Examining a Reader’s Meaning-Making Process of Picture Books Using Eye Movement Miscue Analysis

Many changes in the landscape of communication have made it important for individuals to effectively use a range of resources to understand varied ways of making meaning (Bezemer & Kress, 2016). People now more than ever exchange knowledge and information using multiple mediums and modes to communicate. Since multimodal forms of communication and learning abound in our society, it is essential that students in schools develop the necessary skills to understand multiple forms of literacies to be successful. To access these multimodal forms for literacy learning and development, students need to develop skills for critically understanding language and other semiotic resources (e.g., art, music, signs) for success.

In schools, students encounter varied materials, including picture books, in the classroom to aid in their learning. Picture books provide support for all learners, especially young children who are developing their knowledge of language and their world. A picture book as an “art form is based on the combination of…the visual and the verbal” in differing relationships (Nikolajeva & Scott, 2001, p. 1). Specifically, in some picture books, information in the written and pictorial representations tell the same story (e.g., symmetrical picture books). In others, the pictorial information is detailed and extends the written text with additional details (e.g., enhanced picture books). Sometimes written and pictorial texts provide nonredundant information that is mutually dependent on each other to tell the entire story (e.g., counterpoint picture books). In this study, we selected an enhanced and a counterpoint picture book to examine the meaning-making process for one student. The varying relationships between the multimodal sign systems in picture books make them ideal materials to examine how reading works.

Literacy researchers have engaged in a variety of approaches to study reading by focusing on how the affordances of picture books influence reading strategies and comprehension (Feathers & Arya, 2015; Liwanag, Pelatti, Martens, & Martens, 2016). Researchers conducting these studies found that readers’ gaze or attention to the written and pictorial information in different kinds of picture books influence readers’ understanding of the materials. Gazes and fixations (when the eyes pause) have been used to examine cognitive processing while reading (Rayner, 1998).

To examine how reading works, it is important to understand what the eyes do during reading (Goodman, Fries, & Strauss, 2016). Physiologically, the eyes are limited in their capacity to collect data. Previous research suggests the eyes have to pause to provide visual input to the brain (Paulson & Freeman, 2003; Wolverton & Zola, 1983). The eyes can also only view information in the “foveal region which is the area in focus and subsumes 1-2° of visual angle or about 3-6 letter spaces around the point of fixation” (Paulson & Goodman, 2008, p. 27).

Despite the physiological limitations of the eyes, eye movement findings show that context plays an important role in perception and thus enables readers to “see” more than what the eyes focus on. Eye movement miscue analysis (EMMA) studies (Brown, Kim, & O’Brien Ramirez, 2011; Paulson, 2005) have also confirmed eye movement research findings that not all words are looked at when reading (Just & Carpenter, 1984; Rayner & Pollastek, 1989). Other EMMA studies have demonstrated that readers look at text that they omitted and read text that they did not fixate on during oral reading (Duckett, 2002; Paulson, 2002).

Our recent EMMA study (Liwanag et al., 2016) and other ongoing EMMA research have shown that common metrics (Goodman, 2016) do not fit the traditional definition of a fixation that lasts between 200 and 300 ms (Holmqvist et al., 2015) as the “only time the eye transmits useable data to the brain” (Paulson & Freeman, 2003, p. 2). While we recognize the value of fixations as a measure of cognitive processing, we are in need of a new method that considers other metrics, such as gaze points, to explain how visual input from the eyes is used to make sense when reading. Gaze points are computed using the eye tracking software as it maps the eye tracker coordinates in relation to the reader’s distance and computer screen coordinates (Duchowski, 2007). Both the fixations and gaze points show a reader’s visual activity. In the present study, we chose to use gaze points and fixations to focus on what Just and Carpenter (1984) advocated as the “grosser units…rather than the finer or reductionist approach…to gaze data” (p. 155). Gaze points and fixations were graphically displayed as heat maps to show the density of the visual activity of where the reader looked when reading two picture books. In the heat maps, the “colors closer to the red end of the spectrum indicate the most visual activity…while the ‘cooler’ colors indicate progressively less visual activity” (Applied Science Laboratories, 2015, p. 78). Using the heat maps in tandem with the gaze points and fixations allowed us to examine relevant patterns that showed which areas our reader looked at when reading and how it related to reader strategies and comprehension. Goodman (2016) described in his theory-based view of brain-eye functioning in reading that:

A comprehensive theory (Goodman & Goodman, 2014) of the reading process provides us with a lens to explain the meaning-making process of a second grader reading two picture books using EMMA. Thus, the purpose of this study is to analyze one child’s reading of two picture books with differing relationships between the written and pictorial texts. Using EMMA methods and heat maps, we address these research questions: (a) What are the child’s miscue analysis and comprehension patterns when reading two picture books with different written/pictorial text relationships? (b) What do the child’s EMMA patterns on heat maps reveal about the strategies in constructing meaning while reading these two books?

