An evaluation of reading errors, reading rate, and reading comprehension of second grade students who start to primary school with and without the knowledge of primary reading and writing

The aim of this study is to reveal whether there is a difference between the reading error, reading rate and reading comprehension skills of the second-grade students who started primary school with and without the knowledge of primary reading and writing. In this context, this research was carried out using the causal-comparison model, one of the quantitative research methods. The participants of this study consisted of second-year students studying in a private school within the borders of Nevşehir province in the 2021-2022 academic year. Criterion sampling method, one of the non-random purposeful sampling methods, was used to determine the participants of the study. A total of 63 students, 34 males and 29 females, having similar socioeconomic and sociocultural backgrounds, constituted the study group of this research. Participants were divided into two groups as 33 students who started primary school with the knowledge of primary reading and writing and 30 students who started primary school without the knowledge of primary reading and writing. An informative text consisting of 152 words was selected for the data collection. The students were asked to read the text and to answer the reading comprehension questions prepared by the researcher. The whole process was recorded and the recordings that the students read aloud were listened to again in determining the reading errors such as misreading, repetition, addition, skipping and reversing errors. In determining the reading speed of the students, the recordings were listened again and skipping, adding, repeating, reversing, and misreading errors were retracted from the number of words read by the students in the first minute. In order to measure the reading comprehension levels of the students, their answers to the reading comprehension questions were evaluated. In the analysis of the data, independent sample t-test was used and it was concluded that there was no significant difference between students' reading error, reading rate and reading comprehension skills. In other words, the findings of this study revealed that there was no statistically significant difference between the reading error, reading rate and reading comprehension skills of the second-grade students who started primary school with and without the knowledge of primary reading and writing. Findings were discussed in line with the relevant studies in the literature and educational implications were offered.