Investigation of learners' reading skills in graphic questions with eye tracking technique in teaching Turkish to foreigners

The aim of this study is to investigate the reading skills of a test consists of multiple-choice graphic questions with eye tracking technique of those who learn Turkish as a foreign language at B1 level. The study group consists of one hundred and fifteen students learning Turkish in two different language teaching centres. A total of five questions, each containing different graphics, were presented to the participants as stimuli for eye tracking. In the study, the participants' ages, genders, countries of origin, native languages, reading directions in their native languages, the number of languages they know except their native languages and Turkish, the departments they are attended to, their level of education, whether they solved graphic questions in their native languages/in another language except for their native languages and Turkish/in TÖMER-DİLMER/in a place except for TÖMER-DİLMER in Turkish, whether they want graphical questions in TÖMER-DİLMER exams, success in the exam which consists of multiple-choice graphic questions, and success in the TÖMER/DİLMER B1 level comprehension exam were considered as independent variables. Also, different parts of questions were determined as independent variables. In the study, it was investigated whether these independent variables have effects on the first fixation duration, total fixation duration, fixation count, total visit duration, visit count and number of transitions. The study has revealed that the ages of the students have no significant effect on the eye movement parameters that appeared while reading the multiple-choice graphic questions. The gender of the students, on the other hand, had a significant effect only on the total fixation duration measurement. Accordingly, male participants showed a longer total fixation duration than females when reading the questions. The countries which the students came from and their native languages have no significant effect on eye movements. The reading directions of the participants in their native languages did not significantly affect their eye movements. It was concluded in the study that the students' number of languages they know except their native languages and Turkish did not have a significant effect on eye movement measurements. The fact that the department where the participants were attended to stem, liberal arts and equal weight did not significantly affect their eye movements. However, the education level of the students had a significant effect on some of their eye movements. In accordance with, the first fixation duration of the graduate students was found to be significantly higher than those of the students from the other education levels. It was revealed that the visit counts of graduate students were significantly less than that of other students. The fact that the students have solved graphical questions in their native language/in another language other than their native languages and Turkish/in TÖMER-DİLMER/any other place except for TÖMER-DİLMER in Turkish, did not significantly affect their eye movements. Whether the participants wanted to have graphical questions in TÖMER/DİLMER exams had a significant effect on some of their eye movements. Accordingly, students who wanted to have graphical questions in these exams, in other words, who had a positive attitude on this subject, became significantly more fixed on stimuli and visited the areas of interest on stimuli more. The variable of success obtained from the graphical multiple-choice exam also significantly affected some of the eye movements of the students. Accordingly, the students who were successful in this test were fixed to the stimuli for a significantly shorter time and visited the areas of interest for a shorter time. Students' success in the TÖMER/DİLMER B1 courtship comprehension test did not significantly affect any of their eye movement measurements. In the present research, a variable that affects the eye movements of the students is the parts of the questions. Accordingly, it was concluded that different eye movements emerged for the explanation paragraph, graphic and question sentence-options sections of the questions in general. In this context, the participants spent the most time in the explanation paragraph of the questions in terms of eye movement measurement during the first fixation period. This was followed by graphics and question sentence/options sections. In terms of total fixation duration, students spent the most time in the graphics and question sentence/options sections of the questions. Considering the number of fixations, it was found that the students were significantly fixed on the graphic areas of the questions, followed by the question sentence/options and explanation paragraph areas. In terms of total visit duration, it was revealed that students spend the most time in question sentence/options and graphics areas, as in the total fixation duration. In terms of visit count measurement, a similar result to the fixation number measurement was obtained. In accordance, the participants visited the graphic areas the most. This was followed by the question sentence-options and explanation paragraph sections. It was found out that the students showed a significant transition movement between the graphic and question sentence-options sections in a significant way in order to combine the different parts of the questions in their minds. This was followed by the transitions between the explanation paragraph and the graphic areas. The least transition movement occurred between the explanation paragraph and the question sentence-options sections. These results obtained in the study were discussed within the framework of the relevant literature, and some suggestions were made for those who prepare questions, teach Turkish as a foreign language, and researchers.