Beginning readers might benefit from digital texts presented in a sentence-by-sentence fashion. But why?

Abstract

The current digital era offers many possibilities to modify the layout of a text to optimize reading and improve comprehension. Here, we examined the idea that the visuo-spatial properties of segmented layouts support beginning readers by reducing the demands of basic eye-movement processes. In a series of self-paced reading experiments, text comprehension and reading speed of second- and third-grade pupils (N = 348) were assessed in a baseline condition (i.e., sentences continued on the same line as far as page width allowed) and three conditions with a segmented layout: (1) a discontinuous layout in which each sentence was presented on a new line of the page; (2) a reader-paced Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) layout in which the texts were presented sentence by sentence; (3) a reader-paced RSVP layout in which the texts were presented word by word. No advantages were observed for the discontinuous layout. However, at the expense of increased reading times, robust comprehension advantages emerged for the two RSVP layouts. The observed trade-off between speed and accuracy suggests that a RSVP-based layout induces more precise reading, rather than reducing the demands on basic decoding and oculomotor control processes. These findings will be discussed in the context of individual differences in reading skills and several high-potential digital applications that aim at enhancing the abilities of (beginning) readers (e.g., Spritz, BeeLine Reader).