The effect of the reading intervention program implemented through strategy instruction on the English reading skills of students with specific learning disabilities

Purpose: In this study, a reading intervention program implemented through strat-egy instruction was developed to improve the English reading skills of students with spe-cific learning disabilities The aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of the read-ing intervention program on the English reading fluency, reading accuracy and reading comprehension skills of students with specific learning disabilities. Method: This study, examining the effectiveness of the intervention program pre-pared to support English reading skills, was designed using a multiple probe design across participants, which is one of the single-subject research methods. The independent variable of the study is the strategy-based English reading intervention program structured to increase reading fluency, reading accuracy, and reading comprehension skills. The first dependent variable of the study is reading comprehension scores. The second dependent variable is the number of words read correctly in one minute. The final dependent variable is the percentage of reading accuracy. Additionally, social validity data were collected from students, teachers, and parents. Results: The research findings revealed that the implemented reading intervention program was effective on the English reading fluency, reading accuracy, and reading comprehension skills of students with specific learning disabilities. The social validity findings indicated that there was an improvement in participants' English reading skills, specifically in reading comprehension and reading speed, and that the strategies used were effective and facilitative of reading. Furthermore, students stated that they started using the learned strategies in other courses. Conclusion and Suggestions: It was observed that the applied reading interven-tion program was effective in increasing English reading comprehension scores, increas-ing the number of words read correctly in one minute, decreasing the number of errors per minute, and increasing the percentage of reading accuracy. The intervention program can be applied to a larger number of participants in different grade/age groups and with stu-dents from different socio-economic levels. In future research, the study can be designed using group experimental research methods.