ARE ORAL READING WORD OMISSIONS AND SUBSTITUTIONS CAUSED BY CARELESS EYE MOVEMENTS?

Abstract

Many readers and reading theorists alike hold a "common sense" intuition that omissions and substitutions made while reading orally are caused by the reader failing to see the omitted or substituted word, or looking at it for too short a time. In this study the eye movements of college age readers were recorded while they read aloud and then analyzed to see if there is a causal relationship between "careless" eye movements and oral reading omissions and substitutions. Results indicate that, contrary to conventional wisdom, most omitted and substituted words are visually examined, and examined thoroughly, prior to being orally omitted or substituted. These findings are discussed in a context that views reading as a perceptual, interactive, and constructive process.