The effect of interactive reading on the reading comprehension skills of second-grade primary school students

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of the interactive reading method on second-grade primary school students' reading comprehension skills. The research was conducted within the framework of a quasi-experimental design with pre-test and post-test control groups, which is one of the quantitative research methods. The sample consisted of a total of 48 second-grade students from two different classes in a public primary school located in a district center in the Central Anatolia Region during the 2023–2024 academic year. The sample was determined using a purposive sampling method, and the assignment of classes to the experimental and control groups was carried out randomly. The experimental group included 26 students, while the control group consisted of 22 students. The researcher planned to read one book per week for eight weeks. Students in the experimental group engaged in interactive reading, while students in the control group read the same books without interaction. The books were selected based on expert opinion. The data collection tool used in the study was the "Reading Comprehension Skills Test," administered as both a pre-test and a post-test to students in both groups before and after the implementation process. The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS statistical software package. The normality of the data distribution was evaluated using the Shapiro-Wilk test. Since the data were found to be normally distributed, dependent samples t-test was used for within-group comparisons, and independent samples t-test was used for between-group comparisons. The findings of the study revealed that the interactive reading method had a statistically significant positive effect on the reading comprehension skills of second-grade primary school students.