A Research on Reading Comprehension Levels of Fifth-Grade Students Who Learned to Read and Write for the First Time with Sound-Based Sentence Method

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine reading comprehension levels of fifth-grade elementary school students who learned to read and write for the first time with sound-based sentence method. The 2005 program changed the initial literacy learning method. Sentence method was replaced by sound-based sentence method in the initial literacy education. Fifth-grade students comprising the subject of this study may be defined as the first group of students who learned to read and write for the first time with sound-based learning method. The study group comprises a total of 1,000 students attending elementary schools in Üsküdar, Kadıköy, Ataşehir, Ümraniye, Bahçelievler, and Bayrampaşa districts in Istanbul. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used in the study. The research was conducted during the 2009-2010 academic year. An Achievement Test developed by the researchers was administered to the fifth-grade elementary school students. The test has 15 questions in total. 10 of them are (close-ended) multiple choice questions and 5 of them are open-ended questions. Open-ended questions were administered to 50 students randomly selected from among 1,000 students. Percentage of students’ correct answers to the 10 questions in total is 24.41%. Percentage of their wrong answers is 72.68%. Percentage of questions left blank is 0.9%. The ideal is 100% success in reading comprehension, so 24.41% may be considered as failure. It may be suggested that students failed to comprehend what they read in the multiple choice questions section. Percentage of students’ correct answers to the 5 open-ended questions in total is 43.6%. Percentage of their wrong answers is 28.8%. Percentage of questions left blank is 27.6%. It may be suggested that students failed in the open-ended questions. Students had difficulty expressing themselves. Their written expression skills may be suggested to be insufficient. The reason for this may be that teachers concentrate more on multiple choice tests in their assessments and evaluations, that students do not have developed vocabulary and expression skills, and that they do not have an habit of performing activities of writing essays, stories, letters, diaries, etc.