Developing Reading, Reading Comprehension and Motivation: An Action Research Study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop the reading, reading comprehension and reading motivation levels of a second grade elementary school student diagnosed with a specific learning disability and experiencing reading difficulty. In this context, the main research problem can be stated as “How can reading, reading comprehension and reading motivation be developed in a second grade elementary school student who has difficulty with reading?” One of the qualitative research designs, the action research design, was used in the study, which was carried out during the first semester of the 2018-2019 academic year. Following determination of the problem status, an action plan covering 30 lesson periods was created and implemented. For development of reading skills, repetitive reading, echo reading and syllable-word exercises were utilised; to develop reading comprehension skills, pre-reading, while-reading and post-reading strategies were employed; while for improvement of reading motivation, interesting texts, rewarding and praising were used. For determination of reading and reading comprehension levels, the Informal Reading Inventory was used, while for determining reading motivation level, the Motivation to Read Profile scale was used. As a result of the implementations, the student’s reading and reading comprehension levels increased from frustration level to instructional level, and a significant improvement in her reading motivation level also occurred.