First-grade beginning readers' use of pictures and print as they read: A miscue analysis and eye movement study

Abstract

Miscue analysis and eye movement analysis are used to explore the reading process of first-grade beginning readers as they use pictures and print in a picture book designed for instructional purposes. Eye Movement Miscue Analysis (EMMA) is also used as a tool to gain insights into the reading strategies of the beginning readers in this study. Miscue analysis provides a psycholinguistic analysis of' unexpected oral responses in the oral texts that readers produce. Eye movement analysis provides an analysis of the visual fixations of readers in pictures and the print. Both forms of analysis are used to examine the relationship between the oral and visual aspects of the reading process. This dissertation focuses on first-grade beginning readers' use of pictures and print as they read. Patterns of eye movements relative to picture use, print use and the relationship between the two media are described, analyzed and compared. Results of the analyses are discussed in relation to existing literature within the theoretical framework that informed the study. Major findings include that beginning readers are aware that reading is a complex process of making meaning from print and pictures; they exhibit many of the same reading strategies as older more experienced readers; and they sample pictures in ways that are purposeful and know where to look for useful information. Implications for authors, illustrators, publishers, educators and reading theorists are discussed and areas for further research are delineated.