PROBLEMS IN TURKISH READING EDUCATION' INTERVIEWS WITH TEACHERS

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1 PROBLEMS IN TURKISH READING EDUCATION' INTERVIEWS WITH TEACHERS DR. ALI FUAT ARICI* Department of Turkish Language Teaching, Faculty of Education, Dumlupinar University, Kutahya, Turkey When reading is accepted as a fundamental need, the importance and necessity of its education become clear. This study aims to deal with the problems in reading education through a descriptive survey method. Ten Turkish teachers from different places in Turkey were interviewed and their opinions were analysed. As a result, it was determined that lack of reading habit, parents' indifference to reading, not understanding the reading material efficiently and accurately are among the major problems. In the light of teachers' opinions, suggestions were put forward for the problems in reading education. Reading, as an activity that renews and develops humans can be described as an exchange of views between the author and the reader. Activities that make up the experiences of an individual for his/her whole life can be arranged through reading education. Reading skill has the biggest contribution to personal development. Although, in its simplest form, reading can be thought as decoding letters, the importance of the concept will be seen if analysed in depth. People's need for reading is increasing day by day. In today's modem worid, many thousands of books are published every day. People need not only to learn about new developments but also to refresh their old knowledge. The relevance of knowledge and science to the society proceeds in this parallel. Therefore, readership is no longer considered to be an additional quality but rather an inevitable requirement. In our age, people's need for information and culture is more than ever. However, considering the people in Turkey in general, it is seen that most of them don't make use of such information media as books, newspapers and magazines sufficiently; instead, they waste their time with TV or other unnecessary and useless distractions. One of the global educational aims is to learn how to read and tum reading into a lifelong habit. There are many global campaigns to improve reading habit. For example, "Read On" in England and "Get Caught Reading" in the US are national reading campaigns renown worldwide. In Turkey, among many other similar campaigns, "100 Basic Literary Works" was conducted by the Ministry of Education (MEB) in order for high school students in 2004 and for primary school students in 2005 to acquire reading habit. *Tel.: ; Fax: address: afaturkey@hotmail.com 123

2 124 / Reading Improvement However, despite these campaigns, it was seen that the students weren't furnished with this habit adequately. As a matter of fact, in a research by Arici (2008), it was established that although 90% of the students were aware of "100 Basic Literary Works" campaign for high school students, 12,9% of the students read none of these books, while 60,0% read 1-10 of them; 9,5% read 11-20; 5,1% read more than 20 of them and none of the students read all of the books. Again, in many other recent researches (Cocuk Vakfi, 2006; Dokmen, 1994; Mullis et al., 2004; Ozcelebi, & Cebecioglu, 1990; Ozen, 2001; Saracaloglu, Bozkurt, & Serin, 2003; Tosunoglu, 2000), the negative picture in reading habit in Turkey has stood out. One of the primary aims in primary school education is to equip students with an efficient reading skill. Later on, this skill should tum into a habit and be sustained a whole life. Another aim of the reading activities pursued at school is to teach students how to choose the right reading material in terms of their own level and interest that will provide them with the ways of thinking scientifically and critically. As parallel to Townsend's (2002) words: "Reading skill can be improved and everyone can enjoy reading", also in the new Turkish Teaching Program (MEB, 2006) it is said "Every student can be given reading habit." The new program states that teachers can give their students reading habit through various activities. However, it is still not known whether the new program that have been in progress for almost two years have contributed to achieving the predetermined targets in reading. The aim of the study is to determine opinions of related teachers about reading education in line with the new program. Method This research is a descriptive survey model involving 10 Turkish teachers working in various cities (Agri, Erzurum, Kutahya, & Trabzon) in Turkey. A semi-structured interview form was used as a data collecting tool. The interview questions were prepared through expert opinions after literature review. The initial four questions were decreased to three after expert corrections. The interviews were conducted through appointments at schools where the teachers work. They lasted minutes on average. The questions asked to the teachers in the form are as follows: What do you understand from "reading education"? (What is reading education?) What are the reading activities you make use of? What are the problems you come against in reading education? The data were analysed through content analysis, one of the qualitative techniques. During analysis, sub-themes were developed and interpreted for each of the three articles. In order to increase reliability of the study, the researcher and an expert's joint analysis were considered and thus common points were determined. Findings & Discussion The study was based on one-to-one interviews with Turkish teachers. First, the opinions of teachers were coded and

