The effect of reciprocal teaching technique on bilingual students' reading comprehension and summarizing skills and students' opinions on the applications

This study aims to develop the reading and writing skills of bilingual students at the secondary school level by using the reciprocal teaching technique in Turkish lessons. The method of this study was carried out with a mixed research method in order to examine the effect of reciprocal teaching technique on the development of reading and writing skills of bilingual students studying at the secondary school level by using the reciprocal teaching technique in Turkish lessons. A quasi-experimental design with a control group was used in the quantitative dimension of the study, and a student interview form was used in the qualitative dimension. The study group consisted of a total of 30 bilingual students in the experimental and control groups. Achievement test, self-efficacy perception scale for reading comprehension, attitude scale towards reading and student interview form were used as data collection tools; descriptive statistics, normality tests and t-tests for dependent/independent samples were applied in the analysis of the data. Qualitative data were evaluated with content analysis. The quantitative and qualitative data obtained were interpreted together and a holistic perspective was gained for the study. According to the findings of the study, a significant increase was observed in the reading success of the students in the experimental group to whom the reciprocal teaching technique was applied. A significant improvement was achieved especially in their self-efficacy in summarizing. Students stated that they understood the texts better, their reading speed increased and they made progress in their writing skills thanks to this technique. However, no significant difference was found in some variables such as self-efficacy perception and attitude towards reading. In the discussion section, it was emphasized that the reciprocal teaching technique contributed to the cognitive and affective development of the students. It was determined that the students' skills in interacting with the text, asking questions, predicting, explaining and summarizing improved. The technique also increased student motivation and made the learning process more meaningful and fun. As a result of the research, it is recommended that the reciprocal teaching technique be applied for a longer period of time and systematically, supported with fun content and spread in different courses. In addition, it was stated that student opinions should be integrated into the teaching processes and structured programs should be developed for bilingual individuals.