The central aim of this dissertation is to gain insight into the on-line text processing and strategy use by young low- and high-comprehending readers as they read expository and narrative texts... Show moreThe central aim of this dissertation is to gain insight into the on-line text processing and strategy use by young low- and high-comprehending readers as they read expository and narrative texts for comprehension, with an additional aim to provide insight into distinct reading profiles. A second aim is to gain insight into the effect of different forms of text layout on young readers’ text comprehension and reading speed. The dissertation comprises three sections. The first section consists of a theoretical chapter about individual differences in reading comprehension (Chapter 2). The second section consists of four empirical studies in which (combinations of) different research methods were employed (Chapters 3-6). In the first study, a think-aloud protocol was used to investigate the on-line reading approach of readers and the possible existence of subgroups of readers, whereas in the second study readers’ eye movements were tracked. The third study examined whether subgroups of readers that were characterized as paraphrasers and elaborators based on the think-aloud study, were also characterized by different eye-movement patterns. The fourth study examined whether and why young beginning readers might benefit from segmented text layouts. The third section consists of a conceptual chapter in which the results and conclusions from the empirical studies are summarized and discussed in a broader context and recommendations are given for educational practice (Chapter 7). Show less