3 Interviews with Teachers... /125 depending on these codes, themes were formed about the expressions. Then these opinions were presented in a general perspective. After that, the most outstanding expressions were picked out and cited as they were. Themes about reading education: Understanding (comprehension, interpretation) Forming a habit and deriving pleasure Book choice Thinking logically Reading aloud (stress, tonality, punctuation) Silent reading Reading according to method and technique Intelligence and personality development When the answers ofthe Turkish teachers to the questions "What do you understand from reading education?" and "What is reading education?" were analysed, such a perspective about reading education appeared: Reading means interpretation! Reading education means achieving such a reading that is fluent, clear and lucid enough for the reader and the listener to understand so that their reading level improves, reading errors decrease, they can deduce new meanings from what they read, their intelligence develops and it becomes easier for them to think logical- ly- Reading education is to make students love reading! Reading education is supposed to include such activities that will give students reading habit and pleasure, urge them to search for and appreciate precious works and equip them with the right methods and techniques to understand what they read. Reading education should be able to raise book lovers! Reading has as much effect on personality development as the environment. An individual in development period stores the information he has got from books in his subconscious and forms moulds in his thinking systematic according to what he has read. Opinions of a Turkish teacher named Mr. Bayram (28) working at a school in Erzurum about reading education is outstanding: Reading education is teaching how to do effective reading. This education is a prerequisite for introducing the distinguished samples of Turkish to students and thus endearing Turkish to them. Raising book lovers and equipping students with reading habit are again possible through this education. Reading education is teaching how to determine the aim of reading and how to read certain types of texts. In short, reading education means understanding and interpreting life. Analyzing the opinions of teachers about reading education, it is seen that the majority have sufficient and necessary infonnation about the concept of reading. Dokmen (1994) states that reading skill consists of vocabulary, comprehension and reading rate. Again in many other researches about reading (Akbayir, 2008; Arici, 2005; Dokmen, 1994; Gogus, 1978; Gunes, 2006; Marasli, 2005; Ozcelebi & Cebecioglu, 1990; Ozen, 2001; Saracaloglu, Bozkurt, & Serin, 2003; Tosunoglu, 2000), it is seen that such terms as reading habit, reading interest and reading tendency are used with reading skill.

4 126 / Reading Improvement Themes about reading education: Course book Story completion Using library and bookcase Changing books Book summary Reading hour Rewarding Reading aloud, silent reading, binary reading, reading in groups and speed reading 100 basic works Every student can be introduced with reading pleasure! Considering the reading activities of Turkish teachers, it is seen that after doing sample reading, they generally do the following in turn: silent reading, reading aloud, binary reading or group reading, pre or post-paragraph guessing/ completion, some teachers do free reading activities at least one hour a week. Some teachers even take students to library while others make use of the classroom bookcases and then do such activities as summarizing or presentation. I provide a reading environment! It is stated that some of the teachers make students exchange books and borrow books from school library. Though few, it is understood that some of the teachers try to make students read the 100 basic works by recommending books which are likely to interest them and by rewarding those who have read the most books. Ms. Sibel (24), a Turkish teacher working in Trabzon, states that she mostly uses stories for reading activities: I provide the environment that will enable the best reading at reading hours. By asking the beginning and the end of the text or story they are reading, I try to improve their thinking. I also ask them to evaluate the events in the story with different perspectives by putting themselves in the shoes of the characters in the story. Then they tell me about their feelings and opinions. I can make my students read only their coursebooks! Ms. Derya (25), a Turkish teacher in Agn, says that she can only make use of the coursebook for reading activities: I make my students read the texts in the coursebook as reading activities. First I do the reading, and then I ask my students to read, but nothing more. The facilities are limited here. I can even hardly do this because students don't even bring their books. We spare the last 20 minutes of the last course for reading. Students read by exchanging their books that they have read. According to the opinions of Turkish teachers about their reading activities, teachers especially do traditional reading activities and they don't mention about the reading activities in the new Turkish Teaching Program (MEB, 2006) except for the activity of reading hour. It is also interesting that only few of the teachers have done studies about 100 basic works. Both cases can be interpreted as that teachers either are unaware of these activities or haven't found any opportunities to use these activities. Also, the fact that only the coursebook is used in places where socio-economical level is low increases the importance of this tool- especially in terms of preferred texts- while on the other hand making reading education more difficult.

