Developmental dyslexia is a specific reading disorder which manifests itself by reading difficulties. These difficulties, such as errors in spelling or decoding letters and words, can impact and subsequently reduce the whole reading process and overall text comprehension (Gabrieli, 2009). Nowadays, a large amount of information is presented in text form, which influences knowledge uptake and further vocabulary expansion (Rello & Ballesteros, 2015). Repeated failures in reading can lead to reduced motivation, problems with behaviour and anxiety in children with dyslexia (Spafford & Grosser, 1996). Early diagnosis and therapy of dyslexia would subsequently improve pupils' adaptation to the school environment, mainly in their social and emotional development (Nilsson Benfatto et al., 2016). Several theories try to explain the neurobiological origin of dyslexia and some of them are closely related to visual perception and eye movements while reading (Jošt, 2011). Eye movements can be measured via eye-tracking. For elementary school, it is crucial to follow an appropriate method for learning how to read. The syllabic method is most commonly used in the Czech environment to learn reading. However, there is a research gap in the field of eye movement processes when reading different types of syllables in the Czech language. The main aim of this paper is to present the results of the eye-tracking study focused on eye movement aspects of dyslexic children during syllables reading in the Czech language environment.

This paper presents results from the eye-tracking study focused on syllables reading of Czech dyslexic children. The paper's main goal is to present the results responding to the main research question: “What are the differences in eye movements between dyslexic children and ordinary children when reading the syllables in the Czech language?”. The eye-tracking study uses the quantitative methodological approach. For these purposes, we created a stimulus consisting of a set of syllables (N = 90) usually used for diagnostics of dyslexia in the Czech Republic. This set of syllables was initially developed for children in the 3rd and 4th grades of elementary schools. Additionally, we adjusted the syllables for appropriate eye-tracking measurement (letter size, line spacing). The research was realized in collaboration with the Psychological Centre in Brno which provided the selection of appropriate participants. A primary school pupil aged 9-10 years old who was diagnosed with dyslexia, was considered an appropriate participant. The control group consisted of primary school pupils aged 9-10 years old who did not show any symptoms of dyslexia. The recruitment of the control group was realized in collaboration with elementary schools in Brno, Czech Republic. Data collection was performed between November 2022 and February 2023. For the data collection, we used the text from a standardized diagnostic set created by Psychological Centre in Brno which was adapted for the eye-tracking measurement, eye-tracker SMI RED 250, screen, and chinrest. The data will be analyzed during spring 2023.

Previous research focusing on eye movement patterns of dyslexic readers showed significant differences in saccades and fixations between dyslexic and ordinary readers (e.g., Hutzler & Wimmer, 2004). Specifically, readers with dyslexia show higher fixation duration and a higher number of fixations, shorter saccades, and a higher number of regressive saccades than ordinary readers (Rayner, 1998). In conclusion, eye movement analysis of syllables reading from the Czech environment can bring new knowledge into the field of the reading strategy of an individual. This information can subsequently lead to the improvement of educational processes in elementary schools. Second, the reading patterns of dyslexic readers can improve their reading skills and have an impact on the overall school performance, and social and emotional development of dyslexic pupils. Finally, these results can also help the practitioners in the psychological centres focusing on children with reading disabilities with a selection of appropriate therapy methods.

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