The effect of interactive reading applications on intercultural sensitivity

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of interactive reading applications on third grade students' intercultural sensitivity. The study was conducted with the participation of 44 third grade students attending a public school in the central district of Düzce province in the 2020-2021 academic year. The semi-experimental design was preferred in the study and the applications were carried out with two equivalent groups. In the research conducted in two classes, one class was determined as the experimental group and one class as the control group. There were 22 students in both classes. The implementation process of the research lasted for 8 weeks and during this period, a total of 8 children's picture books selected by experts and read nationally and internationally were used in interactive reading practices. A pre-test was administered to the students in the experimental and control groups before the interactive book reading activities were implemented and a post-test was administered after the activities were implemented. In this study, Intercultural Sensitivity Scale for Children was used as a data collection tool. The Intercultural Sensitivity Scale for Children (ISCS) consists of 10 Likert-type questions. The answers range from 1 (not at all) to 5 (completely). The data of the study were analyzed with the help of SPSS 26 package program. According to the findings obtained within the scope of data analysis, the nonparametric Mann Whitney-U test result, which was chosen to determine whether there was a significance between the ISCS post-test scores in the experimental and control group regions, showed significant significance between the groups (z=-5.690; p<.05). Interactive reading practices contribute positively to intercultural sensitivity.