5 Interviews with Teachers... /127 Themes about reading problems: indifference of the family Comprehension problems Environmental problems Economical reasons Reading habit Not acquiring reading skill Being in need of reading Lack of school-parent cooperation Exam system Using technology and media (TV, internet, cell phone, etc.) Using dialect Reading problems arising when the answers of Turkish teachers to "What are the problems you come up against in reading education?" are analysed can be summarized as follows: We can't make books and reading loveable! The major problem in reading education is that students are lack of love of reading and reading habit. Some other frequent problems are as follows: parents are not conscious enough, there isn't adequate school-parent cooperation, negative environmental conditions, not allocating time to read after school and students and parents don't consider reading as a need. Reading cannot be taught properly! Use of dialect, not comprehending what is read, not being able to determine the frame (introduction, development and results parts), the main topic and main subject of a text, misspelling of the words, moving lips while silent reading and repetations of silent words are among the frequent problems according to teachers. The exam system is an obstacle for reading! Students don't want to read, they can't read fluently and meaningfully (they don't pay attention to pause, stress and intonation), even in some areas they cannot read (they read syllabify or cannot read at all) and they have problems in pronunciation all because of the exam system according to teachers. Mr. Orhan (28), a Turkish teacher in Erzurum, says the following about reading problems: During reading activities, my biggest problem is lack of time. A student who has gained reading skills loose them in time when he/she doesn't practice reading. I come up against this problem especially after holidays. Students should carry on with their reading skills out of school. In this context, families have great responsibility. Also, technology unfortunately kills our reading habit. We, as teachers, should provide them with interesting texts. Besides giving no pleasure, reading uninteresting practice texts also don't yield positive results. In many researches (Cocuk Vakfi, 2006; Dokmen, 1994; Mullis et al., 2004), one of the common results is that reading habit is not so common in Turkey. This is the major prblem in reading. It can be argues that the exam system and economical problems are the major factors in these problems because students prefer spending their time with tests and regard reading as a waste of time due to the exam system. The importance of reading in increasing success in exams hasn't been understood yet. It is also seen that attitudes of parents towards reading and reading environment at home is crucial (Molfese et al., 2003; Mullis et al., 2004) and children of good role models in reading are more successful than those without positive role model

6 128 / Reading Improvement parents (Strommen and Mates, 2004). Reading errors in some students might decrease will to read because reading and comprehension are litiked to one another; one reads to understand and thus wants to understand what is read (Demirel, & Sahinel, 2006). Misreading generally might arise from crowded classrooms or wrong teaching methods. Using local dialects, in addition, might be because of not reading enough books and indifference of teachers to the subject. Also, other factors in a child's readiness for reading, achieving a certain reading level and developing a good reading habit are his/her health, IQ, environment and personal experience (Kavcar, Oguzkan, & Sever, 1997). Another important point in reading according to teachers is that students regard reading as a boring habit. As far as understood from the expressions of teachers, it can be argued that the reading activities of the new reading program (MEB, 2006) are not applied sufficiently. Another point of concern in reading is book preference. As Prof. Dr. M. Kaplan says, such books should be chosen for reading that will strike students as sunstroke. Therefore, among the major targets of education is raising the interest of children, teenagers and even adults to improve their interest in reading (Dokmen, 1994). Result & Suggestions The results and ensuing suggestion of this study, which aims to determine the problems in reading education that is regarded as the beginning and base of human education, can be listed as follows: Turkish teachers define reading education as activities that improve the reading level of students, improve their IQ, enable them to understand fully and correctly what they read, to think wisely, to enjoy reading, to reach nice and precious works themselves and to evaluate what they read. As for reading activities, it is seen that Turkish teachers generally apply traditional reading activities like using coursebook, completing a story, using library and bookcase, book exchange among students, summarizing what is read, reading silently, aloud, binary and in groups, and rewarding; they don't make use of the activities in the new program other than using reading hour application. As an answer to the most crucial question in the research, teachers list the problems in reading education as lack of reading habit, indifference of parents to reading, not comprehending what is read fully and correctly, an environment without reading, economical problems, not being able to read, not reagrding reading as a need, lack of school-parent cooperation, a test-based exam system, effect of local dialect on reading, using technology and media, and lack of time. The most important duty of teachers in reading education is making books and reading loveable to students. For this purpose, reading activities in the new program should by all means be applied; therefore, primarily Turkish teachers but also other teachers should be educated and made aware of the importance of reading. Experts in language and literature and educators are in the opinion that there certainly are such books that almost every one will have pleasure in reading as long as these books are introduced to individuals. Such campaigns as "100 Basic Works"

