The effects of metacognitive strategies on attitudes toward Turkish course, reading comprehension achievement and retention

The study aimed to find out whether there would be a significant difference between experimental and control group on the reading comprehension, attitudes toward Turkish course, and retention of both of them. The study was designed as an experimental one. The use of the metacognitive strategies were the independent variable whereas, reading comprehension, attitudes towards Turkish course, and their retention were dependent variables. A pilot study lasted one month was carried out in order to be sure whether the strategies selected could be utilized. However, the main study including the experimental and the control groups lasted one semester. The 7th grade students from the primary schools participated in this study B.G. and H.M. located in the center of Antakya Hatay. Stratified random selection was used for the sampling method. Out of the eight similar schools regarding reading comprehension achievement, socioeconomic status, attitude and metacognitive skills, the two most resembling groups were selected as experimental and control groups. In the experimental group metacognitive strategies were implemented in Turkish course while in the control group, the traditional Turkish course teaching was employed. The following measurement instruments were used in the study, 1- Metacognitive Strategies Scale 2- IOWA Silent Reading Tests I 3- Turkish Course Attitude Scale 4- SED (Socioeconomic Status) Scale 5- Metacognitive Strategies Interview Form 6- The Checklist for The Observation of the Metacognitive Strategies 7- The Research Diary - Student Evaluations 9- Weekly Follow Up Tests Thus, the quantitative data obtained were testified with qualitative data. The researcher himself developed a Metacognitive Strategies Scale used in the experimental and the control group. The reliability and validity of this inventory was tested and the value of Cr. Alpha.83 and Pearson Moments Correlation.77. In the quantitative analysis, frequency, mean, standard deviation, percentage, paired sample t test, independent sample t test, ANOVA, and ANCOVA were used. In addition, the most convenient methods for each of the data were applied. The analysis of data revealed the following:. the significant difference was found between both the experimental and the control groups in both the use of the metacognitive strategies and the retention of them.. the significant difference was found between groups in reading comprehension and the retention of it.. the significant increase was seen between groups in the attitude, but not in retention of it. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that the use of metacognitive strategies increase. metacognitive skills. reading comprehension. the attitude towards Turkish course. This skills also enable students to maintain their achievement in reading comprehension.Key Words: Metacognition, Strategy, Reading Comprehension, Turkish Teaching, Thinking Skills, Learning, Teaching