Readability levels of texts in fourth grade Turkish textbooks and reading comprehension

Purpose: The aim of this research is to evaluate and compare the readability levels of texts in fourth-grade Turkish textbooks using different readability formulas, and to determine the reading comprehension levels of fourth-grade students regarding these texts. Method: This research was conducted using the descriptive method in a scanning model. Since the relationship between two different variables was examined, a correlational scanning model was designed. Results: When comparing the "Ateşman Readability Formula" and the average reading comprehension scores of students, it is observed that students achieved the highest score from the "difficult" text and the lowest score from the moderately difficult text. When comparing the "Çetinkaya-Uzun Readability Formula" and the average reading comprehension scores of students, it is seen that students obtained the highest scores from the texts with "insufficient (10-11-12th grade)" readability level, while they obtained lower scores from the educational texts (8-9th grade). Similarly, when examining the readability level obtained by the "Bezirci-Yılmaz Readability Formulas" and the average reading comprehension scores of students, it is observed that students received the highest scores from the texts at the undergraduate level, while they obtained the lowest scores from the primary school level texts. When looking at the readability level obtained by the "Sönmez Comprehensibility (Readability) Formulas" and the average reading comprehension scores of students, it is found that the highest scores were obtained from the texts with "understandable with text assistance" readability level, while lower scores were obtained from the texts with "understandable text" readability level. Finally, when examining the readability level obtained by the "Flesch-Kincaid Readability Formulas" and the average reading comprehension scores of students, it is observed that despite all three texts being at the university graduate level, they had the highest and lowest reading comprehension scores. Regarding the relationship between reading comprehension scores and gender, it was found that there was a difference favoring girls. The presence of a separate room or not did not significantly affect the reading comprehension scores. Children of parents with postgraduate degrees achieved the highest scores. Furthermore, students whose parents are teachers or whose fathers are lawyers had the highest score rankings. Regarding the number of siblings and the average ranking of reading comprehension scores, students with two siblings had the highest average scores. It was also found that students who read books had higher average rankings in reading comprehension scores. Conclusion and Suggestions: According to the findings, it was determined that there is no relationship between the readability levels of texts and the reading comprehension levels of students. However, a significant difference was found between the total scores of students and the educational background of their parents. Children of mothers and fathers with postgraduate education had the highest overall average scores. Similarly, it was observed that the occupation of the parents also influenced students' reading comprehension scores. In this research, it is recommended to examine the readability of selected texts in textbooks, develop readability formulas suitable for Turkish, conduct studies to develop reading comprehension skills of students and readability formulas, and continue readability studies that contribute to the literature. Keywords: Readability, reading comprehension, Turkish textbooks, Turkish education.