Theoretical Grounding

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Examining what a reader looks at when reading provides considerable insight into the reader’s strategies and comprehension of the text. Brain research shows that the cortex plays a significant role in what is transmitted by the eye as well as to the eye when a reader confirms or disconfirms a reading prediction (Strauss, Goodman, & Paulson, 2009). This view as explained by Strauss, Goodman, and Paulson supports a transactional sociopsycholinguistic view where reading is a process of constructing meaning. A transactional sociopsycholinguistic lens recognizes readers’ sociocultural context, funds of knowledge, cognitive, and linguistic (semantic, syntactic, and graphophonic) cues to make meaning (Halliday, 1975; Moll, Amanti, Neff, & Gonzalez, 2005; Rosenblatt, 1994; Vygotsky, 1978). Evidence of readers’ ongoing understanding of a text is reflected, in part, by their miscues. Miscues are “windows of the reading process” that allow insights into readers’ transactions with the text while they are reading (Goodman, Watson, & Burke, 2005, p. 3). Readers’ retellings when they finish reading provide an indication of their comprehension.

This study is also grounded in semiotic theory that examines the notion of signs or sign making (Bezemer & Kress, 2016; Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006). Semiotic theory provides a framework to study how signs are used to share meaning among groups of people. In picture books, signs such as color, lines, and perspective are signifiers that communicate meaning.

Transactional sociopsycholinguistic and semiotic theories provide means to explore how a second-grade reader constructs meaning using verbal and visual modes with their varied functions to access and understand meaning in the details, characters, and events portrayed in the stories. The theories of semiotics and transactional sociopsycholinguistic provided a structure for interpreting and integrating analysis of the child’s reading of two picture books. Miscue analysis is used in concert with the child’s eye movements and retelling patterns to examine his meaning-making process in this study.

Method

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Over the past 3 years, our EMMA research team of four faculty members at Towson University has collected data from over 85 readers between the ages of 4 and 38 in a large metropolitan area in the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The broad goal for our EMMA center is to establish a rich database from diverse readers (range of ages, socioeconomic, cultural backgrounds, and ability levels) and texts (pictorial text only, written and pictorial text, and written text only) from which we can construct a comprehensive picture of the reading process. As part of the general lab procedures, readers are typically asked to read between one and three books during one sitting (lasting less than an hour).

In this study, we explored a young boy’s reading of two picture books that had different relationships between the pictorial and written texts by analyzing his miscues, comprehension, and EMMA data. During this data collection period, he only read these two books. We share our data as a case study to provide detailed analyses of the complexities of reading and highlight our reader’s EMMA patterns for the two books.

Case studies are an accepted methodology that allow for in-depth examinations not available in larger collections of pooled data (Weintraub, 1981). By comparing cases across studies, understandings grow (Goodman, Martens, & Flurkey, 2016). As Dyson (2013) stated, “By comparing the studied case to others, the phenomenon itself is probed, its dynamic enactment is better understood, the social factors that matter take shape, and the larger sociopolitical processes the cases entail sharpen. We as a profession learn” (p. 418).

Participant

David (pseudonym), our research participant in this study, is a 7-year 6-month-old male who is enrolled in second grade at a local public school. He was born in the United States and is the only child of parents who emigrated from China. David is a fluent English speaker, reader, and writer who also speaks Chinese. His mother is a university professor, and his father is a software developer.

David’s mother reported that David has frequent shared book reading experiences with picture books. David and his parents regularly read picture books together at night and make family visits to the public library to read and borrow picture books. While the focus of these reading events is usually on the meaning of the story, they typically do not pay explicit attention to potential meaning in pictures. David was selected to participate in this case study based on his age, background, and availability.

