Reading as a single construct: a process-oriented study

The divisibility of the reading has led many researchers to examine whether reading construct is a unitary skill that cannot be divided into separate sub-skills, or it is composed of underlying components. In these studies, however, participants have generally been located in a product-oriented testing environment where their actual reading behaviors could only be observed or interpreted by the researcher through participants' reading time measures or think aloud protocols. Therefore, this study fills this gap by offering an opportunity to track moment-to-moment cognitive processes of reading construct through two eye-tracking technologies (i.e., Tobii Studio Eye Tracker T120 and Tobii Glasses Eye Tracking System) both on computer and paper tests, reducing the amount of errors brought by the researcher and environmental factors to investigate the nature of L2 reading. To this end, eight undergraduate students in English Language Teaching department at a major state university in Turkey responded to a reading comprehension test both on computer and paper. Results indicated that despite formal and explicit training on the use of expeditious sub-skills of reading for two semesters, participants did not employ these operations, rejecting a multi-divisible view of L2 reading construct. The results are discussed within the framework of language teaching and assessment.