Cognitive process of the children with reading difficulties: Analysis of the reading patterns with customizable digital reading software.

Abstract

Children with reading difficulties, such as children with dyslexia, struggle with standard printed materials in regular classrooms. In this study, a reading support system with a text-to-speech function, “Touch & Read”, was developed to examine changes in textbook information comprehension among children. Using this system, readers can magnify text, or tap part of the text to listen to the words read aloud, and adjust the speed of such auditory feedback. The system can log the way that the reader uses it to be analyzed to report on points of difficult for a reader, as well as help estimate his or her reading process afterward. We provided the Touch & Read system to 175 students from the first to sixth grade in the regular class and asked them to use it in the lesson for reading comprehension. Analysis of our data shows improvements in the reading rate and accuracy of the children with reading difficulties and a consequent rise in reading scores. Through an analysis of the logs of the reading behavior, the differences of the reading process between the children with and without reading difficulties are discussed here.


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