A Comparative Study On The Mental Processes Of High-low Proficiency EFL Learners Taking TEM-4 Cloze Test

In recent years,investigation of test-takers’mental processes of taking tests has gradually become a hot issue in the field of language testing in China.By analyzing the test-taking processes,the construct validity of a test can be verified.And the most common research method for verifying construct validity is introspection method.In China,cloze test is an indispensable part for all kinds of English proficiency tests,and researches on test-taking process of close test have emerged one after another.Previous researches on the test-taker’s mental process of taking tests only use the introspection method.In the present study,on the basis of introspection method,the researcher combines EEG technology to make a further study on the test-takers’mental process when taking cloze test in TEM-4 at different proficiency levels.The specific research questions are as follows:（1）What are the characteristics of low proficient test-takers’psycho-cognitive process when taking test?（2）What are the characteristics of high proficient test-takers’psycho-cognitive process when taking test?（3）What are the differences between low proficient test-takers’psycho-cognitive processes and high proficient test-takers’psycho-cognitive processes?In this study,the subjects are 40 English majors from Sichuan International Studies University,divided into high proficient group（20 postgraduates）and low proficient group（20 freshmen）.The formal experiment is divided into two sessions.In the first session,the subject taking the test with the hoop（Neuroedu 2.0）on his head to collect the EEG signals simultaneously.In the second session,the verbal protocol of the subject is collected by means of recording,immediately after the test is over.In order to reduce the external interference as much as possible,the subject completed the whole experiment in a room solely.Neuroedu 2.0 is applied for EEG data collection.And a transcription software is used to convert recordings to texts.The statistic software SPSS 16.0 is adopted to analyze the data.All the procedures are conducted in the Key Lab of Cognitive Neuroscience and Foreign Language Learning in SISU.After the experiment,the recordings of the subject are first converted into text,and then the information sources and strategy used in the test-taking process are extracted from the verbal protocols of the subject,and then scored.5 postgraduates from SISU evaluate and classify the verbal protocols of 40 test-takers respectively.The final two introspective scores are obtained by synthesizing the conclusions of the five evaluators.After that,the EEG data of the subjects are processed to obtain the final EEG data of different proficient levels,16 indexes for high proficient group（8 for left brain,8 for right brain）and 16 indexes for low proficient group（8 for left brain,8 for right brain）.These measures are left-attention,left-relaxation,left-α,left-β,right-attention,right-relaxation,right-α,right-βand so on.All the data were analyzed by SPSS.Pearson correlation coefficients is used to explore the correlation between different proficient levels of information sources and strategies and EEG indexes.The independent-sample t-test is used to explore the differences between different proficient levels of EEG indexes and the differences between different proficient levels of EEG information and strategies used.The results are as follows:（1）Results from Pearson’s correlation coefficients show that the information sources of high proficient subjects are positively correlated with the relaxation index of the left brain((r_Infor-LR=0.536,p<0.05),and the scores of this group are positively correlated with the delta index of the left brain(r_s-Lδ=0.501),p<0.05),negatively correlated with the attention index of left brain(r_s-LA=-0.450,p<0.05);Information sources of low proficient test-takers shows a positive correlation between the beta indexes of left brain and right brain(r_Infor-Lβ=0.501,p<0.05;r _Infor-Rβ=0.522,p<0.05),but negatively correlated with the gamma index and relaxation index of the left brain and the gamma index of the right brain(r_Infor-Lγ=-0.474,p<0.05;r_Infor-LR=-0.467,p<0.05;r_Infor-Rγ=-0.509,p<0.05).The data indicates that the high proficient group behaves relatively relaxed during the whole test,while the low proficient group shows they are in an anxious state.From the perspective of using information sources,low proficient group has certain difficulties in understanding the passage.（2）The results from independent-sample t-test indicate significant differences in six EEG indexes,which are the delta index of the left brain（t（38）=-2.22,p<0.05）,and the alpha index of the left brain（t=2.311,p<0.05）,gamma index of the left brain（t=4.033,p<0.05）,delta index of the right brain（t=-2.315,p<0.05）,beta index of the right brain（t=-2.139,p<0.05）and gamma index of the right brain（t=3.744,p<0.05）.In low proficient group,the delta index of the left brain and the delta index of the right brain are higher than that of high proficient group,and the other four indexes are lower than the high proficient group.In the use of information sources and strategies,the two groups also show significant differences.Information sources（t=3.728,p<0.05）and strategies（t=2.292,p<0.05）of high proficient group are higher than that of low proficient group.In the aspect of using information sources,high proficient group make use of contextual information more frequently than low proficient group（t=3.644,p<0.05）。The data shows that when high proficient test-takers are doing the test,their cognitive mechanism participates more,and they are thinking positively.Thus,the information sources and strategies are used better.Whereas the low proficient test-takers show anxiety and lack of concentration.And their usage of information sources an strategies is worse than high proficient group.（3）Through the calculation of emotion,the high proficient group shows positive emotion（Left-α/Right-α=1.15>1）,while the low proficient group shows negative emotion（Left-α/Right-α=0.96<1）.In summary,the EEG indexes reflect low proficient group showed more anxiety,tension,and inattention in the process of taking test.and from the significant differences in the usage of information sources and strategies,it is easy to find that low proficient test-takers have more difficulty in comprehending the whole passage.Conversely,EEG indexes of high proficient test-takers indicate that they are in a state of being more relaxed and focused.Besides,they can make use of information and strategies more adequately.