Elementary School Students’ Reading Environments from Teachers’, Parents’, and Students’ Perspectives
Author :
Abstract
The aim of this research was to describe reading environments of elementary school students when taken account of students’, parents’, and classroom teachers’ views. This research also gave some recommendations on what elementary school students’ reading environments should be in the light of literature. For this aim, the data was collected from classroom teachers, parents, and students studying in fourth-grade and fifth-grade by semi-structured questionnaire forms. The descriptive analysis was carried out to analyze the data obtained from the participants. The results of this research revealed that teachers and parents could not become models to support students’ readings. Instead, they orally directed children about their readings. This research also showed that the activities for reading done at homes and at schools do not improve children’s positive motivation toward reading. In addition, the children stated that they would love to get involved in reading activities since these enjoyable activities can increase their interests in reading.
Keywords
Abstract
The aim of this research was to describe reading environments of elementary school students when taken account of students’, parents’, and classroom teachers’ views. This research also gave some recommendations on what elementary school students’ reading environments should be in the light of literature. For this aim, the data was collected from classroom teachers, parents, and students studying in fourth-grade and fifth-grade by semi-structured questionnaire forms. The descriptive analysis was carried out to analyze the data obtained from the participants. The results of this research revealed that teachers and parents could not become models to support students’ readings. Instead, they orally directed children about their readings. This research also showed that the activities for reading done at homes and at schools do not improve children’s positive motivation toward reading. In addition, the children stated that they would love to get involved in reading activities since these enjoyable activities can increase their interests in reading.
Keywords
- Akyol, H. (2009). Türkçe ilk okuma yazma öğretimi (8. baskı). Ankara: Pegem A Yayıncılık.
- Anderson, E., O’Flahavan, J., & Guthire, J. T. (1996). The influence of embedded word-study instruction, social context, and motivation of children’s independent reading and writing: A case study of 3 first-graders. Retrieved from ERIC database (ED400522)
- Anderson, R. C., Wilson, P. T., & Fielding, L. G. (1988). Growing in reading and how children spend their time outside of school. Reading Research Quarterly, 23, 285-303.
- Angeletti, N., Hall, C., & Warmac, E. (1996). Improving elementary students’ attitudes toward recreational reading. Retrieved from ERIC database. (ED 398553)
- Baker, T., & Wigfield, A. (1999). Dimensions of children’s motivation for reading and their relations to reading activity and reading achievement. Reading Research Quarterly, 34, 2- 29.
- Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.
- Caldwell, K., & Gaine, T. (2000). “The Phantom Tollbooth” and how the independent reading of good books improves student’s reading performance. Retrieved from ERIC database. (ED 449462)
- Cresswell, J. W. (2005). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (2nd ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.
- Creswell, J. W., & Miller, D. L. (2000). Determining validty in qualitative inqury. Theory into Practice, 39, 124-
- Cunningham, A. E., & Stanovich, K. E. (1997). Early reading acquisition and its relation to reading experience and ability 10 years later. Developmental Psychology, 33, 934-945.
- Değirmenci, H. (2009). İlköğretim okullarında düzenlenen okuma saatlerinin değerlendirilmesine ilişkin öğretmen görüşleri. Yayımlanmamış yüksek lisans tezi, Gazi Üniversitesi, Ankara.
- Demir, S. (2011). Okul öncesi dönemde dil gelişimi ve sorunları. Gazi Üniversitesi Türkçe Araştırmaları Akademik Öğrenci Dergisi, 1, 38-49.
- Dökmen, Ü. (1994). Okuma becerisi, ilgisi ve alışkanlıkları üzerine psiko-sosyal bir araştırma. İstanbul: Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı.
- Durkin, D. (1993). Teaching them to read (6th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
- Echols, L. D., West, R. W, Stanovich, K. E., & Zehr, K. S. (1996). Using children's literacy activities to predict growth in verbal cognitive skills: A longitudinal investigation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88, 296
- Elley, W. B. (1992). How in the world do student read. Hamburg: International Reading Association.
- Freire, P., & Macedo, D. (1998) Okuryazarlık: Sözcükleri ve dünyayı okuma. (Çev. Ayhan, S.). Ankara: İmge. (Özgün çalışma 1987).
- Griffiths, Y. M., & Snowling, M. J. (2002). Predictors of exception word and nonword reading in dyslexic children: The severity hypothesis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 34-43.
- Guthrie, J. T., Hoa, A. L., Wigfield, A., Tonks, S. M., Humenick, N. M., & Littles, E. (2007). Reading motivation and reading comprehension growth in the later elementary years. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 32, 282–313.
