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This study made triangulated use of eye-tracking and retrospective verbal reports (RVRs) to compare the banked gap-filling processes of two same-scorers and those of a top scorer and a bottom scorer. The two same-scorers differed in their cognitive effort on global and local processing, fluency of choice making, and strategy use when completing the task and half of the mutual correct responses. Contrary to findings from previous studies, the top scorer exerted much greater effort on global and local processing than the bottom scorer, in her pursuit of perfection, and she reported much less use of syntax analysis as a strategy. The findings of this study increase our understanding of individual differences in the cognitive processes of English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) reading and test-taking and prove the value of in-depth, multi-faceted process research. Featuring the use of heatmaps, eye-tracking metrics, choice-making graphs, gaze plots, and RVRs, this study also responds to an emergent concern in language assessment about how the enormous process data can be handled effectively. Implications for testing and learning EFL reading are further developed.

The reactivity of think-alouds (TAs) (i.e., their effects on thinking) has remained an inevitable concern whenever their use is considered or evaluated. This paper reports findings from a study that involved 85 Chinese sophomores, who, having received some instruction in diction, and then written a narrative in English as a baseline task, completed a similar main writing task, either silently or while thinking aloud. Between-groups differences were analysed in 20 measures of writing performance. TA was found to significantly impair only two measures, lexical diversity and nondysfluencies. TA may have constrained newly developed, still unstable thoughts that were perceived as peripheral, apart from its effects on fluency. Further analyses revealed differential effects. Those with high working memory capacity (WMC), especially high reading span, were most affected in lexical diversity, while those with low WMC experienced a significant decline in organization. The participants' reflections in a follow-up questionnaire, analyzed inductively, show their diverse feelings about the effects of TA, its processing load emerging as the likely primary reactivity-causing factor. Results suggest that, although the reactivity of TAs is small, participants' between- and within-individual differences should be duly attended to in conducting TAs in second language writing and writing research.

This paper reports on a qualitative study that explored the veridicality (i.e., the completeness and accuracy) of think-aloud protocols (TAPs) in English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) writing and illustrates how retrospective verbal reports (RVRs) compensated for TAPs in understanding online revision. Forty-three Chinese sophomores, upon writing while thinking aloud, were asked to provide RVRs regarding revisions, and then to reflect on the veridicality of their TAPs. Their reflections were analyzed inductively. Various omissions of think-alouds were revealed, but they were perceived as not serious, and the accuracy of TAPs was stood by. Further evidence concerning the (in)veridicality was found in the RVRs when 516 episodes of RVRs and corresponding TAPs were compared, and the RVRs were found to offer additional information that concerned intermediate processes leading to revisions. Implications for using TAPs and RVRs in and for EFL writing research and classrooms are given.

Featured Application: With the widespread application of digital watermarking technology, the number of users is rapidly increasing, creating new requirements. At the same time, in the era of big data, with sharing as the central theme, problems are arising related to multi-copyright protection and multilevel user tracking in the process of data production and the distribution and circulation of vector geographic data. This multiple digital watermarking algorithm can provide an effective solution to the above problems and was applied in software under test conditions. Multiple digital watermarking is an important and challenging task in geographic information science and data security. Vector geographic data are a basic data format for digital geographic data storage, and the security protection of these data involves copyright protection and tracking. As part of the solution, existing digital watermarking algorithms have made contributions to vector geographic data protection. However, when vector geographic data flow through multiple units, they need to be marked to ensure that the original data are not destroyed during data processing. Existing single or multiple data watermarking algorithms often fail in the presence of data processing because the new watermarks overlay the old ones. Consequently, a multiple digital watermarking algorithm based on multiple QIM (quantization index modulation) is proposed. First, based on traditional quantization index modulation (QIM), a multiple QIM is proposed. Unlike traditional QIM, in multiple QIM, the process of quantization is executed multiple times depending on the number of watermarks. Then, the vertices are quantized into different quantization intervals according to the multiple QIM. Finally, multiple watermarks are embedded into different quantization intervals to reduce the interference among multiple watermarks, and the original watermarks are not needed in the process of watermark detection. We then conducted experiments to test the multiple watermark method's robustness and capacity, with an emphasis on datasets with a lower data volume. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm achieves good performance in terms of its robustness against common issues, such as vertices addition, data simplification, data cropping, and feature deletion; this holds true for both normal and small amounts of data. Additionally, it has a high multiple watermark capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learning is a journey that rewards those with positive psychological qualities. This study investigated the relationships among low- to mid-level high school EFL learners' growth language mindset (GLMS), grit, burnout, and engagement, to gain insights into how learner beliefs, personality traits, and emotions affect EFL learning. A total of 868 first-year students from four schools located away from China's central cities participated in the questionnaire survey. Their data were analyzed using structural equation modelling (SEM). The serial mediation models show, among others, that 1) GLMS predicted L2 burnout directly and via L2 grit indirectly and influenced L2 engagement indirectly via L2 grit and L2 burnout, with second language aptitude beliefs (L2B) having more effects than general language intelligence beliefs (GLB), 2) in general, POE (perseverance of effort) had stronger effects than COI (consistency of interest), and 3) L2 burnout showed negative associations with GLMS, L2 grit, and L2 engagement and worked as an important mediator contributing to indirect relationships leading to L2 engagement. The theoretical and pedagogical implications of these findings are discussed. We especially call for support given to learners at low- to mid-level senior high schools to build their positive psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]