Integration of Stimulated Recall, Self-Observation, and Retrospective Interview in the Collection of Strategy Data in Computer-Assisted Language Testing

Abstract

Research on language learning and use strategies has made extensive use of procedures that involved self-reporting and/or -revelation in data collection. However, scholarly reviews have pointed to certain flaws associated with such procedures especially whenever one procedure was used by itself. On one hand, strategies revealed through self-reporting (e.g., questionnaires) do not accurately represent the actual strategies used in response to language tasks. On the other, self-revelation (e.g., think-alouds) interferes with strategy use on language tasks as well as task performance. Drawing on empirical evidence, this paper proposes that the integration of three procedures of verbal reporting, namely stimulated recall, self-observation, and retrospective interview, in computer-assisted research can tremendously help capitalize on their strengths and control their weaknesses.