The Eye-voice Span within and between Lines.

Abstract

When reading aloud, the eyes are usually two or three words ahead of the voice. Research shows that skilled adult readers regulate this distance called the eye-voice span (EVS) by increasing fixation durations to avoid overloading working memory. In this study, we tested this pattern for the first time in children and examined whether this effect differs across line boundaries. The differential effect of the EVS on fixations was investigated by comparing fixations adjacent to the return-sweep (line-final and line-initial fixations) to intra-line fixations. In addition, we explored whether children increased their articulation rates when the EVS was large. By analysing eye movements and voice data from 51 children who read short passages spanning two lines, we reported a similar effect of the EVS on fixation durations found in skilled readers. A larger EVS at the start of a fixation was associated with increased fixation durations. Importantly, this effect was more pronounced for line-final and a sub-type of line initial fixations, namely: undersweep fixations compared to intra-line fixations. These results suggest that moving between lines may be more costly during oral reading and contribute significantly to longer reading times in children who primarily read aloud. Articulation rates were also higher when the EVS was large compared to when it was small, suggesting that the eye and the voice work dynamically to ensure the optimal amount of information is buffered in working memory.