Abstract
This study examined the effects of two reading styles (i.e., reading with a narrator and reading independently), receptive vocabulary and literacy on children’s eye movement patterns. The sample included 46 Chinese children (aged 4–6 years) who were randomly assigned to two reading styles and read the same picture book on a screen. The results indicated that the higher the children’s receptive vocabulary was, the sooner they fixated on the text. Overall, the children’s fixation probability (i.e., the time spent viewing the text zones as a proportion of full-page viewing time during each period) decreased with time when reading independently but increased with time when reading with a narrator. For children in senior kindergarten, reading with a narrator is thought to help establish and consolidate the links between speech and text and thus promote reading acquisition.
Highlights
Substantial importance has been attached to improving the quantity and quality of reading among citizens in China, and Reading for All has twice been included in the “Report on the Work of the Government” (Qian, 2005)
According to the hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analysis, only reading style significantly affected B1 [GROUP (G12 = –0.007, SE = 0.0035, T-ratio (454) = –1.933, p < 0.05)], revealing a significant interaction between time point and reading style; the rate of change in the fixation probability was significantly lower when the children read independently than when they read with a narrator
This study compared the eye movement characteristics of children with different receptive vocabulary and literacy levels when they read independently and when they read with a narrator
Summary
Substantial importance has been attached to improving the quantity and quality of reading among citizens in China, and Reading for All has twice been included in the “Report on the Work of the Government” (Qian, 2005). Reading cannot only increase people’s knowledge and enrich their spiritual lives but can improve the quality of the national culture. Picture books combine two types of symbols, namely, pictures and short sections of text (which, in this paper, refers to Chinese characters), to tell a story. Such books are intuitive, easy to understand and interesting. Children’s early reading activities involving picture books have attracted increasing attention from children and parents
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