Parrot reading as a reading comprehension problem

Reading is a comprehension-based process. Parroting refers to reading fluently and aloud but without adequate comprehension. Students who read fluently but do not have adequate comprehension are parrots. The purpose of this study was to determine the proportion of parrots among fluent readers. A survey research design, which is one of the quantitative research methods, was used. Reading fluency was assessed by evaluating students' accuracy, speed, and prosody levels. Students' reading speed was determined by counting the number of words read correctly in one minute, and reading accuracy was determined by calculating the percentage of words read correctly to the entire text. Error analysis checklists were used to determine reading speed and accuracy. The Multidimensional Fluency Scale was used for prosodic reading skills. Reading comprehension questions were created to determine reading comprehension. Office365 program was used to analyze the data. The study group consisted of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th-grade students studying in a primary school in Istanbul in the 2022-2023 academic year. A total of 311 students participated in the study voluntarily. It was concluded that 50 out of 62 fluent readers in the second grade (80.64%), 22 out of 67 fluent readers in the third grade (32.84%), and 36 out of 63 fluent readers in the fourth grade (57.81%) were parrot readers. It was determined that at least 32.84% of fluent readers at each grade level were parrot readers. Parrot readers were most common in the second grade (80.64%) and least common in the third grade (32.84%). Keywords: reading, fluent reading, reading comprehension, parrot reader, parrot reading