Lower and higher level reading comprehension skills: An investigation on Turkish textbook activities and teacher practices

The current study was conducted to examine the distribution of activities aimed at lower- and higher-level reading comprehension skills in Turkish textbooks, whether these distributions differ among the textbooks, the frequency with which teachers use these activities in the teaching process and their views on the adequacy of the implementations. In the study conducted using a mixed-methods design, the textbooks were evaluated through document analysis using an analysis chart and form developed by the researcher. The quantitative data obtained from teachers were collected via a Likert-type questionnaire, while qualitative data were gathered through an interview form. The findings indicated that higher-level skills are given more emphasis quantitatively in the textbooks, but these activities lack depth in terms of quality. Deficiencies were detected in lower-level skills in terms of vocabulary breadth, vocabulary depth and grammar. It was also determined that differences were observed between grade levels and content coherence could not be ensured. Statistical analyses revealed a significant difference between the 5th- and 7th-grade Turkish textbooks in terms of the proportion of lower- and higher-level skills, with this difference mainly resulting from the intensity of inference and metacognitive regulation activities. The quantitative data obtained from the teachers indicated that lower- and higher-level activities are generally used in the teaching process at frequency levels ranging from "occasionally" to "frequently". The findings obtained from the interviews highlighted that teachers were unable to achieve the proficiency anticipated by the curriculum in implementing these activities and emphasized that the textbooks do not provide supportive tools, particularly in the areas of vocabulary, inference and metacognitive regulation. These results indicated that Turkish textbooks need to be improved in terms of both content diversity and pedagogical depth and enriched with high-quality tools to support teachers' practices in the teaching process.