## 1 Introduction
### Eye-Tracking Studies on Reading  
The eye-tracking technique involves analyzing the dynamic traces created by eye movements to detect one's attention and cognitive processes [30]. According to the eye-mind theory proposed by [PERSON] and [PERSON] [31], visual processing occurs at the site where gazes are fixated. In the process of reading, during a fixation, readers decode and recognize words and extract the required information, either from a single word or from a semantic chunk consisting of a group of words, while integrating this new information with their exiting knowledge [32]. Subsequently, they make a transition to another word or chunk of text to acquire different information, initiating another fixation. Thus, when applied in reading comprehension tasks, the eye-tracking technique provides insights into the process of information acquisition from text. Previous research explored the relationship between eye movement patterns and reading proficiency, revealing that shorter fixation duration and fewer fixation counts are indicators of proficient reading [33]. Many studies examined the connection between reading skills and eye movement patterns by comparing children across various age groups and demonstrated that older students exhibit shorter fixations per word, shorter average fixation durations [34; 35], and more frequent long saccades [36] compared to their younger counterparts. However, only a few studies consider the spatial aspects of eye movement patterns, and research that investigates a wide age range to observe continuous changes in eye movement patterns over time is limited. There is scant research related to reading and auditory input using eye-tracking technology. [PERSON] et al. [37] studied the links between reading proficiency and eye movement patterns under different reading conditions, AR and R, by comparing first language (L1) and second language (L2) speakers. They found that L2 readers showed more frequent fixations and longer fixation durations than L1 readers in the R condition, while there were no significant differences in eye movement parameters between L1 and L2 readers in the AR condition, thus demonstrating the positive effect of audio assistance for developing readers. However, it needs to be determined whether these differences in eye movement patterns under the AR condition directly indicate improved reading comprehension. [PERSON] et al. [38] aimed to determine whether language competency affects the relationship between eye movement patterns and reading comprehension with different reading modalities. They examined reading comprehension of typically developing (TD) children and children with language impairment (LI) in grades 1 and 2 according to reading modalities (AR and R) and the correlations between reading comprehension and eye movement parameters of both groups in each reading condition. Both in the AR and R conditions, TD children performed better in reading comprehension than children with LI. Total fixation duration in the screen; total fixation duration within areas of interest (AOIs), which are sentence areas in the screen; and scanpath length were selected as the eye movement parameters for the study. Total fixation duration within AOIs and scanpath length showed significant positive correlations with story comprehension in the AR condition among TD children, whereas among children with LI, only scanpath length emerged as a significant variable showing a positive correlation with story comprehension. Under the R condition, total fixation durations within the screen and within AOIs showed negative correlations with comprehension scores in the TD group. In contrast, in the LI group, no significant correlations between reading comprehension and eye movement parameters were observed. This disparity in the correlations between comprehension scores and eye movement parameters based on the reading modality implies that children with varying levels of language proficiency may process information in text differently, depending on the availability of audio assistance.