Texts

David read two picture books with differing relationships between the written and pictorial texts: the first (Nana in the City) is an enhanced picture book and the second (The Zoo) is a counterpoint picture book. In addition to their different written/pictorial text relationships, we selected these books because they have received high acclaim and focus on experiences familiar to David (cities, zoos, and grandmothers).

Nana in the City (Castillo, 2014) tells the story of a young boy who visits his nana and initially is afraid of the sights, sounds, and busyness of the city. After his nana knits him a red cape to wear when they go exploring, however, he comes to appreciate all the city has to offer. The story includes 252 words told over 19 double-page spreads. The pictorial text enhances the written text, meaning that the art adds details that are not stated in the written text (Nikolajeva & Scott, 2001).

Next, David read The Zoo (Lee, 2007). This story tells of the visit a young girl makes with her parents to the zoo. The written text is 56 words told over 16 double-page spreads, 10 of which contain both written and pictorial text and 6 of which are pictorial text only. This book has a counterpoint relationship between the pictorial and written texts, meaning that they tell different stories (Nikolajeva & Scott, 2001). When the written text tells of visiting the giraffes, for example, the parents are frantically searching for their daughter who has wandered off and is not shown on that page.

Data Collection

We describe three primary sources of data for this study: oral reading/miscue analysis, comprehension/retelling, and EMMA.

Miscue analysis

Both books were digitized in the exact double-page spreads as in the original paper books and David read them on a 19-in. computer monitor. We followed standard miscue analysis procedures to collect the reading and retelling data (Goodman et al., 2005). At the beginning of the data collection process, David was asked to read the stories aloud and then retell the story in his own words. If he had any difficulties with the text, he was told to solve them by himself. As he reads the texts aloud, his eye movements were recorded. Readings were audio recorded in addition to being captured on the Applied Science Laboratory (ASL) EyeTRAC 7 software. Miscues were marked on a typescript for coding.

Retellings

When David finished each book, he was asked to retell the story. Following this unaided retelling during which he talked freely, he was asked specific follow-up questions to prompt for details that he did not provide initially. He then read and retold the second story. Retellings were audiotaped and transcribed at the word level. The total reading and retelling lasted less than 30 min for each book.

Both stories were unfamiliar to David, and he read and retold each one time. Each reading provided an abundance of data for our analyses of miscues, retelling, and eye movement samples.

EMMA

The data provided by David consisted of examining his eye movements concurrently with his oral reading to provide a “map of the reader’s reading process” (Paulson & Freeman, 2003, p. xii). EMMA data “puts the eye movements in context of the reader’s making sense of the text” (Paulson & Goodman, 2008, p. 42). An ASL EyeTRAC 7 machine was used to collect data on eye movements and oral readings during the display of the double-page spread picture books on a computer monitor using Paradigm Elements (Perception Research Systems, 2007). The EyeTRAC 7 technology has a 60 Hz sampling rate.

Before data collection, David sat in front of the eye tracker, looking at the computer screen, so we could calibrate his eyes. Calibrating the eyes entails asking the very still and patient participant to look at a 9-point tracker system displayed on the computer monitor one at a time to ensure that his gaze is aligned with the camera. To read the two stories, David independently moved from page-to-page by controlling the mouse to pace his own reading.

Data Analysis

Miscue analysis

The in-depth procedure of miscue analysis was used to examine both individual miscues and how his miscues related to the sentence and text as a whole (Goodman et al., 2005). Specifically, we analyzed each miscue for syntactic, semantic, and graphophonic acceptability as well as for changes in meaning and self-correction. This process allowed us to describe how David incorporated reading strategies and cueing systems to make meaning while reading the text (Goodman et al., 2005).

Two researchers with considerable experience with miscue analysis independently analyzed both of David’s oral readings and compared results to establish interrater reliability. If considerable differences were noted, a third experienced researcher participated in the decision about the coding of specific miscues.

Retellings

David’s retellings of the books were transcribed and analyzed holistically on a scale of 0 to 5, based on the protocol created by Irwin and Mitchell (1983). This included David’s discussion of theme, major events/characters, supporting details, inferences, completeness, coherency, and personal response. Two researchers independently coded retellings and agreed on the scores.

EMMA

The EMMA data were analyzed in two ways. One was through the use of ASL Results Plus 3.3 (Applied Science Laboratories, 2015), which enabled us to process and analyze data collected using the EyeTRAC software. This software examined gaze data and fixations that were superimposed on the respective background material across multiple pages. Because we calibrated David’s eyes before and after each of the readings, we are confident in the accuracy of each of the recorded data.

