Measuring Reading Comprehension Processes of Students With and Without Reading Difficulties Through Eye Movement

In this study, we examined the differences in reading comprehension processes between students with and without reading difficulties. A total of 72 third- and fourth-grade students in South Korea participated in the study; of these, 28 were identified as having reading difficulties and 44 were not. Multiple types of tasks were administered to evaluate the participants' eye-movement behaviors, including reading different types of texts and answering questions. Nonparametric tests were conducted on the students' responses, and the results indicated that students with reading difficulties fixated significantly longer and more frequently on both narrative and expository texts than those without such difficulties. Students without reading difficulties demonstrated significantly decreased reading comprehension processing times after a question-answering activity for all types of texts, whereas students with reading difficulties experienced decreased processing times only for a whole passage reading of narrative text. These results suggest that educators should be aware of differences in comprehension processes among students and develop differentiated instructional plans for students who struggle with reading.