An In-Depth Investigation of Eye Movement Profile of Dyslexic Readers Using a Standardized Text-Reading Aloud Task in French

Abstract

(1) Background: Most eye-movement studies in dyslexia focus on silent reading in controlled laboratory settings. Yet, oral reading of standardized texts remains central for identifying this disorder. By combining eye-tracking with oral reading, we captured both fixation dynamics and eye–voice span (EVS) measures, offering a richer view of the processes underlying dyslexia. (2) Methods: We tested 10 adults with dyslexia and 14 controls as they read aloud an unpredictable diagnostic text in French. Analyses examined psycholinguistic effects of word length and lexical frequency on fixation probabilities, counts, and durations, alongside EVS measures. (3) Results: Compared to controls, adults with dyslexia read more slowly, made more errors, and showed atypical fixation patterns: persistent word length effects, reduced frequency effects, and diminished, unstable EVS. (4) Conclusions: Together, eye-movement and EVS findings converge on a key mechanism: adults with dyslexia continue to rely heavily on sublexical decoding. This reliance creates a processing bottleneck in oral reading, where difficulties in rapid word identification cascade into sounding-out behavior and disrupted eye–voice coordination.