The second way we analyzed the EMMA data was an in-depth examination of selected double-page spreads for each story. We selected the double-page spreads that exhibited complete gaze data and fixations and excluded pages with data loss. Because of the inherent limited accuracy of the eye tracker (Duchowski, 2007) and the natural actions of readers, particularly young readers, when reading a complete text, we examined and removed instances of data loss after analyzing data in ASL Results Plus 3.3 (Applied Science Laboratories, 2015). Data loss can occur when readers blink, make slight head movements, and/or move eye gaze position due to clicking the mouse when transitioning from one page to another. Since data loss can only be assessed accurately after the reading has been recorded through the software, our analysis dealt with exploring and selecting pages that showed eye movement gaze, fixations, and oral reading evidence despite David’s natural blinks and body movements during the oral reading. This resulted in about one-third of the double-page spreads for each story: seven for Nana in the City and five for The Zoo (three with written and pictorial text and two with pictorial text only).

Analysis of double-page spreads

We analyzed each double-page spread by examining David’s eye movements, including fixations and gaze points, in relation to four identified areas of interest (AOIs), which were based loosely on artistic composition designed to draw readers’ gaze (Poore, 1967). Primary AOIs included the main characters (e.g., nana and her grandson, the girl and her parents), secondary AOIs included other living things (e.g., people, animals), tertiary AOIs included anything in the background (e.g., white space on the pages), and quaternary AOIs included the written text on each page. This made it possible to analyze each double-page spread entirely.

Heat map analysis

We worked with hard copies of the heat maps to analyze them. By hand, we first circled the gaze and fixation “hot spots” (area of heat intensity [AHI]) identified by the software. When AHIs overlapped, we worked to find and indicate with a circle partially “hidden” spots based on outer edges that showed. Each AHI was then coded by the darkest color in it: G for green, Y for yellow, and R for red. Even though red AHIs typically also showed yellow and green, they were each coded once by the darkest color, namely, red. Since we were particularly interested in David’s deepest intensities, we coded partially hidden AHIs with green, even if they were under a red AHI, so as not to inflate the deepest intensity when enough information was not available.

After the AHIs were coded for color, we coded them by their AOI post facto, meaning the area in which they were located: N for nana/grandson, GP for girl/parents in zoo, O for other living things/white space, B for background, and WT for written text. When AHIs touched multiple AOIs, we coded by higher “level” of AOI (e.g., an AHI touching nana and the background was coded for nana since that’s the primary AOI). This gave David the “benefit of the doubt” when we could not be confident.

When the AHIs were coded, they were counted and entered into a chart for each double-page spread by AOI and color. Colors were counted for each AOI, and percentages were calculated within and across spreads. Two researchers independently coded the gaze and fixation “hot spots” or heat maps, and disagreements were discussed and resolved.

Findings

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Results for Nana in the City

Miscue analysis

Miscue analysis reveals how effectively and efficiently readers integrate reading strategies and language cues with a focus on constructing meaning (Goodman et al., 2005). As Table 1 shows, David’s meaning construction score for Nana was 82%, indicating his focus was on making sense as he reads. When his predictions did not make sense, he often self-corrected.

Table 1. David’s Miscue Analysis Percent Scores for Nana in the City (Castillo, 2014) and The Zoo (Lee, 2007).

Table 1. David’s Miscue Analysis Percent Scores for Nana in the City (Castillo, 2014) and The Zoo (Lee, 2007).

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David’s lower grammatical relations score of 64% was due to miscues he made that did not fit grammatically with the sentence and were not corrected. For example, David’s only miscue on the page shown in Figure 1 was his reading of, “The city what filled…” in the sentence, “The city was filled with extraordinary things.” Notable is that David’s Fixation 7 in Figure 1 was directly on “was.” While he did not fixate on other words in the text that he read, he did fixate on “was” and miscued. This supports previous EMMA research that readers do not look at every word in the text and may miscue even when they fixate in particular places (Duckett, 2002; Paulson, 2002, 2005).