- Guthrie, J. T., Schafer, W. D., & Huang, C. W. (2001). Benefits of opportunity to read and balanced instruction on the NAEP. Journal of Educational Research, 94, 145-162.
- Guthrie, J. T., Wigfield, A., Metsala, J. L. & Cox, K. E. (1999) Motivational and cognitive predictors of text comprehension and reading amount. Scientific Studies of Reading, 3, 231-256.
- Leppanen, U., Aunola, K., & Nurmi, J. E. (2005). Beginning readers' reading performance and reading habits. Journal of Research in Reading, 28, 383-39.
- Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. California: Sage Publications, Inc.
- Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı. (2004) Millî Eğitim Bakanlığı Orta Öğretim Öğrencileri İçin 100 Temel Eser Genelgesi: 19.8.2004 tarih, sayı 2004 / 60. Mart 2011’de, http://www.meb.gov.tr/’den elde edildi.
- Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı. (2005). Millî Eğitim Bakanlığı İlköğretim Okullarında Okutulacak 100 Temel Eser Genelgesi: 4.8.2008 tarih, sayı 2005 / 70. Mart 2011’de, http://www.meb.gov.tr/’den elde edildi.
- Morgan, D. N., Mraz, M., Padak, N., & Rasinski, T. (2009). Independent reading: Practical strategies for grades K– 3. New York: Guilford.
- National Center for Educational Statistics. (1996). National household education survey. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/nhes
- National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction (NIH Publication No. 00–4769). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
- National Institute on Media and the Family. (1999). National survey of family media habits, knowledge, and attitudes. Minneapolis, MN: Author.
- Özdemir, E. (1990). Okuma sanatı. İstanbul: Remzi Kitabevi.
- Padak, N., & Rasinski, T. (2007). Is being wild about Harry enough? Encouraging independent reading at home. The Reading Teacher, 61, 350–353.
- Parent Teacher Association. (2009). PTA national standards for family–school partnerships: An implementation guide. Chicago: Author.
- Rasinski, T., & Padak, N. (2011). Who wants to be a (reading) millionaire? The Reading Teacher, 64, 553-555.
- Schunk, D. H. (1987). Peer models and children’s behavioral change. Review of Educational Research, 57, 149–
- Schunk, D. H. & Zimmerman, B. J. (2007). Influencing children's self-efficacy and self-regulation of reading and writing through modeling. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 23, 7-25
- Senechal, M., LeFevte, J., Hudson, E., & Lawson, E. P (1996). Knowledge of storybooks as a predictor of young children's vocabulary. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88, 520-536.
- Smith, C., Tracy, E., & Weber, L. (1998). Motivating independent reading: The route to a lifetime of education. Retrieved from ERIC database. (ED422559)
- Stanovich, K. (1986). Matthew effects in reading: Some consequences of individual differences in the acquisition of literacy. Reading Research Quarterly, 21, 360-406
- Trelease, J. (1989). Jim Trelease speaks on reading aloud to children. The Reading Teacher, 43, 200-206.
- Worthy, J. (2000). Teachers’ and students’ suggestions for motivating middle-school students to read. In T. Shanahan and F. V. Brown (Eds.), The 49th Yearbook of the National Reading Conference (pp. 441-451). Chicago: National Reading Conference.
- Worthy, J. (2002). What makes intermediate-grade students want to read? The Reading Teacher, 55, 568-569.
- Wutz, J.A., & Wedwick, L. (2005). Bookmatch: Scaffolding book selection book for independent reading. The Reading Teacher, 59, 16-32.
- Yıldırım, K. (2010). Nitel araştırmalarda niteliği artırma. İlköğretim Online, 9, 79-92.
- Ateş, S., Çetinkaya, Ç., & Yıldırım, K. (2011). Okunabilir bir kitap nasıl seçilir? 10. Ulusal Sınıf Öğretmenliği Eğitimi Sempozyumunda sunulan bildiri. Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi Sivas.
- Yıldırım, A., & Şimşek, H. (2005). Sosyal bilimlerde nitel araştırma yöntemleri. Ankara: Seçkin Yayıncılık.
- Yıldız, M. (2010). İlköğretim beşinci sınıf öğrencilerinin okuduğunu anlama, okuma motivasyonu ve okuma alışkanlıkları arasındaki ilişki. Yayınlanmamış doktora tezi, Gazi Üniversitesi, Ankara.
- Yılmaz, Z. A. (2006). Sınıf öğretmeni adaylarının okuma alışkanlığı. İlköğretim Online, 5, 1-6.
- Yin, R. K. (2003). Applications of case study research (2nd ed.). California: Sage Publications.