to include the non-verbal components of spoken communication in the construct definition of L2 listening ability. Non-verbal information is often a vital component of interpersonal communication. Obviously, there are instances of spoken communication in which the listener cannot see the speaker, including listening to the radio, talking on the phone, or listening to loudspeakers, and there are instances when it would not be appropriate to use the visual channel when testing L2 listening ability (e.g., a test to measure a person's ability to work in a telephone call center). However, in the majority of communicative language use situations, a listener is able to see the speaker and is able to utilize and exploit the nonverbal information the speaker is projecting. Burgoon (1994), while writing about L1 listening, stated that the verbal and nonverbal channels are "inextricably intertwined in the communication of the total meaning of an interpersonal exchange" (p. 347). To preclude non-verbal information on listening tests could be seen as a threat to the validity of the inferences made about a person's L2 listening ability based on those tests. Exactly because some people are better than others at utilizing nonverbal information to infer meaning in spoken communication, it is important that this component be considered when creating assessments meant to measure L2 listening ability.

Video as a Distraction