7 Interviews with Teachers... /129 should be implemented effectively for this purpose by tempting students, parents and teachers to read. The time to start reading is generally childhood years. Therefore, the attitudes of parents and other family members towards books and reading certainly determine the attitude of the child. Considering the reading rate in Turkey, reading education for families could also be beneficial in this respect. References Akbayir, S. (2008). Çocugum my i okumali? [What should my child reading?] Ankara: Pegema Publications Akyol, H. (2007). "Okuma", Mgretimde TUrkçe ögretimi, ["Reading", Turkish language teaching on primary school], (Eds. A. Kirkkilic, & H. Akyol) Ankara: Pegema Publications Arici, A. F. (2005). Ilkögretim ikinci kademe ögrencilerinin okuma durumlari: Beceri-ilgialiskanlik-egilim [The situation of second level of elementary school students: Skill-interesthabit-tendency], Unpublishing doctorate thesis, Erzurum, Turkey: Ataturk University (2008). A national reading compaigne in Turkey: 100 Basic literary works. World Applied Science Journal, 3{2): Cocuk Vakfi. (2006). Turkiye'nin okuma aliskanligi karnesi [The report of Turkey's reading habit]. Istanbul: Cocuk Vakfi Demirel, Ö., & ahinel, M. (2006). Tiirkçe ögretimi. [Turkish language teaching on primary school] Ankara: Pegema Publications Dokmen, U. (1994). Okuma becerisi, ilgisi ve aliskanligi iizerine psiko-sosyal bir arastirma [A psycho-social research on reading skill, interest, and habit]. Istanbul: MEB Publications Giines, F. (2006). Cocuklarda okuma ilgisi ve kitap secimi. Ilkogretmen, 2: 43^5 Gögü, B. (1978). Turkce ve yazin egitimi. [Turkish and literature teaching], Ankara: Gul Publications Kavcar, C, Oguzkan, F., & Sever, S. (1997). Tiirkçe ögretimi, [Turkish language teaching] Ankara: Engin Publications Mara li, A. (2005). Okumayi Sevdirme Yollari, [Ways of instilling students the reading habit], Istanbul: Bilge Publications MEB. (2006). ilkögretim Tiirkçe dersi ögretimprogrami ve kilavuzu (6, 7, 8. Siniflar), [The programme and guide of Turkish lesson teaching on primary school] Ankara: MEB Publications Molfese, V. J., Modglin, A., & Molfese, L. D. (2003). The role of environment in the development of reading skills. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 36: Mullis, I. V., Martin, M. O., Gonzales, E. J., & Kennedy, A. N. (2003). PIRLS 2001 international report. Boston: International Study Center. Ozcelebi O. S., & Cebecioglu, N. S. (1990). Okuma aliskanligi ve TUrkiye [Reading habit and Turkey]. Istanbul: Milliyet Publications Ozen, F. (2001). Turkiye'de okuma aliskanligi, [Reading habit in Turkey]. Ankara: Kultur Bakanligi Publications Saracaloglu A. S., Bozkurt, N.,& Serin, 0.(2003). Université ögrencilerinin okuma ilgileri ve okuma aliskanliklarini etkileyen faktorler [Factors that effect university students' reading tendencies and habits]. Egitim Arastirmalari Dergisi, 12: Strommen, L. T. & Mates, F. M. (2004). Learning to love reading: Interviews with olders children and teens. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 48: Tosunoglu, M. (2000). Turkce ögretiminde okuma aliskanligi ve cocuklarin okuma egilimleri [Reading habits and children' reading tendencies in Turkish teaching]. Turk Dili, 609: Townsend, R. (2002). Okuma zenginligi, (Çev. T. Keskin), [Reading wealth]. Istanbul: Sistem Publications

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