Correlation Analysis between Eye Movement Patterns and Reading Comprehension Skills by Reading Condition in Children with Typical Development and Language Impairment

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify whether there was a significant difference in reading comprehension in typically developing children (TD) and children with language impairment (LI) in early school age according to reading conditions, and to determine whether there was a significant correlation between reading comprehension skills and eye movement patterns in each group. Methods: A total of 213 children (TD: 183; LI: 30) in the 1st and 2nd grades of elementary school participated in this study. According to the reading conditions (reading while listening, reading only), all children were randomly assigned to perform text reading tasks, and real-time data collection was carried out through an attached eye-tracker. Results: There was no significant difference in story understanding according to reading conditions between groups, but it was confirmed that the correlation patterns between each group’s reading comprehension and eye movement patterns were different depending on reading conditions. Conclusion: In the TD group this study found that the faster the processing speed, the higher the reading processing efficiency. On the other hand, in the LI group, the processing speed was generally slow due to their poor literacy or cognitive processing speed, therefore there was no correlation between eye movement patterns and reading comprehension skills