Exploring Children's Reading Methods and Comprehension through Eye Movement Measurements

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K18488
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 9:Education and related fields
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: HOSAKA Hiroshi 東京大学, 大学院新領域創成科学研究科, 客員共同研究員 (50292892)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 小佐野 重利 東京大学, 相談支援研究開発センター, 特任教授 (70177210)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-07-09 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 視線計測

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Eye movements during reading picture books were measured with a spectacle-type eye tracker for 35 children attending a day-care center, comparing oral with silent readings, and paper with display readings. Comparisons between silent and oral readings are as follows. (1) The time required for oral reading was longer. (2) The attention is concentrated on the letters when reading aloud. (3) The difference in the gaze plot was significant in the 2nd graders, suggesting their phonological conversion was insufficient in the silent reading. Comparisons between paper and monitor display are as follows. (1) The time required for reading was longer for the paper version. (2) The number of fixations was lower on the monitor. (3) The monitor display was used for longer fixation time in the 3rd grade, while the opposite was observed in the 5th and 6th grades. (4) The comprehension level was slightly higher for the monitor in the 3rd grade. These results support hypothesis in previous research.

Free Research Field

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Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は，学童保育所という自然な環境，かつメガネ型という装着負担の無い手法で，児童の視線追跡を組織的に行った初めての研究である．従来の読書理解の研究は，児童の報告や理解度テストなど間接的，主観的評価に依った．本研究の視線追跡は，眼球の生理的運動に基づく客観的な評価である．自己申告では内容を把握しにくい児童の読書の興味や理解度を計測できる可能性を示し，また，従来の教育・認知心理学研究における仮説を裏付けるデータを取得した．近年の我が国児童の読書量の低下は著しい．本研究は興味や理解度の推定を目指しており，読書量を増やす図書開発に貢献する．またデジタル教材の長所短所の把握にも有用である．