A child's information processing and language skills may be important factors that influence story comprehension during book reading. Using an eye-tracking method, the present study investigated how age, gender, and language skills influence young children's book reading by measuring online eye-movement. Methods: A total of 18 children (4-6 years old) participated in the study. One picture book without text was modified for the study. A total of 6 pages presented on a computer screen while children listened to a pre-recorded story. After reading, children were asked to answer story comprehension questions. The dependent variables were total fixation duration, average fixation duration, fixation time, fixation count, and first fixation duration. Correlation analyses were conducted among the variables age, story comprehension, and eye movement. Gender differences in the eye movement and story comprehension variables were analyzed. In addition, eye movement patterns and story comprehension performances were compared between children with typical development (N= 5) and children with language delay (N= 5). Results: First, significant correlation was found only between story comprehension and first fixation duration. Second, gender differences were significant only on the fixation count. Lastly, group differences were significant on both story comprehension and some eye movement variables. Conclusion: An eye tracking method is useful to reveal online processing during book reading. Children's eye movement patterns differed depending on gender and language abilities. The findings indicate that depending on a child's profile, different reading strategies should be applied for better learning outcomes during book reading.

No abstract

Standardized tests and spontaneous speech sample analysis have been used to measure children's language abilities. However, standardized tests alone cannot provide complete information on each child's interaction skills. To obtain specific performance on interaction skills, spontaneous speech sample analysis is essential in clinical situations. Nevertheless, there is no standardized norm in spontaneous speech sample analysis. Thus, this study is designed to investigate performance in typically developing children (TD) in different age groups by analyzing spontaneous speech samples of four subtypes (the number of utterances, initiations, responses, and turn-takings), compared to those of children with language delay (LD). Methods: A total of 131 children ages 2-5 participated in this study. Spontaneous speech samples were collected during three different structured play settings of 25 minutes each and analyzed for interaction skills. Results: The results are as follows. In the TD group, the number of utterances, responses, and turn-takings increased with age, but there was no significant difference in the number of conversation initiations. There was a significant difference in the number of utterances, conversation initiations, responses, and turn-takings between TD and LD. Conclusion: Results suggest that children's spontaneous speech is representative of their language development and can be an effective measure in screening for children at risk of language delay.

No abstract

No abstract