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Figure 1. Heat map of David’s scan paths showing eye movement miscue analysis data on one page of Nana in the City. The numbers indicate the sequence of where the reader looked. The size of the dots represent how long in milliseconds the reader looked at that point so the larger the size of the dot, the longer the duration; and the smaller the size of the dot, the shorter the duration. David first read “was” but then went back and miscued by substituting “what” for “was.” Illustration from Nana in the City by Lauren Castillo. Copyright 2014 by Lauren Castillo. Used by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

David’s high (88%) graphic and sound similarity scores indicate his concern that his miscues look and sound like the published text, as his “what” for “was” miscue shows. He also had only four miscues per hundred words, indicating that his reading was fairly efficient.

Retelling

David’s holistic retelling score of 4 of the 5 or 80% (see Table 1) demonstrates his strong comprehension of the story. In his retelling, he shared that nana lived in the city; the “girl” thought the city was loud and scary and cuddled with her blanket during the night; on a walk the next day, the girl wore a red cape from nana and saw the city wasn’t scary; and the girl wanted to visit nana in the city again. Overall, David’s strong retelling and miscue analysis data for Nana indicated that his miscues generally preserved the meaning of the text, though sometimes were not grammatically correct.

EMMA

Figure 1 displays the heat analysis, fixations, and eye movements for David’s reading of this page in Nana in the City. Black and white printing does not show the colored AHIs. However, the circles indicate fixations. The larger the circle, the longer the fixation, which sometimes indicates more heat intensity. The two hottest AHIs (in red) on this page were in the upper right corner, approximately under Fixations 6 and 9. AHIs outside of this area of the page are low intensity/green.

Heat map analysis

The first bar for each of the four AOIs along the horizontal axis in Figure 2 displays our analysis of the heat maps for David’s reading of Nana. (We discuss Zoo below.) As Figure 1 shows, while David glanced briefly (e.g., green AHIs) at other parts of the pictorial text, most of his fixations and his highest AHIs were on the written text. His least AHI was on nana and her grandson, the primary characters and centers of interest in the story. Nana and her grandson were on every page but did not cover nearly the area, the background, or multiple other people or animals did, which accounts for their higher AHI in Figure 2. Author and artist Lauren Castillo intentionally dressed nana with red highlights on her coat, hat, and boots to draw readers’ attention (Lauren Castillo, personal communication, October 20, 2016). Her grandson wore a red cape to tour the city, usually also wearing a complementary color (e.g., green) to draw attention from the reader.

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Figure 2. Eye movement heat map analysis for each area of interest (AOI) for David’s readings of Nana in the City (Castillo, 2014) and The Zoo (Lee, 2007). The bars indicate the number of “hot spots” (areas of heat intensity [AHIs]) for each identified AOI.

As his high miscue and retelling scores indicate, David constructed meaning in his reading of Nana. The enhanced relationship between the written and pictorial texts, with the art adding details that extended the writing, facilitated David’s comprehension.

Results for The Zoo

Miscue analysis

David’s miscue analysis scores for his reading of The Zoo revealed similarities and differences with his Nana scores. As Table 1 shows, his 33% score for meaning construction indicated he was not using strategies during his reading that supported making meaning. Also, his grammatical relations score was 66%, again indicating miscues that were not grammatically acceptable in the sentence. For example, David’s one miscue on the page in Figure 3 is in the sentence “It’s very exciting” for which he read “It’s very excited.” This miscue is not acceptable and is not corrected. It is also directly under Fixation 9, David’s hottest AHI, again supporting previous EMMA research findings that readers fixations (or lack of them) do not necessarily mean readers will or will not accurately read that text correctly (Duckett, 2002; Paulson, 2002, 2005). David’s attention to the published text was indicated by his score of 100% for both graphic and sound similarity. He had five miscues per hundred words in his reading of the story.

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Figure 3. Heat map of David’s scan paths showing eye movement miscue analysis data on one page of The Zoo. The numbers in the figure above indicates the sequence of David’s fixation. The size of the dot represents his gaze duration. The size of the dot indicates the length of duration, so the bigger the size of the dot, the longer is the gaze duration. David also miscued on this page and substituted “excited” for “ exciting.” Illustration from The Zoo by Suzy Lee. Copyright 2007 by Suzy Lee. Used by permission of Kane Miller Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

David’s meaning construction and retelling scores for Zoo, however, were quite different than those for Nana. These scores related to how he was making sense while he was reading and when he finished, respectively. His 33% for meaning construction indicated he was not using strategies during his reading that supported making meaning. For example, he did not self-correct when his predictions did not make sense as with “excited/exciting.”

