Sequence of eye movements: When reading, the eyes move in a fixed sequence: Fixation - gaze jump (saccade) - fixation - saccade - etc. Reason: The human eye is too slow to "scan" the text; it can actually only see static images clearly. Only our brain puts these individual [...]

Factors that limit the maximum size of a word segment The maximum size of a word segment is approx. 6-7 letters. The following factors limit this ability. Our eye Our eyes can only recognise letters sharply enough in the area of sharpest vision. This range is sufficient for 6 [...]

No standard values There are no standards for the time required to reliably recognise a word segment. This value is individual and varies between 50 and 500 milliseconds. Trainable This ability is one of the decisive factors for the reading speed that a reader can achieve. It can be [...]

There is no reading centre Humans do not have a "reading centre" in their brain equivalent to the auditory centre, as there has been no corresponding evolution. Reading is purely a cultural activity that we have to learn. We have to make do with our natural abilities. What we [...]

Our eye is not a scanner Our eyes are simply too slow. For example, when we look out of a moving train onto the neighbouring track, we see everything very blurred. We have to focus on a specific point in order to get a sharp image. This results in [...]

Syllables The syllable is a "word building block" defined by the structure and grammar of the language, which can be pronounced on its own. It is therefore often used to naturally divide words when learning to read. Word segment A word segment is also a pronounceable word module. It [...]