Evaluation of metacognitive reading and reading comprehension skills of 5th-8th grade secondary school students

This study aimed to determine the metacognitive reading and reading comprehension skills of 5th-8th grade middle school students and the relationship between these skills. The research was conducted with a convergent parallel design from mixed research methods. The scope of the research is 2605 secondary school rooms from 19 public schools in the central districts of Diyarbakır Province in the 2023-2024 Academic Year. In the research, Reading Strategies Metacognitive Awareness Inventory, which was stolen by Mokhtari and Reichard (2002) and adapted to Turkish by E. Öztürk (2012), and Reading Comprehension Achievement Tests and Semi-Structured Interview Form separated by the researcher, were used. Quantitative data in the study were analyzed using Anova, t-test, Pearson correlation test, regression analysis, Kruskal-Wallis H test and Mann-Whitney U tests. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. According to the results; It was determined that the metacognitive reading skills of the 5th and 6th grades were high, and the 7th and 8th grades were at medium levels. It has been found that metacognitive reading skills in 5th and 7th grades show significant differences according to the gender variable. It has been found that metacognitive reading skills in 6th and 7th grades show significant differences according to the education level of the mother and father. It has been found that the metacognitive reading characteristics of 5th-8th grades of secondary school show significant differences according to the books read in a year, the time allocated for daily reading, and the application of book reading hours with the family. It has been found that reading comprehension skills in 5th-8th grades of secondary school show significant differences according to gender and the education level of the mother and father. It has been found that reading comprehension skills in 5th, 6th and 7th grades show significant differences according to the change in the books read in a year. It has been found that reading comprehension skills in 8th grade of secondary school show significant differences according to the reading hour application applied during the period. It has been determined that there is a significant and positive relationship between metacognitive reading and reading comprehension in 5th-8th grades of secondary school. It has been determined that 5th-8th grade secondary school students most frequently use the strategies of goal setting, underlining, and rereading among the metacognitive reading skills.