Towards a gaze-contingent reading assistance for children with difficulties in reading

Reading is a key skill in learning, working and participating in society on all levels. However, in 2018, 20% of German school students possessed only insufficient levels of reading proficiency. Frustration associated with these difficulties results in avoidance of reading, such that struggling readers will often not overcome them on their own. We present a first approach towards an assistance system that recognizes reading difficulties by analyzing the user's gaze behavior and offers dynamic adaptation of the text presentation. In a formative study, including 34 fifth-grade students, letter- and syllabication-based assistance significantly and substantially increased children's motivation to read. Based on these findings, gaze-contingent assistance presents a promising approach in improving struggling readers’ reading experience and motivation to read.