Retelling

David’s 1 out of 5 or 20% holistic retelling score revealed that he did not fully comprehend the story. In his retelling, David shared that people went to the zoo and saw a gorilla, bear land, giraffes, elephants, hippos in the pool, and monkeys; the girl and her parents thought the zoo was fun; and the author wrote the story so readers would know different animals at the zoo. He made no mention of the girl wandering off and getting lost, her playing with the animals on the pictorial-only pages, her parents searching for her, and how they found her, all of which were evident only in the pictorial text.

Overall, David’s miscue analysis and retelling scores demonstrated his attention to the written text, and while he had some fixations and AHI on the art, he generally did not appear to value the pictorial text as important information which is necessary for comprehension of this counterpoint book.

EMMA

Figure 3 shows the heat analysis, fixations, and eye movements for David’s reading of this page in The Zoo. The one area with the highest heat intensity (red) on this page is in the upper right corner under Fixation 9. Rich yellows approaching red areas are under 6, 7, and 8. Again, AHIs outside of the written text area of the page are low intensity/green. On the pages with only pictorial text, David had some fixations and visual intensity on the girl and the animals.

Heat map analysis

Our analysis of David’s heat maps for Zoo reveals that, like Nana, his areas showing the greatest heat intensity were the written text with the least heat intensity present on the image of the girl and her parents, who were the main characters, primary characters, and AOIs in the story (see Figure 2). While the girl covered a much smaller area in the art than, for example, the background, she is a primary character in the story and, thus, essential for understanding. Author and artist Suzy Lee dressed the girl in red to presumably draw readers’ attention. As with his miscue analysis scores, David’s intense focus on the written text with little on the young girl or her parents and happenings in the pictorial text resulted in a weak understanding of the story within the picture book in which reading the pictorial text was essential.

Discussion

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The findings from this case study of David’s readings of two picture books are striking to us and suggest the need for further research. The heat map analysis in Figure 2 reveals that the patterns of David’s eye movements did not change between the two books. In both books, his highest AHIs were in the written text and the lowest were the primary characters critical to the meaning of the stories. David’s strategy and focus on written text supported his reading of Nana, where the pictorial text extended and enhanced the written text. Details that he added in his retelling evidenced some attention to the pictorial text. Overall, David’s miscue analysis and retelling scores documented that he constructed meaning and comprehended what he read.

David’s similar strategy and focus on the written text in The Zoo, however, did not support his meaning construction. In this story, the pictorial text told an alternate story of the family’s visit to the zoo, making the reading of the illustrations just as critical to understanding the story as reading the written text. In The Zoo, reading and integrating both the pictorial and written texts were essential to comprehension of the story. While David had some fixations and AHIs in the pictorial text, he may not have considered it valuable and important information, as revealed in his miscue analysis scores related to meaning. While David has the background and schema about visiting the zoo, additional information from the text is necessary for full comprehension of the presented material.

Limitations

In this study, we provide details about one case study, and while the findings cannot be generalized to other students, the study raises additional questions. In future studies, we plan to include more participants from diverse ethnic, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. In our experience, Nana is representative of much of the literature that students read in school. The picture books, textbooks, magazines, and other types of multimodal representations that students read generally include pictorial text, photographs, and graphs that provide additional information that supports and extends the written text. We have not located much literature with pictorial/graphic information that “counters” the written text like The Zoo does. Further, based on study procedures, David read the two books on the computer. Although this was our intention, it is possible that his reading of the books on the computer, instead of as a hard copy, impacted our findings. In the future, we intend to compare EMMA procedures from data on the computer (as described in this study) and from hard copies (via a Mobile Eye system that collects data as the participant wears specialized goggles).

Implications

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We live in a time when increasingly fewer texts are solely written and most, particularly websites, are multimodal (Kress, 2003). Helping students of all ages grow as readers across all modes and presentations is essential. Thus, it is vital to help students learn to value and closely read written and pictorial information and to not assume that the pictorial text only extends information from the written text. This is important because readers need to integrate all aspects of pictorial and graphic information to create meaning based on the entire book. Put simply, there are critical elements of meaning in both pictorially and graphically presented information; thus, readers need to read closely to ensure full meaning of the book. More studies that examine students’ comprehension and the strategies they use to read different types of texts are crucial to deepening our understandings of reading, so “We as a profession learn” (Dyson, 2013, p. 418).

References

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