The Role of Eye Movements in Learning to Read and Reading Disability

Abstract

The role of eye movements in learning to read and reading disability is reviewed. Characteristics of eye movements during reading for skilled, beginning, and disabled readers are discussed. It is argued that eye movements are not a cause of reading problems and that training children with reading problems to make smooth, efficient eye movements will not increase their reading ability. Rather, eye movement characteristics during reading reflect the difficulty that children have understanding written text.