The present study aimed to explore whether different levels of reading proficiency and task difficulty influence specific eye-movement metrics and how these relate to higher- and lower-level reading processes. A mixed-methods design was employed with twenty university students who completed two banked gap-fill tasks across B1 and C1 levels. Quantitative data from eye-tracking measures were complemented by stimulated recall interviews to gain deeper insights into participants' cognitive strategies, including inference and background knowledge utilization. The findings showed that, at lower level (B1), there are no significant differences in eye-movement patterns between high- and low-performing readers, suggesting the tasks mainly assess local, lower-level decoding skills. At the advanced C1 level, slight differences emerge, with higher performers demonstrating more efficient processing and greater reliance on higher-level reading cognitive processes. Regression analysis revealed that lower performers tend to switch their gaze more frequently between the text and word bank, indicating reliance on lower-level processes. The qualitative data supported these findings, showing that higher performers engaged more frequently in inference and background knowledge, particularly at the C1 level. The study highlights the utility of eye-tracking as a valid tool to examine real-time cognitive processing and its implications for test design and language teaching. Recommendations include employing higher-level reading tasks for assessing global reading skills and integrating eye-movement analysis into test validation processes.
MIRZABAGHERI et al. (Wed,) studied this question.